Parents Ages: Immigration

Three Generations Dept: Samantha brings home $14,500 a month after tax -- it's the family's only source of income. That's more than adequate in the town where they live, but they worry that as relatively recent immigrants they will not be able to build up sufficient savings for retirement. They live modestly, striving to build up their net worth. "We had no savings when we arrived in Canada in 1997," Samantha says. "We only began contributing to various pension plans fairly recently and our investments are actually rather small. Will our savings grow enough in the next 20 years for us to retire in comfort? Should we think more about the future, and save more for it, than we do about the present and should we spend less?", according to Montreal Gazette. The planning problem for the family, which really encompasses three generations, is to balance present and future spending, measure and plan investments for retirement, and to create a plan that captures the income and expenses they will have after Samantha leaves her government job and a couple we'll call Geoffrey and Samantha emigrated to Canada in 1997 with little more than their luggage. Samantha, 46, a physician trained abroad, now works for a provincial government's health service, while Geoffrey, 47, formerly an accountant, prefers to be a stay-at-home dad. Geoffrey and Samantha provide financial help to their sons, one a university student who is partly self-supporting, and the other in elementary school, for whom they are contributing to a registered education savings plan. They also provide support to Geoffrey's parents, ages 72 and 75. Family Finance asked Dan Stronach, a financial planner who heads the Stronach Group in Toronto, to work with the couple. His take on their situation is that they can relax, spend more now and still have a secure and comfortable retirement. As reported in the news.
@t stay at home dad, plan investments