A Life Planning To Do List

September 2026

Printable version: Download the handout (PDF) – a two-page summary of this list that you can print, tick off and share with your family.

The best way to get the most out of life is to plan now. It is important to use your time and money to enjoy today but, also, to save enough to provide for tomorrow…financial planning for a balanced lifestyle. Review the following list, which is by no means complete, and use it to help you meet your goals.

The list follows three stages of life: young adult, pre-retirement and retirement. You will notice that the same topics appear in each stage. A Will, for example, is something that you prepare when you are young, update as your family and assets change, and review and simplify in retirement. Read the stage that fits you now, then read the next stage so that you know what is coming. Read the earlier stage for your children or grandchildren.

Print the handout linked above, tick each item as you finish it, and write a date beside every item that you have not started. (A goal without a date is only a wish.)

How the Same Topics Change

Young Adults – Build and Protect

You are starting out: earning, perhaps renting or buying a first home and perhaps raising a family. Your work at this stage is to build good habits and to put protection in place before you need it.

• Wills, Powers of Attorney and Directives – prepare. Make a Will, a Power of Attorney, a Personal Directive and a Health Care Directive regardless of whether you have a partner, dependants or assets. These are not optional if you want your family and beneficiaries to receive as much as possible when you die. A Will names your Executor and directs who receives your property. A Power of Attorney names the person (your “attorney”) who may manage your financial affairs if you cannot. A “Health Care Directive” states your wishes about medical treatment and names a “proxy” to make those decisions if you cannot. A “Personal Directive” names an “agent” to make your personal decisions, such as your daily care, where you live and with whom you associate, when you are unable to make them yourself. See my Wills Checklist – Advice on Preparation of Your Last Will and Testament.
• Beneficiaries, Joint Ownership and Your Records – name and organize. Name a beneficiary on each of your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), First Home Savings Account (FHSA), workplace pension and insurance plans, because these designations pass the money outside your Will. For a TFSA, especially if you have a spouse, consider naming your spouse as the “successor holder” instead of a beneficiary, so that the account continues in your spouse’s name, still tax-free, rather than being paid out. Use joint ownership only after obtaining professional advice on legal, tax and creditor issues; you could lose your asset because of your co-owner’s issues, or you may have created tax reporting issues. Start a simple list of your accounts and where your documents are kept. See my Joint Ownership – Understand the Risks and Benefits.
• Saving and Investing – build. Do you have a liquid emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of living expenses? Are your cash needs for the next 5, maybe up to 10 years, invested in safe securities (normally those that pay interest)? Are you saving 5 to 10% of your take-home pay on top of any employer savings or pension plan, or 15 to 20% if you have none? These percentages are rules of thumb only. Are your long-term needs invested in a portfolio that you understand and that is well-diversified between safety and risk? Buy no investment without understanding the worst case scenario. See my Financial Planning 101 Chart – How Much Money to Put Where?.
• RRSPs, TFSAs and Other Registered Plans – open and use. Are you taking advantage of all tax-beneficial plans, such as a TFSA, a First Home Savings Account (for a first home), a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP), an RRSP and a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP, for disabled family members)? Obtain professional advice on which to use when. See my Which Comes First – RRSP, TFSA, Mortgage, Other.
• Pensions and Government Benefits – join. Join your employer’s pension or savings plan, if there is one, and keep a record of your employment. Your future Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefit is built on your earnings, so there is little to decide now unless you are a self-employed businessperson using a corporation, because the way that you pay yourself (salary or dividends) affects your CPP.
• Insurance – insure your income. Young adults often insure their lives but not their incomes. Your ability to earn an income is often the largest asset that you own, so ask about disability insurance. Add life insurance once others depend on you, and choose the right type: term (coverage for a set number of years) or permanent (coverage for your whole life). Carry tenant or home insurance and personal liability coverage, and never leave the country without private travel insurance (and know its limitations, including its health stability period, which is the time before your trip during which your health must remain stable). See my Risk Management – A Review of Insurance Issues and Related Matters.
• Housing, Spending and Debt – buy carefully. Only use loans for assets that hold value, such as a home, or perhaps a vehicle to allow you to work, and for investing only if you can afford to lose money. Pay off your credit card monthly, and check your credit report once a year for errors. Compare paying down a mortgage with saving in an RRSP or TFSA, and likely do some of both. See my Financial Advice for Young Adults.
• Advice – get a plan. Do you have a written financial plan setting out a savings plan to meet your goals, such as travelling, buying a home, raising a family, educating the children and, of course, retirement? A personal financial plan covers cash flow and debt management, insurance and risk management, tax planning and estate planning, in addition to investment analysis and retirement projections. The latter are often provided by product sales reps, but be sure to cover all the topics.

Pre-Retirement – Shift and Prepare

Retirement is getting closer. The same topics return, but the question changes. You are no longer only building; you are checking that what you have built will support you, and adjusting it while you still have time.

• Wills, Powers of Attorney and Directives – update. Review your Will, Power of Attorney and directives after any marriage, separation, death or move, and whenever your assets change significantly. Consider adding a Letter of Wishes. The Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives Act came into force on November 1, 2025, so ask your lawyer whether your existing documents still work as you intend. A Letter of Wishes records personal preferences that you do not wish to be binding on your Executor. The province also publishes the Advance Care Planning Workbook to help you think through your wishes.
• Beneficiaries, Joint Ownership and Your Records – check and record. Confirm that every beneficiary designation still fits your family; a former spouse, or a person who has died, is a common problem. To demonstrate what I am saying, suppose that your Will divides everything equally among your three children, but your $150,000 RRIF names only your eldest. That child receives the RRIF, and your Will does not change it. An RRSP or RRIF is reported as income on your final tax return,^{ITA146(8.8), ITA146.3(6)} so the tax is normally paid from your estate; hence all three children may share the tax bill while only one receives the money. If the estate has insufficient money to pay the taxes on the RRSP or RRIF, the CRA may collect from the person who received the money.^ITA160.2 Your lawyer can draft your Will to address this. Make a list of your important documents, information, assets (including original costs) and liabilities, and keep it with your Will, including your digital assets (for example, social media, email and online banking). Do not write your passwords in a binder that others can open. See my Life and Legacy Binder Index (aka the “Death Binder”).
• Saving and Investing – shift toward safety. Are you increasing the safety of your investments as you get closer to retirement (or in your RESP when your children are within 5 years of post-secondary education)? Build your safe money toward 5 to 7 years of spending, and review your portfolio mix at least once a year against your written plan. Are you still saving regularly, and enough to reach your retirement plan? See my Financial Planning 101 Chart – How Much Money to Put Where?.
• RRSPs, TFSAs and Other Registered Plans – plan the withdrawals. Use your remaining contribution room, then decide which accounts you will draw on first, and when. See my RRSP and RRIF Withdrawal Timing Considerations. If you will receive a retiring allowance, plan before your last day of work. A retiring allowance is fully taxable, although part of it may be transferred to your RRSP without using your contribution room if it relates to service before 1996.^ITA60(j.1) The date that you are paid can also change the tax that you pay, so ask before you retire.
• Pensions and Government Benefits – estimate and decide. Create a “My Service Canada Account” so that you can view your CPP information online, and estimate your CPP and Old Age Security (OAS). Have you decided when to start each? Applying at the wrong time is a mistake that I see often, and delaying is frequently the correct answer, although it depends on your health, your other income and your tax situation. See the research paper Get the Most from the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans by Delaying Benefits and my Common Investing and Financial Planning Mistakes. Ask your pension administrator about a “lump-sum” payment (sometimes called the commuted value) versus a monthly pension, and about survivor benefits, because many of these decisions cannot be reversed.
• Insurance – reassess. Do you still need life insurance, and in what amount? Consider needs, wants and affordability. Ask what happens to your group health, drug and life insurance the day you retire, and whether you may continue or convert any of it. Never cancel a policy without a health checkup and financial advice, and never leave the country without private travel insurance (and know its limitations, including its health stability period). See my Risk Management – A Review of Insurance Issues and Related Matters.
• Housing, Spending and Debt – reduce and plan. Are you paying down your debts to be debt-free by retirement? Think ahead about where you will live: stay, downsize or move. Keep records of what you paid for your home and for your improvements.
• Advice – meet yearly. Are you meeting at least annually with your financial planner to review your progress? Are you getting your questions answered fully, with a comparison of your current net worth to your target plan, a comparison of your investment performance to industry averages, and an evaluation of your portfolio risk balancing and the fees that you pay? Write down your questions before each meeting. See my Questions for Financial Advisor Annual Portfolio Review.

Retirement – Draw, Protect and Simplify

You are retired, or about to be. The same topics return once more, and now the work is to draw on what you have built, to protect it and to keep your affairs simple for you and your family.

• Wills, Powers of Attorney and Directives – review and simplify. Review your Will, Power of Attorney and directives every 3 to 5 years, and after any major change. Name people whom you trust as your executor, attorney, agent and proxy, name alternates, and tell them where your documents are. Plan for the day that you cannot manage your own affairs: ask your bank and your investment firm whether you may name a “trusted contact person”, someone they may call if they are concerned about you or cannot reach you.
• Beneficiaries, Joint Ownership and Your Records – keep current. Update your Life and Legacy Binder and your beneficiary designations every year, and tell your Executor where the binder is. Be cautious about adding a child to the title of your home or bank account: it can trigger immediate tax, expose the asset to your child’s creditors or divorce, and may create a trust with its own tax reporting duties. See my Joint Ownership – Understand the Risks and Benefits and Whose Property Is It, Really? Trusts, Joint Title, and the Family Home. Pre-plan your funeral, whether you pre-pay for it or not, and write down your wishes where your family can find them before the funeral, because the Will is often not read until afterwards. See my Planning Your Funeral – A Guide for You to Use.
• Saving and Investing – protect and draw. Are your day-to-day spending needs for the next 5 to 10 years in short-term, safe (i.e., fixed income) securities? When the stock market declines, draw on those safe securities rather than selling stocks at a low price. Are you still evaluating your performance to your plan at least annually? See my Financial Planning 101 Chart – How Much Money to Put Where? and Crashing Stock Markets and Retirement Savings.
• RRSPs, TFSAs and Other Registered Plans – convert and withdraw. Convert your RRSP by December 31 of the year in which you turn 71.^{ITA146(2)(b.4)} Most people convert to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), which requires a minimum withdrawal each year, or buy a life annuity (regular payments for life from an insurance company). You may base the RRIF minimum on your spouse’s age if he or she is younger. You can draw more than the minimum if you wish, but do so only with financial advice unless you need the money immediately. See the research paper Retirement Drawdown Choices: RRIF, TFSA and Non-registered Accounts and my RRSP and RRIF Withdrawal Timing Considerations.
• Pensions and Government Benefits – collect pensions and benefits, and manage the tax. Consider having income tax withheld from your pension and benefit payments, so that a large bill does not surprise you at tax time. Once your net income passes an annual threshold, the government recovers part of your OAS (often called the “clawback”).^ITA180.2 Couples may reduce their combined tax by splitting eligible pension income.^ITA60.03 See my Tax Planning Using Income Splitting. Do not miss deducting any new medical expenses, and ask whether the disability tax credit applies to you or a family member.^{ITA118.2, ITA118.3} See my Medical Expenses and Taxes – What Can You Claim?.
• Insurance – trim and keep the essentials. Review all of your policies once a year and evaluate what type and amount of insurance is required. Before you cancel or reduce any policy, obtain advice and, for life insurance, a health checkup. Never leave the country without private travel insurance (and know its limitations, including its health stability period). See my Risk Management – A Review of Insurance Issues and Related Matters.
• Housing, Spending and Debt – right-size. Review your expenses for savings. Buy only what you need, and comparison shop on all expenses, such as your telephone, Internet, television, insurance and bank account fees. Remember senior discounts, government grants to help with certain purchases, and tax credits for seniors. See my Managing Your Budget – Finding More Cash. Consider downsizing on housing and automobiles. Get tax and legal advice before transferring your home to family members, especially with a life interest, by gift or to joint ownership, and remember that the sale of a home may have to be reported on your tax return even when no tax is payable.^ITA40(2)(b) See my Life Interests and the Family Home – Probate vs. Taxes. Understand the costs and available subsidies for seniors housing, including long-term care homes. For PEI, see my Nursing Home / Long-term Care Financial Assistance in PEI, Questions to Ask When Comparing Community or Long-term Care Homes and Checklist for Moving to Assisted Living.
• Advice – guard and give. Never send money, gift cards or cryptocurrency to anyone who pressures you to act quickly, even if the caller claims to be a grandchild, a bank employee or the Canada Revenue Agency. Hang up, and call a family member or advisor whom you trust. If the story is an accident or a medical emergency, confirm it independently before you pay: call the person, or the hospital or the police, using a number that you already have or look up yourself. A genuine emergency will survive a short verification call; a scam depends on you not making one. Educate your children on financial management. If called on to assist financially, obtain advice on the pros and cons of using a loan instead of a gift, and consider helping them save money in a First Home Savings Account, a TFSA or an RESP. Think about how you can help others: donate to charity, now or in your Will, and reap significant tax savings as a bonus.^ITA118.1 Volunteer for a cause that you like. Continue to take an interest in your own financial situation: write down your questions before you meet your planner, record the meeting on your cell phone or ask for a written report for later reference, because with aging we often become more forgetful. See my Do You Need Financial Planning Advice? Answer These Questions.
• Planning for the Survivor – prepare. One of you will likely live alone one day, so plan for it now while both of you are able to talk about it. Would your spouse know what to do tomorrow? Make sure that your spouse knows where your accounts, documents and advisors are, and can pay the bills without you. Find out which pensions and benefits reduce or end at death; some (such as the CPP survivor benefit and the CPP death benefit) must be applied for. The CPP death benefit, payable if the person who died made enough CPP contributions, is a one-time payment of $2,500, increased to $5,000 if that person never received a CPP or QPP retirement or disability benefit and leaves no spouse or common-law partner who is eligible for a survivor’s pension. Ask your tax advisor to estimate the survivor’s tax, because one person alone may pay more tax on the same household income once pension income can no longer be split between two people. At death, you are generally treated as having sold your capital property at its fair market value,^ITA70(5) unless it passes to your spouse,^ITA70(6) and your Executor must file a final return for the year of death. See my Deceased Taxpayers – Checklist of Requirements for Tax Return Preparation, Settling Your Estate – Understand the Process and Tax Planning to Reduce Taxes Upon Death.

Every Year at Tax Time – A Review Checklist

Reminders are easier to keep when you attach them to a date. Tax time works well, because you are already gathering your papers. Once a year, review the following.

• Your portfolio mix. Is it still right for your stage of life, your plan and your ability to sleep at night when the stock market drops?
• Your insurance. Does each policy still fit your needs, and are you still paying the best price? Has anything changed at work or in your health?
• Your beneficiary designations. Are they current on every registered plan, pension and insurance policy?
• Your Will, Power of Attorney and directives. Has anything changed in your family, your assets or your wishes?
• Your Life and Legacy Binder. Record the date of the review, and tell your Executor about any change in where things are kept.
• Your spending against your plan. Are you on track, and do you need to change the plan?

Concluding Remarks

It is your money and your life, and, ultimately, you (not your advisor, your children or I) are responsible for making a plan and carrying it out. Use this list to start the conversation with your family and your professional advisors, and update it whenever your circumstances change. Share it with your adult children; they will need it eventually.

Printable version: Download the handout (PDF) – a two-page summary of this list that you can print, tick off and share with your family.

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Blair Corkum, CPA, CA, R.F.P., CFP, CFDS, CLU, CHS holds his Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant, Registered Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Divorce Specialist as well as several other financial planning related designations. Blair offers hourly based fee-only personal financial planning, holds no investment or insurance licenses, and receives no commissions or referral fees. This publication should not be construed as legal or investment advice. It is neither a definitive analysis of the law nor a substitute for professional advice which you should obtain before acting on information in this article. Information may change as a result of legislation or regulations issued after this article was written.©Blair Corkum