Know your retirement income options

You’ve planned ahead by saving for your retirement and you’re ready to enjoy all the leisure and opportunity available to you. But now you have a major decision to make: What do you do with your retirement savings? There is a wide choice of retirement income options available today, and while having so many options is an advantage, it can also be confusing unless you understand the different options and are able to choose the ones best suited to your needs.

Back to basics

For much of your working life, you’ve been paying into a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Registered Pension Plan (RPP), or Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (DPSP). Over all those years, you’ve had a goal or destination in mind. Now that you’ve reached it, it’s time for those plans to start paying you in the form of a Retirement Income Option (RIO).

What are your choices?

All Canadians can choose from three different ways of generating retirement income from their RRSPs:

• A Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) that puts you in control of your investment and the amount of income it pays you.
• A Life Annuity that guarantees a fixed income.
• A Term Certain Annuity to age 90 (TCA 90) that gives you some control over the investment and earnings.

There are six additional choices that may apply to locked-in pension funds depending on your province of residence. These include:

• A Life Income Fund (LIF), which combines the benefits of both a RRIF and a Life Annuity.
• A Restricted Life Income Fund (RLIF), which is similar to a LIF, but includes a one-time 50% unlocking option.
• Variable Benefit payments from a RPP.

What should you take into consideration when choosing a RIO?

A decision on your RIO should not be made on the spur of the moment. You’ve worked many years to reach this point, so it deserves careful thought. You’ll want to consider a number of lifestyle and financial factors, including your monthly expenses, your anticipated activities, and the number of years you anticipate requiring income from your RIO. Our guide to Knowing Your Retirement Income Options includes a questionnaire that will guide you through these considerations.

So, where do you go from here?

We would be pleased to discuss your retirement options with you and explain plan features and options  in more detail.

Above all, don’t be overwhelmed by the different retirement income options listed above. In many ways, this wide range is designed to benefit you by providing flexibility to meet your individual and changing needs. You’ve worked hard to reach a point where you can take control of your retirement income. We want to work just as hard to help you choose the ideal plan for you.