Paying for Care in Canada | Stretching Your Dollars

Not everyone is entitled to government support for their care.  If your care needs are not deemed critical, or if you are considered to have a sufficient amount of personal capital, you may be liable for a significant portion of your retirement care expenses.  It's important that you take stock of the different vehicles you have to fund your care from your personal finances.  If you plan it early enough, you can have more than you need for your care.  The certainty you can give yourself around your finances in retirement can save you a significant amount of anxiety.  Below are some of the vehicles you could have access to finance your care. 

Instead of using money from your monthly savings, you can acquire payouts from investments such as home equity, savings, and other sources of funds, which can help you with your expenses. Similar to other investments, however, there are always risks involved in fund investments, the stock market, and so on. Still, investments are better to have to maximize your income resources and retire with security. The best way to know your best action when it comes to investments is to consult a financial advisor.

Annuities

There are various annuities that you can opt for when it comes to preparing for your retirement. Annuities are also one of the insurance products, which offer seniors payments, typically monthly, which can be based on your current interest rates, investments, and terms of contracts. 

There are registered and non-registered annuities, and the latter can come with tax deduction from a selection of rates. For instance, a straight life annuity can offer income for a whole lifetime. On the other hand, joint life annuities provide income for spouses. 

If you are paying for senior care, such as a paid annuity on your own or through a sponsored pension from an employer, you can find out the status of your Annuity by reaching out to the Canadian Government Annuities Branch. 

Other insurance products you can consider are the following:

• Long-term care insurance 
• Segregated funds

You have an option to continue working even after retirement as another way to boost your income. Some seniors stay at work out of need, while others by choice. On another note, studies show that working is good for health. At least if you choose to do part-time work, your job can keep you active, and stay in the society’s working bracket, therefore delivering positive feelings of providing value. More importantly, continuing working will allow you to make more money. 

Many seniors fail to prepare for their retirement. In fact, according to CARP, 600,000 seniors in Canada live in poverty due to the lack of planning for their retirement or due to a lack of knowledge about the financial programs available for them. 

There are multiple solutions to boost your income and some of them is by taking advantage of the available financial assistance programs designed for seniors from the government, or your personal sources of funds, which you can acquire payouts after you retirement.