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“For most, hitting your 50s is a period marked by expanding waistlines, mounting aches and pains and the first genuine bouts of nostalgia. It is also the time to get serious about establishing a retirement nest egg. Most Canadians earn more money in their 50s than in any other decade, a statistic that, when combined with a honed investment strategy and a retirement game plan, can make for a very lucrative window of opportunity.” Simon Avery writes in his special for the Globe and Mail. “Unfortunately, not everyone makes the necessary adjustments to their investing strategy at this milestone, which can prove to be a costly oversight. RRSPs serve as a good step in bridging the gap between expenses and government payments in retirement (see chart). But getting prepared for retirement is not as simple as opening an RRSP account and making an annual contribution. ‘The industry has taught us to think about how much money we have accumulated in our RRSP. But it’s really all about the plan,’says Doug Dahmer, founder and chief executive officer of Emeritus Financial Strategies, in Burlington, Ontario” continues Avery.   Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

“Bank of England governor Mark Carney has overhauled the Bank’s interest rate policy to reflect falling unemployment and the economic recovery,” a BBC News online article wrote yesterday.

“He said the Bank’s forward guidance policy ‘is working’ and had helped to secure growth. The Bank’s rate policy will now be determined not just by unemployment, but by a wider range of indicators. But Mr Carney warned the recovery was not secure and that when rates rose, they would do so only ‘gradually’.

However, investors took this as an indication that rates could rise next year, sending the pound higher on the money markets.

Introducing the Bank’s forward guidance policy last August, Mr Carney said that the Bank would not consider raising interest rates from their current low of 0.5% until unemployment had fallen to 7% or below. He said the policy had reduced uncertainty and encouraged businesses to hire and spend. ‘Forward guidance is working – expected interest rates have remained low even as the economy has recovered strongly, uncertainty about interest rates has fallen, and most importantly, UK businesses have understood the message,’ the governor said.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS      

“Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty suggested today he no longer supports bringing in income splitting for couples with children, kicking off a debate over whether the Conservatives are stepping back from a 2011 campaign promise,” Laura Payton wrote yesterday for a CBC.ca article. Payton continued, “The Conservative promise to introduce income splitting was a major part of the last election campaign and was tied to bringing the budget back into balance, something the government will likely have achieved a year from now. ‘It’s an interesting idea. I’m just one voice. It benefits some parts of the Canadian population a lot. And other parts of the Canadian population virtually not at all,’ Flaherty told reporters following an event in Ottawa. ‘And I like to think I’m analytical as finance minister, so I will, when we discuss it eventually in cabinet, in caucus, I will present my analysis to my colleagues.’ Earlier, Flaherty said the measure needs ‘a long, hard, analytical look’ by experts ‘to see who it affects in this society and to what degree. Because I’m not sure that overall it benefits our society.'” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS