Finance committee  We have to remember that we do have a carry-forward opportunity, which I think is almost akin to a lifetime maximum. I think the lifetime maximum that people are referring to is, at age 55 or older, to have an additional lump sum amount, say $50,000 or $100,000, that could be ava

Finance committee  Right now, at age 71, the minimum withdrawal is 7.38%. Given that we are living longer, at that rate of withdrawal and if it increases, that money will not last. We've heard that 4% or 5% withdrawal rates were more sustainable, but I leave it up to future discussion to determine

Finance committee  We have not determined a cost at this point. At this point, it's a suggestion.

Finance committee  I had also heard conversations of age 71 to 75. I don't know what that magic number is. Perhaps as we have further studies in here.... One of the things I have noted from self-employed individuals—business owners—is that their retirement date tends to be later anyway. When Canad

Finance committee  If I could just quickly comment, Ian, you're absolutely right. Within BMO Financial Group, Canadians do have access to professional advice to help them make decisions on how to invest their money. When we look at the management expense ratios, we do not want to overlook the fact

Finance committee  I do have a question. When we're talking about the the Canada Pension Plan, one of the things about being in the financial services industry is that I know Canadians are very concerned about leaving an estate. Under CPP currently, if you are 65 years old and contribute your entir

Finance committee  Yes, we have had some informal discussions on that. One of the recommendations we made was to allow RRSPs and RIFFs to roll over to an RDSP, the registered disability savings plan, which I noted earlier has been proposed in this year's federal budget, so we were quite pleased.

Finance committee  Currently, we already allow tax-free rollovers to a surviving spouse upon the decease, whether they have an RRSP or a RRIF. It puts individuals who do not have a surviving spouse or common-law partner at par. This is very common in Canada, where we see the divorce rates rising si

Finance committee  We recommended tax-free rollover from RRIFs and RRSPs to RDSPs in the last budget. We were very happy to hear that announcement included. I'd like to make one final comment about Ian Lee's presentation on using home equity as a retirement vehicle. In our experience as financial

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of BMO Financial Group, I am pleased to present some views on retirement income security of Canadians. Throughout my career, I've been involved in financial planning and dealing with the many issues that the committee is facing right now. As