Trending news this week is the debate about the affordability to long-term tax revenues and ultimately the Canadian economy of raising the Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) annual contribution limit.

In light of the upcoming Federal Budget and the previous Conservative government campaign promise to double the annual Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) contribution limit upon balancing the Federal budget, the debate rages on about the overall tax payer coffer effectively further financing the wealthy by reducing overall tax revenues into the long term future.

Now that most Canadians and their advisers have gotten the message across about the rising power of tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), some are beginning to question whether RRSPs are even relevant anymore.

However, there is no ‘one size fits all’ retirement plan.  Plans should vary depending on a number of factors including, your age, lifestyle, debts, etc.

John Poulter, the Portfolio Manager and Chief Financial Officer, at Portfolio Strategies Securities Inc., comments on the markets and his portfolios in his quarterly outlook.

Click on the below link for more details:

We all know the past 25 years have born witness to dramatic change technologically, economically, socially.

But, what will the future bare?

“It is very difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”
- Yogi Berra, Mark Twain, etc.

This quote opens the below article written by financial industry Guru Dan Richards providing his illuminating predictions for the next 25 years, summarized as follows:

The #1 Roadblock preventing many people from ever creating a successful retirement strategy is visualizing life without having to work.

Most struggle to visualize life after no longer needing to get up for work in order to feed the family, pay the mortgage, etc.

The result?  Frustration.

And, the anxiety that goes hand in hand with not knowing what lies ahead.

Planning for your ideal retirement requires an understanding of the five key risks that can threaten your retirement income:

1 - Longevity: the risk of outliving your savings.

2 - Inflation: the potential for rising consumer prices to erode your purchasing power.

3 - Asset Allocation: the problems that could result from choosing the wrong investment mix, i.e. improper allocation between equities, bonds and short-term securities for your retirement.

Envisioning your retirement takes careful thought and planning.

Be sure to consider the following for your retirement vision:

- Where do you plan to live?

- How will you stay connected to people that are important to you?

- How do you want to spend each day, from morning through night?