Planning to Retire

I 'HAD' to retire 6 years ago because of medical problems. I had just started drawing my social security 6 months before but had intended to keep om working forever. I was putting all my s/s in savings but 6 months didn't amout to much when u had only that to live on.EVERYBODY NEEDS TO SAVE FOR THAT RAINY DAY because they sure come around.

I have an IRA and a 401k. Right now I'm worried about the IRA. It's in a real estate investment, and right now it looks like it hasn't been administered very well.

I had an rrsp but then fell on hard times and before I could get welfare (in BC) I had to use up my savings, including the rsp. After moving back to Ontario, and working again, I opened another rrsp... but soon had to tap into it, too, when I began looking after my mother full time. Now, I'm on disability myself, so I'm sure to "retire" in the style I'm accustomed to living, namely, below the poverty line.

oh my yes I did but 11 thousand dollars in southern cal ifornia with rents astronical for the lou siest of apts. going at 1200 a month my savings while helping p ay the rent did not last too many months as he was not making quite enought to pay the rent and utilities and also buy food. He meaning my adult son. So my retirement savings were not enough to last with me and my son to live on for long. he was working full time but not making as much as our rent and utilities came too. so of course I helped on the rent . we were hopiong he would get a raise bu instead he got laid off as the company was on shaky ground. they folded just after they laid my son off. all the time promising him a goodly raise.so my retirement funds are gone.i stillget my social security and my ssi checks every month

Hi cher913, I got a raw deal on my retirement savings. The company I worked for went bankrupt and lost all of our retirement savings. And there was nothing we could do about it. I am not retirement age yet. The economy has also put a strain on my working bcause their are no jobs in this small area. So as of now I am at the grace of the Lord.

We have a small, and I mean small RRSP. I have been saving $200/month for the past year for retirement. I am 43 years old. I am worried about not having enough money with CPP when we retire. I know we are not saving enough...and it scares me.

NOPE...Nada...nothing! How so..you ask? Sadly, this can happy to many unbeknownst, especially when a marraige goes South! And with that, a business, too! My EX, an Airline's pilot, of course, had a wonderful retirement program...He also owned 99 shares in our company, I owned ONE share, yes ONE SHARE, even tho', out of the two of us, I was the only one that ran the business on a day to day basis (he was flying)He and his Accountant cooked this up, and I, like a fool went along with it. I agreed during the divorce (once again like a fool) to leave his airline's pension alone..the business was sold, due to the divorce..I got ONE PERCENT as I had agreed to ONE share! I ended up with just enough money to pay my legal bills....I gave up 15 years of paying into Canada Pension, so lost that, too! That's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket. I can't get back those years...nor repay into CPP..so I am "virtually screwed." I just have the equity in my home, so have reconciled that with myself...and know I must go on working, forever!

So nice to know that Americans and Canadians are in similar boats, NOT!

I think it is the same everywhere. People nowadays are finding it harder and harder to save up money for retirement. It is hard enough to fend for the current, so much for the future. I try to put money aside regularly, but I don't think it is anything significant that could be considered retirement money.

I am 24 and I am working anywhere from 50-65 hours a week so we can afford to put a few hundred dollars a month away. We live on less than $2000 a month, (and 1100 of that is rent) so we can put away more than most people my age I know. My husband is not so great at keeping a job so he is a full time stay at home dad and handles the chores. Hopefully if we can keep putting away a couple hundred dollars every month and put chunks of that away in safe investments, we'll be ok. RRSPs are only good if you intend to be making less money when you take the money out than you are making now. Because they are tax deferred, the whole point is "don't pay the tax now when you are in a high tax bracket, pay it later when you are a senior and in a lower tax bracket". Young people who are in the lowest tax bracket already should not put the money in RRSPs (or not claim the tax breaks) because if they are making more money (from CPP/part-time income/RRSP withdrawals) when they take the money out, they will pay MORE taxes on the same money than if they had NOT put it into an RRSP at a younger age.