The end goal of technology is to make our lives easier – and retirement is no exception. There are a multitude of technological innovations that can help current retirees stay in their homes longer, and more in the pipeline that will help future retirees. One of the primary reasons that seniors move into rest homes… read more
Those at the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation are becoming known as the “sandwich generation”. “Sandwich” refers to the dual responsibilities of looking after older children at the same time as being the caregiver to aging parents. This squeezes the sandwich generation in two ways – emotionally and financially. The first half of… read more
Homeowners are given plenty of options when it comes to capitalizing on their property investment in retirement. Options include HELOC’s (Home Equity Line of Credit,) reverse mortgages, and now sale and leaseback. Let’s compare and contrast these different options. Home Equity Line of Credit HELOC’s are notably riskier than the other options. They involve putting… read more
Reverse mortgages make sense when they are taken out for specific reasons; filling gaps in retirement savings, providing for a better quality of life in retirement and many more. But there are some situations where reverse mortgages don’t make sense – and you have reverse mortgage brokers and your legal team on your side to… read more
Rental properties can be an excellent source of retirement income. But like anything that brings in income, they are quite a bit of work and should be considered a part-time job rather than something that will passively print money. Location, location, location There are two things to consider when buying a rental property – if… read more
The company that administers the CHIP home income plan, HomEquity Bank, is forecasting growth of reverse mortgages in Canada of 25-30 percent each year for the next few years. Where is this spike in reverse mortgages coming from, and who is getting them? Younger Boomers who are house rich and cash poor According to this… read more
A recent study by The Broadbent Institute, An Analysis of the Economic Circumstances of Canadian Seniors, revealed that we are collectively not saving enough for retirement. This is due to a number of factors, including increased life expectancy, and the fact that almost half of Canadians do not have an employer-funded pension plan. Every time… read more
83,000 seniors in Western Canada and Ontario are being mailed Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) payments that they qualified for, but never received. Bureaucratic errors on the part of the government were responsible for the mistake, and some seniors will be getting back payments from as early as 2008 as a result. The massive error occurred… read more
The new Trudeau government has made a number of election promises to secure its mandate – and a number of these new promises are to seniors. Most are positive, but its worth looking at all of them to examine what may be your new financial outlook under the new government. Yvonne Ziomecki, senior vice president… read more
New information sharing measures between the United States and Canada could drastically affect snowbirds, or Canadians who choose to leave Canada in harsh winters to live in the southern United States. The new measures would require legislation to go through, but essentially anyone receiving social benefits who is out of the country longer than those… read more