Company Pensions
Less than 25 percent of Canadian workers are covered by a company pension plan. There are two basic types of Registered Pension Plans, Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution.

In the absence of a company pension plan, your personal savings become more important.

Government Benefits
Canada Pension Plan (CPP/QPP) is only available to those who have paid into the program during their working years. For 2010, the maximum retirement benefit payable at age 65 is $11,210 per year. It is indexed annually for inflation and is received as a taxable benefit.

Old Age Security (OAS) is available to Canadians age 65 and older even if they have never worked outside the home. The amount is inflation adjusted quarterly, and as of April, 2009 was $6,204 per year. High income earners may have this income "clawed-back".
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Savings and Investments

    - TFSA
    - RRSP and RRIF
    - annuities
    - reverse mortgages
    - tax efficiency

Even if we are fortunate enough to have a company pension, we've got to do some aggressive savings of our own. We start with tax-sheltered vehicles such as RRSPs, spousal RRSPs and the newly introduced Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA).
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Tax Strategies in Retirement

 
    - tax credits
    - tax deductions
    - tax shelters
    - income splitting
    - inheritance


The Tax-man doesn't retire!

Our tax world changes when we retire. Chances are you have had tax and other deductions handled by your employer during your working years. If you filed your own tax returns, you may be aware of issues like personal and spousal exemptions and deductions for RRSP contributions, but had no need to keep an eye on other tax issues such as age and pension income credits. Other deductions such as medical, and home office may become more important.