Five-Year Countdown: A Practical Canadian Retirement Checklist
As retirement nears (five years or less), Canadians should upgrade their strategy: map a sustainable income mix (CPP, OAS, pensions, RRSP/TFSA), consider timing CPP withdrawals, build a 1–3 year cash buffer to guard against sequence-of-returns risk, plan RRSP withdrawals to optimize taxes (potentially shifting to TFSA), and separate needs from wants so guaranteed income covers essentials while investments fund discretionary goals.