Ferguson Financial Planning of CI Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

07/17/2026

What would you fix before turning 70, if you could go back and do it over?
Retirees often look back at the years leading up to 70 and wish they had made a few decisions differently.
CPP timing, RRSP withdrawals, spousal coordination, and OAS planning all become harder to adjust once the RRIF clock starts.
Our latest video walks through six of the most common regrets we hear from clients, and how to avoid them.
Watch: https://youtu.be/uGFQmSI4vVM

07/15/2026

The RRSP question at 55 is no longer just about this year's deduction. Once the account is already large, every new contribution can add to future RRIF income that may show up beside CPP, OAS, pension income, and taxable investments. The refund only shows the front half of that trade.

A better test is simple: what tax rate are you avoiding today, and what tax rate are you likely building for later? If those numbers are close, the contribution needs more scrutiny than the refund makes it seem.

Before your next contribution, compare your current marginal tax rate with what your taxable income could look like once RRIF minimums, government benefits, and pension income are all in play.

If you're trying to figure out how a large RRSP, future RRIF income, CPP, OAS, and the rest of your retirement income fit together, this is exactly the kind of planning we do with clients.

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07/09/2026

What happens when your bonus, your pension paperwork, and your benefits deadline all land in the same year?

For many Canadians, the final year of work feels like one more ordinary year on the way to retirement.

But a compensation event, a pension election, and an expiring benefit rarely arrive on their own schedule.

Left unplanned, that combination can shape a retirement that is more expensive and less flexible than it needed to be.

Watch:

07/06/2026

Does retirement lower your tax bill? For many Canadians, it doesn't.

RRIF withdrawals, OAS clawbacks, and capital gains timing can push income higher than expected — sometimes into a bracket you didn't plan for.

Our latest video covers the four tax surprises that catch retirees most off guard, and what you can do about each before they happen.

Watch:

🗓️ Book a call to discuss your Retirement Tax Strategy: https://...

07/01/2026

Happy Canada Day! Wishing everyone a safe, joyful, and festive day celebrating our beautiful country. 🇨🇦

06/22/2026

Two couples. Same $10,000 goal. Different result.

Situation:
Both households want $10,000 per month after tax in retirement.

What they did:
One couple is portfolio-heavy with no work pensions. In the example, they have about $1.4M invested, a paid-off home worth about $1M, about 75% of maximum CPP each at age 65, and full OAS. Their combined floor is only roughly in the high $3,000s per month before tax, around $4,000 give or take.

Another couple is pension-heavy with modest savings. They have 2 defined benefit pensions totaling about $7,000 per month before tax, and the key detail is that the pensions are indexed. Add CPP and OAS over time, and they can get surprisingly close to the same lifestyle goal without needing a massive portfolio.

What happened:
The first couple needs the portfolio to create most of the cheque early on. Taxes and withdrawal sequencing matter a lot.
The second couple needs less from investments, but still has risks around survivor income and future tax stacking if pension income and RRIF income pile up later.

What they changed:
They stopped asking, “What number do we need?” and started asking, “Which income source is doing the heavy lifting?”

The principle: the same retirement goal can produce very different plans because the mix matters more than the headline number.

If you’re in this situation:
- Map your guaranteed income floor first.
- Then identify what your portfolio actually needs to do.

Share this with someone close to this decision.

06/19/2026

Stop planning from the lump sum.

Start planning from the income floor.

Why it matters: a retirement plan usually feels clearer when you begin with the money that shows up more or less no matter what. In the video, that meant CPP, OAS, and pension income. That stable base tells you how much pressure your portfolio actually needs to carry.

A lot of people go the other way. They fixate on the portfolio first, then treat guaranteed income, taxes, inflation, and timing as side details. That can distort the whole plan.

STOP: assuming all retirement income works the same way.
A flat pension, CPP, OAS, TFSA withdrawals, and RRIF withdrawals do not behave the same way over time.

START: identifying your monthly floor first.
Ask: what income is stable, and will it rise over time or stay flat?

CHECK: whether that floor is indexed.
A non-indexed pension of $5,000 per month can feel very different at age 80 than it did at age 66, even though the deposit never changed. If the income stays flat, your portfolio may need to become the inflation top-up.

Apply this today: if you wrote out your retirement paycheque line by line, which parts are stable, and which parts are doing the inflation heavy lifting?

Save this.

06/16/2026

Deferring tax can cost more.

What gets missed in this case study is that “delay it as long as possible” can create 2 separate tax problems instead of solving 1.

With a $750,000 RRSP and about $1,000,000 of unrealized capital gains, you are managing 2 tax schedules at the same time. The RRSP becomes fully taxable income when money comes out. The non-registered account creates tax when gains are realized, and often again on the final return through a deemed disposition.

The principle is simple: tax deferral is not the same as tax reduction.

Do this instead:
- Pick a target income band for most years instead of trying to pay the least tax this year.
- Use low-control years carefully: if there is room in that band, consider filling it on purpose with RRSP withdrawals, realized gains, or both.
- Judge the plan across many returns plus the final return, not just this year’s tax bill.

A useful question to ask today: am I actually reducing tax, or just pushing income into the years where OAS clawback and forced withdrawals are more likely?

Save this.

06/13/2026

Stop avoiding taxable income.

Start shaping it.

Why this matters: in this case study, the expensive outcome was not “paying tax.” It was letting income lurch from low to high with no plan. A few quiet years can feel efficient, then later RRIF minimums, OAS, pensions, dividends, and realized gains stack together in the same years.

A simple framework:

STOP:
Stop judging every decision by whether it lowers this year’s tax bill.

START:
Start managing to a target income band. The video called this a tax thermostat. You choose a range that feels reasonable for after-tax cash flow and avoids creating avoidable problems.

CHECK:
Check which source of income best uses the room you still have this year:
- RRSP withdrawals reduce future forced withdrawals.
- Realized gains reduce the tax backlog in the non-registered account.
- TFSA withdrawals do not increase net income, so they do not create OAS clawback.

Apply this today: if your income is lower than usual this year, are you using that room intentionally or wasting it?

Save this.