AskTMFG The Podcast

In this episode of AskTMFG, John Iaconetti and Carlo Cansino tackle a question they hear constantly: should you draw from your RRSPs early to delay starting CPP?
They walk through the false beliefs that trip people up, like assuming CPP is always best taken early or that avoiding tax now is automatically the smarter move, and how those beliefs can lead to higher tax brackets, OAS clawback, and smaller lifetime CPP benefits.
Using a client case, Gary and Susan, both 63 with $500,000 in RRSPs, they show how drawing RRSPs first to defer CPP to 70 works for cash flow but forces more aggressive withdrawals, since deferring costs them roughly $150,000 in extra premature RRSP withdrawals combined over seven years. Because they also want to leave an estate to their adult children, and CPP offers no benefit beyond a surviving spouse, the better fit is often the reverse: take CPP earlier, let the RRSP keep growing, and pass it on through beneficiary designations, with strategic melt-down into TFSAs later to soften the estate tax hit.
The takeaway: there's no one-size-fits-all answer; it depends on income, retirement age, other assets, life expectancy, and estate goals.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/jubodV1vIuA 
Question for our listeners: If leaving an estate to your kids matters to you, would that change whether you take CPP early or defer it?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/ 
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/ 

In this episode of AskTMFG, Carlo Cansino breaks down when delaying CPP actually makes sense for retirees with significant savings, using a client example, Doug, to walk through the math.
Most Canadians start CPP the moment they're eligible, but for someone like Doug, with $1.3 million saved and a $20,000 guaranteed income floor before CPP even enters the picture, the decision becomes a planning lever rather than a cash flow necessity. Carlo names four cases where delay isn't the right call: a shortened life expectancy, no spouse to leave a survivor benefit to, an early-retirement market downturn, or already having more guaranteed income than needed.
For Doug, waiting five years grows his CPP by 42% for life, with a breakeven around age 81-82, and delaying to 90 nets him roughly $38,000 more overall. Carlo also covers the OAS clawback question and how to use the pre-CPP years to draw down the RRSP at a lower tax rate while moving surplus into the TFSA.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/nBPPqp6p0OU 
Question for our listeners: If you're sitting on significant retirement savings, would you take CPP as soon as you're eligible, or test what delaying it could do for your plan?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/ 
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial GroupFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/ 

In this episode of AskTMFG, John Iaconetti and Carlo Cansino review 10 common RRSP strategies and mistakes, and break down which approach actually wins out for long-term retirement savings.
They walk through nine missteps clients bring to them again and again: contributing right at the deadline instead of throughout the year and losing months of tax-deferred growth, contributing only the minimum instead of maximizing long-term benefit, parking funds in low-risk assets like GICs that can't keep pace with inflation over decades, concentrating everything in one stock or sector, over-contributing and triggering CRA penalties, treating the RRSP like an emergency fund and paying the tax and penalty cost of early withdrawals, ignoring the core benefit of tax-deferred compounding, and never rebalancing as the portfolio's risk profile drifts over time.
To make it concrete, they run a real client case: a 50-year-old contributing $5,000 annually at the deadline into GICs, projected to grow from $100,000 to about $248,000 over 15 years. By shifting to monthly contributions (capturing tax-deferred growth sooner), indexing contributions to inflation, reinvesting the tax refund back into the plan, and moving into a diversified stock-and-bond portfolio targeting a 6% return, that same starting point grows to roughly $440,000, nearly $200,000 more from those adjustments alone. 
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/AcPvUp28q7I 
Question for our listeners: Which of these nine RRSP mistakes hits closest to home for you: deadline contributions, GIC-heavy allocations, or skipping the rebalance?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial GroupFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.caInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

In this episode of AskTMFG, Carlo Cansino walks through five RRIF moves that most Canadians never think to make before age 71. The mandatory RRIF withdrawal itself can't be changed, but nearly everything around it can, and that's where the tax savings are hiding.
He covers five specific hacks: converting a small slice of your RRSP into a RRIF at 65 to unlock the $2,000 pension income tax credit (and open up income splitting with a spouse), transferring investments in kind rather than cashing out when your RRIF minimum comes due so you're not forced to sell during a market dip, naming a spouse as successor annuitant instead of just beneficiary so the RRIF continues rather than collapsing and triggering a full taxable deregistration, using your last-ever RRSP contribution room in the year you turn 71 before the December 31 deadline, and naming a charity directly on the RRIF (rather than through your will) so the gift skips probate and generates a donation credit that offsets the final tax bill right away.
He closes by noting these are exactly the kinds of details TMFG's advisory team walks through account by account, and invites viewers whose RRSP is converting soon to request a complimentary portfolio analysis.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/7LMrNhrHlQM 
Question for our listeners: Which of these five is the one you hadn't thought about before: converting early, in-kind transfers, successor annuitant, last-minute RRSP room, or naming a charity directly?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial GroupFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.caInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

In this episode of AskTMFG, John Iaconetti and Carlo Cansino dig into a tool most people trust without question: the free online retirement calculator. It looks simple, professional, and authoritative. Plug in your age, income, and savings, and it returns a clear chart showing whether you're on track. The problem is that these calculators are quietly getting the answer wrong for millions of Canadians.
They unpack four flaws that show up across virtually every standard calculator: a flat 3% inflation rate applied to all expenses even though healthcare rises while other costs fall, a static average investment return that ignores real market volatility and sequence-of-returns risk, an assumption that spending stays flat through retirement when it actually dips in the middle years before rising again, and little to no accounting for tax-efficient withdrawal strategies. 
They determined that standard calculators are built for simplicity, not accuracy, and that gap can cost you years of your life you didn't need to work. Getting a true picture means adjusting for category-specific inflation, sequence-of-returns risk, a realistic spending curve, and tax-optimized withdrawals, all specific to your own numbers, not a generic model.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/Xl_6SWVU8Ns 
Question for our listeners: Have you ever run your numbers through a free retirement calculator — and how confident are you that its answer was actually right?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/
Follow us:
LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino, Senior Financial Advisor with The McClelland Financial Group, tackles a decision most Canadians leave until the CRA forces their hand: when to convert an RRSP into a RRIF. Age 71 feels like the deadline, but it's actually the last resort; everything before that is a choice, and the clients who convert early usually end up with more control, not less.
He walks through why converting before 71 lets you set your own withdrawal size instead of being locked into the CRA's mandatory minimum, why RRIF income (unlike RRSP withdrawals) unlocks pension splitting and the $2,000 pension income tax credit starting at 65, and how an early conversion gives you room to refill unused TFSA space on your own timeline.
He also breaks down the compounding effect of waiting: a fuller RRSP balance at 71 collides with a higher mandatory withdrawal percentage, pushing more income onto a tax return at the exact moment CPP and OAS also kick in, and for 2026, crossing the $95,303 OAS clawback threshold costs 15 cents of OAS for every dollar over.
👉 Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/SelA_V0yWY0 
Question for our viewers: Do you know whether converting your RRSP early or waiting until 71 makes more sense for your income picture?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/
Follow us:
LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, John Iaconetti and Carlo Cansino dig into a timing factor most Canadians never think to plan around: the specific month you retire. It's easy to pick a retirement date based on a birthday or an anniversary, but the month can quietly reshape your tax bracket, benefit eligibility, and first-year cash flow.
They unpack why mid-year retirements can stack salary, unused vacation payouts, and partial pension income into one tax year and trigger unnecessary tax burdens, why CPP and OAS don't start automatically and need to be coordinated months in advance to avoid income gaps, and how different months carry different advantages, January for a clean tax-year split, December for maximizing year-end bonuses and pension credits, while April/May can create confusion as T-slips and multiple income sources collide in the same tax cycle.
They wrap up with a simple framework: map out your income streams for the first 12 months post-retirement, coordinate CPP, OAS, and pension timing together rather than separately, and work with a financial planner to pick a retirement month, not just a retirement year.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/3r_LkceCc6w 
Question for our listeners: Have you thought about which month you'll retire in, or just which year?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino breaks down why a guaranteed pension isn't always the better deal compared to savings, using a side-by-side case study of two retirees. Sandra retires with an $ 80,000-per-year pension plus maxed-out CPP and OAS, landing at roughly $107,000/year — fully taxable. Mark retires with $1,000,000 split across an RRSP, TFSA, and non-registered account, and, on the surface, looks $40,000/year short.
He unpacks why Sandra's "bigger number" actually costs her: her guaranteed income pushes her $11,677 over the 2026 OAS clawback threshold of $95,323, resulting in a permanent loss of about $1,752/year to the clawback, with no ability to adjust. Mark, by contrast, can strategically blend RRSP, TFSA, and non-registered withdrawals to keep his taxable income low, fully protect his OAS, and match or beat Sandra's spendable income, but only if he actively melts down his RRSP between 65 and 71, before mandatory RRIF withdrawals force his hand and push him into the same clawback trap.
He wraps up with three takeaways: focus on total taxable income rather than the headline number, know your OAS clawback exposure, and don't skip the pre-71 RRSP drawdown window if you're relying on savings instead of a pension.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/85XdYO3PG-I 
Question for our listeners: If you're relying on savings instead of a pension, do you have a plan for drawing down your RRSP before age 71?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/
Follow us:
LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino breaks down how to avoid the RRSP tax trap for Canadians approaching retirement with large registered balances. Using a $1.7 million RRSP client as an example, he walks through the key questions that shape a smart withdrawal strategy, account consolidation, spousal income splitting, other assets, retirement income needs, CPP/OAS timing, TFSA room, and current versus future tax brackets, then lays out the actual plan: drawing down RRSPs early while in a lower bracket, redirecting some withdrawals into TFSAs, and timing government benefits to avoid clawbacks.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/10vNX3NenUM 
Question for our listeners: Do you have a withdrawal order mapped out for your RRSPs, or are you planning to figure it out at 71?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/ 
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial GroupFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/ 

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino breaks down the three most common (and expensive) CPP mistakes new retirees make in their first year, using Frank as a case study. He retired at 62 with a $650,000 combined RSP/TFSA portfolio and $25,000 a year in consulting income.
He unpacks why retiring and starting CPP are two completely separate decisions (taking CPP at 60 instead of waiting to 70 locks in a permanent swing of over $1,000 a month for life), why CPP payments aren't taxed at the source the way a paycheque is, meaning retirees can get hit with a surprise tax bill if they don't request withholding, and why the online CPP estimate in MyServiceCanada can be misleading if your contribution history has changed since you last checked it.
He wraps up with a simple three-part fix: don't default to starting CPP the moment you retire, either request voluntary withholding or manually set aside your marginal tax rate, and pull your actual contribution record rather than relying on the projected estimate.
👉 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/guAhtH3_vic 
Question for our listeners: Have you actually pulled your CPP contribution record lately, or are you still going off an old estimate?
👉 Complimentary portfolio analysis: https://tmfg.ca/portfolio-analysis/ 
Follow us:LinkedIn: The McClelland Financial Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tmfg.ca Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themcclellandfinancialgroup_/