News Releases
Your Financial Security in Retirement
Jan 22, 2003
More and more Canadians over the age of 50 are investing their savings in an attempt to guarantee their financial security in retirement. Regardless of whether your personal investments will be your primary or a secondary source of income during retirement, the main concern is protecting your capital and maximizing its growth.
“If you are an investor who is either currently planning for retirement or already enjoying retirement, know how to make sound investment decisions to protect your capital and maximize its growth,” said Doug Hyndman, Chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). The CSA is the umbrella organization representing the 13 provincial and territorial securities commissions.
The following basic principles will help ensure your financial security in retirement:
- Determine your risk tolerance: It is important that you determine or reassess your tolerance for risk. The older you get, the more important it is to have a conservative investment strategy. Many factors, including your age, financial objectives and income, must be taken into account when determining your investment strategy in order to protect your assets.
- Have a financial plan: You probably wouldn’t dream of taking a vacation without first planning for it and the same logic should be applied to your investment decisions. It’s important that you develop a financial plan and stick to it. A financial plan will help you determine the length of time you would like to keep your investments, your expected return and the steps to take if your investments fluctuate. This way, you will be less guided by emotional reactions to market fluctuations.
- Diversify your investments: Diversify your investments in order to spread out the risk. For example, be sure to invest in several companies, in various economic sectors and in different parts of the world.
Based on this information, your financial expert will be able to help you create your investor profile. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about how your investments are being managed and whether or not the strategy and investments suggested by your financial expert suits your situation.
For additional information, please contact the securities regulatory organization in your province or territory for a free investor education kit. You may also visit the CSA’s web site.