my money
At a Glance
Helping You Understand Financial Planning and Investments
Helpful investment tools
Tracking and understanding your investments can seem
like an intimidating process, especially if you’re not fluent
in financial jargon. Some of the terms and processes
involved are highly technical – after all, investments have
a number of moving parts – but it doesn’t have to be a
major chore to brush up on the lingo, and learn some new
facts about how your money can work best for you.
As a Sun Life Financial plan member, you have access to a
comprehensive suite of online tools and resources to help
you assess your investment risk tolerance and to help plan
for retirement.
Sun Life Financial’s Plan Member Services website provides
you with access to important tools, plus a variety of
calculators to help you make important decisions regarding
your investments.
• Asset allocation tool
The asset allocation tool helps you determine your
investment time horizon and comfort with investment
risk, and in turn, helps you select the investment
options that are right for you. It’s simple, and will only
take about 15 minutes. All of the information is saved
in our recordkeeping system, which allows for easy
access the next time you sign in to the website.
• Retirement planner
The retirement planner guides you through the
retirement planning process. It helps you determine
how much money you may need to live your retirement
dream. This tool will help you formulate your retirement
goals, and create an action plan to meet your goals.
All of the information can be saved and printed.
There are also several calculators available to you:
•
Withdrawal calculator – determines the impact of
withdrawals on your retirement income;
•
Capital gains vs RRSP tax comparison calculator –
helps you determine if you should invest inside or outside
of your RRSP (for stock and equity-based funds);
•
Mortgage vs savings calculator – helps you determine
if it is better to pay off your mortgage, or contribute
to savings;
•
RRSP loan calculator – helps you figure out if you
should take out a lump sum loan to contribute to your
RRSP and improve your tax return;
•
Tax calculator for non-residents – helps non-residents
calculate the tax payable on any money paid or credited
to them;
•
Annuity premium calculator – helps you estimate the
amount you need to pay into an annuity to provide
the income you need for your lifestyle, and estimates
the monthly income that a specific lump-sum will pay
back to you;
Group retirement services are provided by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies.
© 2008, Sun Life Financial. All rights reserved.
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Old Age Security (OAS) clawback calculator – explains
“clawback” and provides you with an estimate of what
your monthly OAS income will be;
Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) calculator –
helps you find out how much you can withdraw each
year from your RRIF, and estimates how long your
retirement income will last.
In addition to the interactive tools and calculators, you
also have access to reports and investment information in
my info Cafe, an interactive and educational section of the
website. You can also learn more about your responsibilities
as an investor, and take advantage of webcasts and other
educational information.
As well, you can access investment reports on Morningstar®
where you will find detailed information about the funds
available in your plan, including the Quarterly Investment
Reports (QIR).
Other web tools
Several provincial securities commissions have investor
education websites to provide investors with comprehensive
information in an easy to read format.
•
Canadian securities administrators
(www.securities-administrators.ca)
•
The Alberta Securities Commission
(www.albertasecurities.com)
•
Autorité des marchés financiers (Québec)
(www.lautorite.qc.ca)
•
The British Columbia Securities Commission
(www.investright.org)
•
Manitoba Securities Commission
(www.msc.gov.mb.ca)
•
New Brunswick Securities Commission
(www.nbsc-cvmnb.ca)
•
Nova Scotia Securities Commission
(www.gov.ns.ca/nssc)
•
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC)
(www.investored.ca)
•
Prince Edward Island Office of the Attorney General
(www.gov.pe.ca/securities)
Today’s economy
To help you navigate today’s economy, we have created a
new webpage that provides all Canadians with information
about managing their money, understanding market
volatility, coping with stress and dealing with job loss. For
more information visit, www.sunlife.ca/todayseconomy.
Banking tools
All of Canada’s major banks (RBC, BMO, CIBC, Scotia Bank,
and TD/Canada Trust) have online financial tools and
calculators to help you make important decisions regarding
your personal finances. These interactive tools can help you
determine your net worth, your potential mortgage or car
loan, and they can also be useful in devising a debt repayment
strategy. There are several options – visit your bank’s website
to learn more.
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Online tools and resources can greatly improve your
understanding of your financial world and empower you
when making decisions and asking questions about your
investments in the future.
If you have a general question or suggestion about this newsletter, please send an e-mail to grsmarcom@sunlife.com
or write to my money At a Glance Newsletter, Group Retirement Services Marketing, Sun Life Financial, 225 King Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3C5.
This bulletin has been created exclusively for you. It addresses issues to help you with your financial planning and investments, and cannot be
reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of Sun Life Financial.