I Haven't Started Saving For Retirement Yet—Is It Too Late?

When people come to certified financial planner Zena Amundsen to talk retirement, they tend to fall into three categories. 

The first are usually clients she has worked with for years who want to make sure their ducks are in a row for retirement. And, while these discussions can involve uncomfortable questions—such as what happens if your partner dies, or you lose your job—Amundsen, who is based in Regina, says these clients leave feeling better for having a clear plan, no matter what life throws their way. 

The next are newer clients, hoping to retire in the next year or so. The third have already retired, and have typically done all their own financial planning—but are now realizing it’s time to call in an expert. 

While there are different levels of stress involved in each of these conversations, Amundsen says it’s always better to have the discussion, have a plan, and—if you can swing it—get professional advice.

So, whether retirement is imminent, far away, already here or just a dream at this point, here are some of the most common questions she gets to help out your own road to retirement planning. 

What if I haven’t started saving for retirement yet? 

Even if you’re starting late, Amundsen says, the above wisdom applies—it’s better to start late than never at all. “It's like, okay, well, let's just start and let's see where we're at—and let's just make the right decisions now going forward.” 

Zena Amundsen

She’s mindful not to shame people who haven’t started saving yet; they’re usually already embarrassed enough. A silver lining to starting late? When you’re older you often have more money to put away—and you’re more incentivized to work hard to do just that. 

How late is too late to contribute to an RRSP? Is there any point at which you approach retirement that you should stop contributing to RRSPs?

“This one comes up all the time: ‘Hey, it's my last year before retirement. Should I still contribute to my RRSP?’ The RRSP deadline is mostly tied to your age, not just the calendar of retirement. For people working later, or with higher income, it still generally provides good value to add to your RRSP—it's really going to be about your current income and tax brackets. A good rule of thumb is if you're no longer earning a significant taxable income and you expect your tax rate to be higher in retirement than it is now, then it’s not worth contributing to your RRSP. If you think that you'll be earning less in retirement than you are now, then it's still good to contribute to an RRSP. This is especially true if you’re in a higher tax bracket, because you get way more bang for your buck on an RRSP contribution at tax time.”

When should I start my CPP and OAS? I just turned 60—should I take them now?

This is, Amundsen says, the number-one retirement question she gets. “Starting your CPP at 60 means a permanent 36 percent reduction compared to waiting until 65. Delaying past 65 grows your payment by 8.4 percent per year, up to 42 percent more at age 70—a significant increase. The break-even point—that is, the time when you will get your share of contributions to CPP back—is around age 74 if you start at 60, and about 82 if you wait until 70. And here’s the important part: Canadians are living longer, and CPP acts like a secure, inflation-protected life annuity. Deferring means guaranteed income that rises with inflation for as long as you live. In most cases, I don’t recommend taking CPP before 65. More and more, I advise clients to defer. The key is to map out the scenarios in your retirement plan so you don’t make a quick decision you’ll regret later in life.”

How do I know how much I’ll need each month in retirement?

Amundsen says that one of the most common retirement myths is the “70 percent rule” — that you’ll only need 70 percent of your pre-retirement income in retirement. In reality, retirement spending is personal and doesn’t follow a one-size-fits-all formula. “Some people spend more in the early years on travel and hobbies, then scale back later. Others see expenses rise with health care. Averages don’t tell your story. A better approach is to track your current spending for a few months and then layer in your retirement goals. Do you want to golf twice a week? Take annual trips? Help the grandkids? That becomes your real number. Another myth to avoid is assuming retirement is automatically ‘cheaper.’ Mortgages are hopefully gone, but new costs often replace them—like home maintenance, replacing vehicles, or rising medical expenses. The bottom line: build your plan around your lifestyle, not a generic percentage.”

Is it OK to go into debt to help my adult children buy a house?

“This is one of the hardest questions because it pulls at the heart. Parents want to help. But here’s the truth: going into debt in retirement to fund your kids’ home is risky. You don’t get those years of saving back. I remind clients: your kids can get a mortgage. You can’t get one for retirement. If you want to help, set boundaries. Maybe it’s gifting a set amount you can afford without debt, or helping with advice and budgeting instead of dollars. Remember, financial independence is a gift too. Protecting your retirement means you won’t become a financial burden later—and most adult children don’t want that for their parents.”

Should I be changing my investments? What happens if markets drop when I want to retire?

“This fear keeps people up at night—and rightly so. If you’re retiring just as markets take a dive,it feels like everything could unravel. The key isn’t to time the market (no one can), but to set up a retirement income plan. Think of it like having buckets: one for the next couple years’ cash flow (safe, liquid, boring), one for mid-term needs (more balanced), and one for long-term growth (stocks that ride out ups and downs). That way, if markets drop, you’re pulling income from the safe bucket—not selling investments at a loss. Over time, markets recover, and your long-term bucket grows again. The biggest mistake I see? People go either too conservative and lose out on growth, or too aggressive and panic when volatility hits. The balance is to match your investments to your timeline and have your buckets laid out.”

 Zena Amundsen is a certified financial planner (CFP) with Astra Financial, based in Regina. 

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