Minimize Income Tax in Retirement

Day after day our expenses our increases and so far with our needs in this today’s high tech world. The distance between office and work is the best time when an individual tries to figure out how to give and save the best for their family and loved ones. For me, it’s the best time to hope for the best time to come soon, keep hoping to save more for retirement and taxes will decrease after my retire. After doing lots of research I found this going to be true, but for this, I need to take control of my tax situation and plan it accordingly to minimize my tax liabilities. As at retirement there, no longer need to live within commuting distance from work, we need to take consideration step to overcome financial, psychological and emotional problems, all by a few useful things to minimize the tax liabilities after retirement.

Reduce Expenses:  By keeping the expenses moderate each month, it’s important to stay under the 15% tax bracket and take advantage of staying in a lower tax bracket. Make a budget, starting monitoring the current spending habits, plan a schedule like set a goal to live on 85% of monthly income and save rest 15% for retirement saving to lower your annual living expenses.

Pay Off Mortgage: Pay off the mortgage before retirement is usually the biggest monthly bill, because it’s going to more difficult to minimize tax by withdrawing a large amount to pay the monthly mortgage at retirement. Pay off the mortgage as soon as, will a guaranteed return on money equal to the mortgage interest rate and have more flexibility in retirement. It’s almost certainly better off focusing on paying off all the mortgage, as no individual could love losing a bunch of money on your stock portfolio while you still owe a fortune on your house.

Old Age Security (OAS): OAS benefits in Canada is equal to the social security benefit in America, though its adjusted quarterly based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. The OAS claw-back rate of 15% is the rate at which net income in excess of the OAS claw-back threshold that is subject to a special tax, up to the limit of the OAS benefits received during the year. Therefore, an OAS recipient may have to repay an additional amount at tax time if his or her income increased from that reported for the previous year.

Dividend income and long-term capital gains: If you buy an investment property, gold or other capital assets and hold them for more than one year, profits that occur when an investment is sold at a higher price than the original purchase price. If the tax bracket is 25% than the capital gains tax rate is only 15% and if the tax bracket is 15% than the capital gains tax rate is only 0%. Both long-term capital gains and dividend investment income, are a source of profit of a corporation to the stockholders and hold potential tax consequences. An investor does not have a capital gain until an investment is sold for a profit. The tax rates differ for capital gains and differ for dividends based on they are ordinary or qualified, or whether the asset was held for the short term or long term before being sold.

Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSPs): To receive tax advantages, a registered pension plan is the one where contributions and investment earnings are tax-exempt. RPPs is voluntary pension savings plan, established by an employer to provide pensions benefits to their employees. By contributing to RRSP, an individual will get immediate tax relief each year on deduction and contributed amount is not taxed as long as it stays in the plan. In other words, contribution in RRSP is not a guarantee that will fully secure the retirement but investments grow tax-free until withdrawal, at which time it is taxed at the marginal rate.

 Prioritize your retirement plan withdrawals: If one has both Roth retirement plans and traditional IRASor other plans, the majority of withdrawals from the Roth plans first to avoid bumping the income level into the next bracket. After reaching the over age 70, minimum distributions from IRA, SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA or retirement plan accounts or pay a penalty. Be sure to take the minimum distributions from traditional IRA and other plans, however in a low tax bracket, consider withdrawing taxable money for your living expenses. In years when you’re in a higher tax bracket, then it’s smart to withdraw from your Roth IRA so your income isn’t taxed at high rates.

Diversify your after-retirement income: Retirees can have income from Social Security, pensions, rentals, taxable brokerage accounts, tax-free Roth accounts, saving accounts, bonds, etc are important to diversify your after-retirement income. These incomes can be fully taxed, taxed at the long-term capital gains rate, partially taxed or not taxed at all. Giving more options by saving and investing is best, in other ways to lower your taxable income, such as donating to charity and taking some investment losses. However, keeping daily expenses low after retirement is the key to minimizing taxes. 

Our lives these days are racked with financial worries, so we need to be aware of the best options. Do consult retirement advisors as they eliminate the usual time required and procrastination that occurs with the whole planning process. They agree to commit the time and effort to aid in your success and to always respect your time and schedule, so don’t delay visit their website at https://www.rshield.ca/and contact them via email at info@canadainsuranceplan.ca &416-613-9535