Financial Library

Retirement used to mean a gold watch, a pension and spending time on hobbies or new pastimes. For some this may still be true, but times have changed and there are new realities that will affect how retirement will look in the future.

The largest segment of the population in Canada today, the so called Baby Boomers, will be starting to retire in large numbers soon. Those born in 1947 are considered the first Baby Boomers and will be reaching age 65 in 2012. Many are in a position to retire now and some already have.

Ralph and Mary have accumulated a nice estate, a good portion of it in cash. They want to leave it all to their children when they die, but they also want to do something for them today. Being part of the Savings Generation, they are reluctant to give large sums to their kids today, as they are part of the Spending Generation. Ralph and Mary also want to treat their children as fairly as possible.

When someone dies, their estate falls into three basic categories:

Part 1 - Proceeds that can be passed on by way of a named beneficiary designation.