If you're still worried about how the stock markets are performing and how your investments are doing, especially when it comes to your retirement savings, this is the perfect time to review your retirement plan (if you have one), or set one up (if you haven't done so yet).

Analyzing Your Current Situation

Just as with your financial security plan, your retirement plan starts with an analysis of your current situation. This will make it easier to reach your financial goals.

First, you should calculate your net assets. This will give you a profile of your financial health and spending habits.

When working on your retirement plan, you should take both your current age and anticipated retirement age into account. Certain factors, like buying a new home or cottage or paying tuition fees for you or your children, will have an impact on your plan. This is why you should try to assess these costs as accurately as possible so that you can set appropriate retirement savings objectives.

Desjardins Financial Security has an online simulator that helps you determine your financial situation by illustrating how you can use your money and get more control over your spending. And it'll only take you ten minutes.

Also, when you analyze your budget, you'll see that increasing your savings or investments will greatly increase your chances of reaching your financial goals. Finally, you'll see some simulations that can indicate the likelihood of doing so.

Identifying Your Plans

The second step consists in identifying your plans (trips, cottage, courses, etc.) and your financial needs (food, housing, healthcare, etc.) at retirement. Generally, you will need 60% to 80% of your current gross income.

Your income could come from government plans and employer retirement plans. For a number of Canadians, their retirement income will come mainly from their own savings.

On-line, you can calculate the income you can expect to have at retirement and then figure out what you can do today to ensure that your retirement is comfortable. It just takes ten minutes to use the handy simulator.

You'll also get information on the risks associated with the rates of return on your investments, as well as a breakdown of your assets. This knowledge will help you achieve your financial objectives.

Determining Your Investor Profile

While preparing your retirement plan, you should also determine your risk tolerance level and investor profile. People who want to protect their assets and those who are keen on taking a little more risk with their investments will not have the same investor profile or the same capacity to tolerate risk.

Determine Your Investor Profile
  8 pages - 241 kb

To Learn More

A financial security plan is essential to your financial health. Our Financial Security Advisors can help you set up a plan that's right for you.