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; • This information is provided to the Research Pension Plan members of the Research Pension Plan Committee as part of the ongoing information and communication strategy. This document and future communications are available online at: www.usask/ca/fsd/pensions. 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; Continued * • 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). 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. i 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) 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.