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Financial Freedom As you browse the internet or follow the traditional financial media you will see countless offers that promise to reveal the secret of becoming wealthy. The sad truth is that most of us will never be wealthy by their definitions but we can still pursue financial freedom. The day you achieve financial freedom can be described as the day you no longer have to work for a living. It is the day you can begin to draw income from your investments and from other ...benefits that are sufficient to support a comfortable lifestyle. At that point you can choose to retire from active employment, semi-retire or continue working. You have the freedom to make that choice on your terms. It can be a liberating feeling. The question for most of us is, How much do I need to save personally in order for that to happen? And how would a market correction impact me?" Read More here: http://moneypages.ca/blog/articles-of-interest

Whether you like the Canada Pension Plan or dislike the idea of mandatory participation in the plan, it can be helpful to have an idea of what your potential benefits might be in relation to contributions made. Unlike OAS (Old Age Security) which is based on years of residency in Canada without regard to employment income, CPP benefits are based on what you put into the program. The more you contribute annually and the more years that you contribute, the greater your benefits... will be. In that way CPP is very much like employer sponsored defined benefit pension plans. However it is maddenly complicated to estimate what you might receive. For those who have not begun drawing benefits we have developed a tool that can give you some idea of what to expect. You can use it to help decide what course of action to pursue before applying for your benefits You can access it here - http://moneypages.ca/calculator/22/cpp-oas-optimizer. Keep in mind the results are only estimates potential benefits. Of course there is always the worry that the program will be under-funded in the future and benefits won't be available when your turn comes to begin drawing on your CPP. Those are legitimate concerns. At the moment CPP seems to be a well-funded program, better than many employer based defined benefit plans, but that could change.

The changes made to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) make it an even more important factor when Canadians are considering their sources of retirement income. The challenge is that the calculation of those potential benefits has become even more complicated as the new program is phased in over the next 40 years! MoneyPages has re-developed the CPP/OAS Optimizer so it will incorporated these changes into your estimated CPP benefits at retirement.... Check it out here. It is free and easy to use. http://moneypages.ca/calculator/22/cpp-oas-optimizer

The SmartPlanner retirement planning software has added a new and important feature. When you use the SmartPlanner, your retirement plan is automatically stress tested to determine the impact of a major market correction. It helps you to determine the amount of risk in your plan. The Stress Test along with the Monte Carlo simulation is a unique risk analysis combination that is lacking in many retirement software packages. For a detailed retirement plan, check out the SmartPl...anner https://moneypages.ca/smart-planner/index. A list of our other free personal finance tools can be seen here. https://moneypages.ca/ MoneyPages is a public service website that provides all Canadians with free access to personal finance tools.

Deciding when to retire comes down to a financial decision for many. "When can I afford to retire?" becomes the question. The QuickPlanner provides guidelines & can give you a snapshot of your financial future in just 5 minutes. http://moneypages.ca/calculat/2/basic-retirement-calculator

How much will you need to save in order to retire comfortably? The QuickPlanner considers the many different factors that come into play and provides you with useful guidelines. For a quick snapshot of your future retirement picture try the free QuickPlanner now! http://moneypages.ca/calculat/2/basic-retirement-calculator

With about 2 months to the RRSP contribution deadline, now is the time to do some tax planning. Use the MoneyPages tax calculator to see how much in taxes an RRSP contribution can make. http://moneypages.ca/calculator//2018-income-tax-calculator

On average Canadians list debt management as their #1 financial concern. You can use the DebtPlanner to see where you stand and get ideas for an Action Plan. http://moneypages.ca/simplified-debt-analysis#

While a lot of attention is focused on achieving high rates of return and minimizing fees, less attention is paid to the *amount of money* you need to save each year. The QuickPlanner can help you identify that amount. http://moneypages.ca/calculat/2/basic-retirement-calculator

Estimating your income needs in retirement can be challenging. Our QuickPlanner provides you with guidelines to make the job easier. http://moneypages.ca/calculat/2/basic-retirement-calculator

When trying to calculate your future retirement income how do you estimate your CPP benefits? Our QuickPlanner provides you with guidelines. http://moneypages.ca/calculat/2/basic-retirement-calculator

Our QuickPlanner is an entry level peronsal finance tool designed to introduce Canadians to the financial planning process. It is quick and easy to use with results that can be viewed on a single page. If you don't have any kind of written financial or retirement plan, try the free QuickPlanner http://moneypages.ca/calculat/2/basic-retirement-calculator

With the recent data breach at Marriott Hotels the financial information of more than 500 million users was compromised. Granting access to your personal financial information to any organization should make you pause and consider the potential consequences. There is a risk every time you do. On the other hand, there are countless tools on the internet that can make our lives easier.... One tool that many use is a household budget app that allows us to track expenses and identify what our spending habits are. The problem is that many of these require access to your bank accounts and/or your credit card information. It's convenient because it requires little work on your part but the downside is that you are putting your personal financial information at risk. Stolen identities and bank account numbers can be devasting. Our BudgetTracker allows you to track your spending in the same way as other apps but you do not have to reveal any sensitive financial information. No names, addresses, bank account numbers or credit card numbers are required. And there is no cost to use the program. It is completely free. The one requirement is that you enter your information manually. When you get a receipt simply enter the amount into the appropriate category or categories. Manual entry also gives you added flexibility by allowing you to customize your input. You can access our BudgetTracker programs here. If you are looking for a budget app, give it a try. http://moneypages.ca/page/19/budget-net-worth

Tracking your expenses is one of the first steps to take when organizing your personal finances. It helps to identify where you are spending your money and can highlight where improvements can be made. The BudgetTracker from MoneyPages is designed to make that task easy for you. It is also free and does not require you to divulge senstivie financial information such as bank account or credit card numbers.... You can try it here http://moneypages.ca/page/19/budget-net-worth

MoneyPages is pleased to introduce our free Personal BudgetTracker. It makes tracking your monthly expenses easy and provides great reports and charts that can help you visualize your spending at a glance. It is safe, simple and easy to use. Check it here http://moneypages.ca/frontend/index/budgettracker

Are you looking for objective, independent information about real estate and buying a home. Check our tips and tools here http://moneypages.ca/page/23/real-estate-overview

MoneyPages has made it even easier for you to create a picture of your financial future. Our SmartPlanner requires no subscritpion or registration, simply click on this link and start planning https://moneypages.ca/smart-planner/index

MoneyPages has eliminated all subscription requirements for access to our premium retirement planning software - the SmartPlanner. Create your own comprehensive retirement plan now. Start here https://moneypages.ca/smart-planner/index

The Bank of Canada just raised the interest rate on the 5 year mortgage rate that is used in determining how much you can borrow when buying a home. It just got more difficult to qualify for a mortgage.

Plan now for the future! Small changes can have a big impact on your future retirement income. Check how you can maximize that income with our free RRSP/RRIF optimizer. http://moneypages.ca/calculator/34/rrsp-rrif-converter

When should you convert your RRSP to a RRIF? Circumstances are different for everyone. Our new RRSP - RRIF Optimizer can help you make the best decision http://moneypages.ca/calculator/34/rrsp-rrif-converter

Over 1400 new users have checked out the personal finance tools on MoneyPages in April. Check them on your mobile phone, your tablet or your desktop computer. http://moneypages.ca

Banks websites suggest that you can use their resources to determine the optimal time to begin drawing government benefits but they actually offer no tools to do that. Instead they seek your personal information so they can promote their services. As an option you can use the free tools on MoneyPages that provide answers to a multitude of financial questions - and you can do so in complete anonymity. http://moneypages.ca

MoneyPages has over 1,000 new users try our personal finance tools in the past 3 weeks. Check what's new here http://moneypages.ca/

Canadians are facing financial stress with high debt and rising rates https://www.huffingtonpost.ca//consumer-debt-poll-mnp-can/. Use our debt planner to check your personal debt levels. http://moneypages.ca/simplified-debt-analysis

More than 400 new users have tried our CPP & OAS Optimizer in the past week. If you have questions about when to take your government benefits in retirement you can check it here http://moneypages.ca/calculator/22/cpp-oas-optimizer

We have been upgrading our existing financial tools and adding new ones. Check them out at www.moneypages.ca

Deferring CPP benefits to age 70 versus taking them early at age 60 more than doubles the monthly benefit. http://buff.ly/2u1KJ80

The summer season typically brings a lot of real estate activity. Estimate your costs with the MortgagePlanner http://buff.ly/2rXuxE8

Compare mortgage rates from Cdn banks at a glance http://buff.ly/2rX7GZo

If you have ever wondered about buying crypto currencies like Bitcoin or Ether - here is a link

On a $400k mortgage with a 20 year amortization, payments would increase by $400/month with a rate increase from 3% to 5%. #livingontheedge

Defined contribution #pensions don't provide a guaranteed income. Know your options via Pensions&Investments http://buff.ly/2pRfICT #retirement

We've removed the barriers to creating a retirement plan. Use SmartPlanner with no subscription required. http://buff.ly/2qmu5Pu #freeplan