Mid-Summer Reviews: When to Collect OAS and CPP

Did you know that 61% of Canadians are afraid of running out of money during retirement? According to a new CPP Investments survey, that fear is widespread. Yet surprisingly few people understand even the basics of public pension planning. For example, Canadians are not obliged to begin OAS or CPP at age 65. By delaying, they can significantly boost after-tax income and improve retirement security.

What’s keeping your clients up at night? How do we help clients accumulate, grow, preserve and transition wealth with the continued volume of change coming from new governments in Ottawa and Washington?  How do we temper harm from difficult relationships people have with money? Share your thoughts on proactively managing client concerns with strategy, process, and answers to these three critical questions, as we hear case study approaches from our panelists at the April 23 Introduction to Real Wealth Management™ Orientation. Learn more and then join these professionals who are the change-makers of the financial services by earning your own specialized credentials as an RWM™.

Over 96% of advisors surveyed in last month’s Knowledge bureau Report poll said that despite ramping up various initiatives and staffing levels, CRA’s service levels have worsened significantly and the commentary around this was interesting.  For the few who said yes, there were no specific embellishing comments, but for those who said no, there was a lot of scathing detail.  Take a look:

Despite the fact that the cost of living seems to be increasing in the grocery story and when paying for transportation and costly medication, Old Age Security benefits will remain unchanged for the April to June 2025 quarter. While increases to OAS over the past year have been 2% from April 2024 to April 2025, the cost of living has increased more, as explained more fully below.  You’ll also be interested in the prescribed interest rates applied to tax refunds and balances due, adjusted quarterly:

Finance Minister Eric Girard tabled his 7th budget on March 25th. This is the most detailed, comprehensive and far-reaching budget we’ve seen from any of the provinces thus far. This budget focuses heavily on spending, producing a record deficit. It also reflects the Quebec government’s preoccupation with U.S. tariffs. The word “tariff” is mentioned no fewer than 161 times in this document.

We might be distracted by the political, tax and economic shocks dominating the daily news.  But from an investment point of view, advisors may be missing something important. The very definition of “wealth maximization” as we have commonly known it, is not resonating there is a reason why:  “business as usual” has eroded value and requires a shake up to build the economy we need in the future.  The answer, for some, is “impact investing”, and there has never been a better time to consider this.

Where are the Happy Landings in this new Era of Risk and Reward?  That will be the focus of the 2025 Acuity Conference for Distinguished Advisors November 23-26 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.   It may in fact, be the most important conference you attend this year.  Canada’s only multi-disciplinary gathering, appropriately in Mexico, will bring thought leaders together to ponder our New Era of Risk and Reward.