The Globe and Mail Retirement Forum is a place for subscribers of all ages to ask questions about retirement and receive answers from a community that includes actual retirees. Personal finance columnist Rob Carrick will also weigh in. Want to know what works in retirement from a money and lifestyle perspective? This is the place. Send questions to rcarrick@globeandmail.com.
In this edition of the forum, a Guelph, Ont., resident who plans to retire in 2020 asks for guidance on what inflation rate he can expect in retirement.
Stuart Peterson says he has calculated annual expenses for he and his spouse and wants to factor in the effect of inflation over the years.
“In a spreadsheet, if I add 2 per cent each year, my expenses increase by approximately $1,200 to $1,400 a year. This does seem kind of high and I don’t think I have been experiencing these kind of increases over the past ten years.”
Rob’s thoughts: The latest guidelines for financial planners recommend that an inflation rate of 2.1 per cent be used, while the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator tells us the average inflation rate over the past 30 years has been 2 per cent. For the broad population, there’s good reason to project future living costs for the rising by about 2 per cent annually.
Retirees, what can you tell us about how much your living costs rise each year – is it less or more than 2 per cent? Also, what prices are rising the most?
Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Rob Carrick