Oh, hi again. We’ve made it to October, and one step closer to year-end. I know many of you are spending these last months of 2025 putting your financial house in order. This week, I’m sharing some insight into how you’re all thinking about your registered retirement income funds.
What’s going on with RRIF withdrawals?
Last week, I asked how the federal government’s promised cut to mandatory RRIF withdrawals is affecting your retirement planning. The response was loud and clear: You’re not sure what to do.
Several readers said they’re delaying withdrawals in the hope Ottawa follows through with the one-year, 25-per-cent reduction announced back in April. “Yes, I am holding off taking my full RRIF withdrawal and it is very frustrating not knowing if it can be reduced or not,” one reader wrote. Another added that now that it’s the last quarter of the year, “leaving our opportunity to stop or reduce our withdrawal perilously close.”
One reader, who will soon have to convert their RRSP to a RRIF, said that the proposed policy change would come with an upside and a downside. The good news is that a lower minimum would help preserve savings. The bad is that if they need to withdraw more than the new minimum, that could mean higher fees: “My discount broker provides free withdrawals up to the mandatory minimum but charges an amount above that limit.”
Not everyone is affected. Some retirees said they already withdraw more than the minimum requirement to meet living expenses, making the proposed change largely irrelevant, especially given rising costs for food and shelter.
A few readers questioned whether the government will follow through at all. “Perhaps the government wants to defer and downplay this promise in the hopes voters will forget about it entirely,” one person wrote.
The common thread: People want clarity. As one reader summed up, “I have been waiting patiently to see or hear this announcement … I would rather NOT take the last quarter’s withdrawal if possible.”
The Calculator
For those about to retire, the question is whether to start CPP in late 2025 or wait until 2026. The payoff depends on which grows faster, wages or inflation, and this year, wages are ahead.
Yes, but: Frederick Vettese, former chief actuary at Morneau Shepell, shows that starting in January, 2026, beats December, 2025. The “payback period” for waiting can be just a couple of years, making a short delay the smarter move.
The Retirement Receipt
This former museum CEO turned retirement into a second career in aviation history
The situation: Christopher Terry retired in 2008 at 60 after 37 years at two federal Crown corporations, finishing as CEO of what is now Ingenium. In 2012, he and his wife moved from Ottawa to Port Hope, Ont., to be closer to their children.
The numbers: Terry took a commuted pension after leaving his first Crown corporation job and bought an annuity that compounded at 11 per cent, then earned a defined-benefit pension in his second job. With indexed income, a healthy portfolio and no debt, money isn’t a worry.
Life in retirement: Terry dove into volunteer work, saying he had “half a dozen part-time jobs but was paid for none of them.” Now in his late 70s, he’s scaling back to finish a monograph on a 1920s aircraft and archive 55 years of aviation photos for a national museum.
His advice: “Identify a cause or organization in which their talents, skills, and knowledge can be put to good use as a volunteer,” he said. “Being with like-minded people is great fun and gives a sense of purpose.”
Best of the Rest
📊 Simplify in retirement with an all-in-one fund. Many Canadians in their 70s are choosing “one-ETF” investing to make life easier if they can’t actively manage their portfolios. These funds handle diversification and rebalancing, but experts say the key is first determining the right mix of stocks, bonds and cash based on your income needs, risk comfort and tax strategy.
💔Grey divorce reshapes family finances. More Canadians are splitting up later in life, forcing tough trade-offs between rebuilding retirement security and previous plans to help adult children with big-ticket costs such as tuition or down payments. Experts say divorcees should help themselves first, and in some cases, scale back support for kids.
🧠 Better brain, better life. Neuroscientist Rachel Barr’s new book argues that many symptoms of burnout, fatigue and anxiety come from overtaxing our brains, not underoptimizing them. Her science-backed advice says to focus on basics like sleep, connection, play and real rest, rather than chasing endless “hacks.”
Try This
👨👩👧 Run your family like a business? Economist Emily Oster argues that applying corporate tools, such as mission statements and shared calendars, can help parents tackle big choices from summer camps to screen time. The goal is to have clearer priorities on how you spend time, money and energy.
