Money Matters - Financial Independence / Retirement Planning

Introduction
Welcome to Money Matters, a weekly discussion group relating to topics of personal finance and financial education/literacy.
Attendees are encouraged to share their personal experiences related to finances to help others learn and achieve their financial goals.

Topic
The topic will be Financial Independence / Retirement Planning.
Whether you want to retire early or be financially secure or independent at any age, this takes planning and preparation.
We will discuss the information we need to gather, and the steps we likely should take to be financially confident when we stop receiving income from work.

Discussion Prompts / Questions

• Have you heard of the "4% Rule" and do you know what it refers to?
• What is "sequence of returns risk", and why is it so important in retirement planning?
• Have you tracked your spending for any period of time? Do you know how much you spend per year?
• Regular payments during retirement: Government benefits (CPP, OAS, GIS), pensions, annuities
• Retirement withdrawal strategies are numerous and involved to numerically compare against one another
• Do you think you have to retire "to" something, instead of just retiring "from" work? Do you think this is different for different people?

Additional Materials
Some materials relating to this topic are:

• (references) Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data, Retirement Savings: Choosing a Withdrawal Rate That Is Sustainable (Trinity Study)
• (blog) Early Retirement Now - The Safe Withdrawal Series
• (retirement calculators) FI Calc, cFIREsim, FIRE Calculator, FIRECalc
• (retirement planning platform / YouTube channel) Adviice, adviice YouTube channel
• (article) Retirement Income: Start With RRSP, Non-Reg or TFSA?

Soliciting Notice
Any attempts to advertise, promote, or sell financial products and/or services will not be tolerated.

Financial Advice Disclaimer
The information provided is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered personalized financial advice. Consult with a qualified financial professional before making financial decisions.