Making Progress - Financial planning at the beginning of career and family

Level 2 � Starting a career and family

Our level 2 calculators build on level 1 and allow you to add more personal data to run the same reports with more detailed, targeted results and to explore "what if" scenarios. They are excellent for people starting their careers and families. Remember, when starting your career, it is important to develop a savings strategy, even with $100 per month. As you live through your twenties and thirties, you'll have more income—and more decisions to make about buying property and raising a family, so now is the time to start a personal savings plan.

Check out our resources to learn about different types of investments, both personal and employer-based, how to invest your savings, and the different services and fees charged by investment advisors and banks.

These reports are also good for people who have made some progress with personal financial savings plans. For example, you can see how contributions to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) and Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) will impact your retirement savings, or the implications of depositing your savings in a bank versus a financial advisor.

Using these calculators will help you to:

• visualize total savings for your retirement, taking into account RRSPs and TFSAs;
• see how that translates into monthly savings today; and
• understand how CPP and OAS benefits are impacted by delaying these benefits or starting them early. 

While we encourage you to talk to your family, friends and financial advisors, RAC's online resources are user-friendly and convenient addition to your financial planning tools. With instant data at your fingertips, you can make better decisions at each stage of your retirement planning journey.

Stay tuned to RAC as we'll be adding more reports to help you every step of the way.