AskTMFG The Podcast

In this episode of AskTMFG, Financial Advisors Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti look at one of the most common fears in retirement planning: running out of money. Most Canadians worry their savings won't last, and that fear often leads to sacrifices that aren't necessary. In their experience working with retirees, much of this anxiety comes from misunderstanding what makes retirement savings last....

In this episode of AskTMFG, Senior Financial Advisor Carlo Cansino walks through the case of Robert, a 58-year-old pre-retiree in Ontario with a bonus sitting in savings, a stock that's up $15,000, and unused TFSA room. Maxing the TFSA felt like the responsible move, and it's the advice most people hear. But in the 5 to 10 years before retirement, funding it the wrong way can cost you more than it...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Financial Advisors Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti walked through five signs that you're financially ahead at each stage of life in Canada, from your 40s through your 60s. In your 40s, Carlo and John said a good benchmark is retirement savings of about two to three times your annual income. Other signs are steady progress on your mortgage, diversified investments, surp...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Senior Financial Advisor Carlo Cansino walked through a real client case: a couple with four accounts (an RRSP, a LIRA from a former employer, a TFSA, and a non-registered account), all built over 30 years with no plan for how to draw them down in retirement. The couple had been spending out of habit. They pulled from the TFSA for home repairs and vacations while the no...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Financial Advisors Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti walked through every major government change that took effect for Canadian retirees in 2025, covering CPP, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement. The maximum monthly CPP payment rose to $1,406.10 in January 2025, up from $1,364.60 the year before, with the yearly maximum pensionable earnings increasing...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Senior Financial Advisor Carlo Cansino tackles one of the most common misconceptions in CPP planning: that delaying CPP to age 70 is automatically the smarter move. The answer isn't as simple as the standard break-even math suggests. Most CPP comparisons stop at the age when the larger deferred payments overtake the smaller early payments, typically around age 79, but t...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti tackle one of the most common questions they hear from Canadian retirees: is $1 million still enough to retire on. The answer looks different than it did just a few years ago. Most people assume a million dollar portfolio supports $50,000 to $60,000 a year in spending, but a more sustainable range is actually $35,000 to $45,000, dependin...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Carlo Cansino compares two common retirement income profiles at age 75: a retiree with a $60,000 a year indexed defined benefit pension, and a retiree holding $900,000 in an RRSP. The RRSP balance appears larger on paper, but a closer look at the tax treatment of each reveals a more nuanced picture. Both retirees start at 65 with the same CPP and OAS baseline, but their...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti break down the five changes Canadian retirees consistently say they wish they'd made at age 55, using a real client couple to show what happens when a plan is missing. At 55, you still have time to course correct: understanding CPP and OAS eligibility before you're locked into a claiming decision, diversifying and rebalancing your portfo...

In this episode of AskTMFG, Carlo Cansino walks through 11 assumptions that quietly derail retirement plans, even for people who did everything right on paper. Carlo covers the blind spots most retirees never plan around: treating home equity as income when it's rarely touched, assuming a spouse can step in without a written plan, letting kids' requests erode savings without a set number in advanc...

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 sma...

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 l...

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 i...

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 (a...

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 Canadi...

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, no...

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,...

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...

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 ro...

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 waiti...

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti unpack why hitting the $1 million mark in retirement savings isn't just a financial milestone; it's a psychological turning point, and what actually changes once you get there. They cover what a million-dollar portfolio can sustainably generate (roughly $7,000 a month after tax before government benefits are added), why the "...

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino breaks down the married couples' version of the retirement income plan, how a 67-year-old with $1 million in his RRSP and a 64-year-old spouse with $200,000 in hers can structure withdrawals to keep $10,000 to $20,000 more per year than couples who don't plan strategically together. He covers the key moves: converting a portion of an RRSP to a...

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti break down why the "$1.7 million to retire" headline number isn't the full story, and what actually determines your real retirement target at age 60. They cover the common mistakes Canadians make, like using a cookie-cutter savings figure instead of working from actual expenses, forgetting that CPP is permanently reduced by r...

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino breaks down the 5 mistakes Canadians can't afford to make in their last year before retirement. He covers the common pitfalls, like delaying the RRSP meltdown until age 71 forces mandatory withdrawals, picking a CPP start date without modeling it against your full income picture, and triggering the OAS clawback by accident once RRIF minimums, C...

In this episode of the AskTMFG Podcast, Carlo Cansino and John Iaconetti break down why having a pension fundamentally changes your retirement strategy. They cover the common mistakes Canadians make, like failing to account for the tax impact of pension income, ignoring inflation's effect on fixed payments, and overlooking spousal survivor benefits, plus how to coordinate pension income with RRSPs...