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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 23, 2015 | 32 Living in your later years can be expensive ­ plan ahead Dollars & L Sense iving longer changes the dynamics of nancial planning. Old age can be very expensive. Everyone is different and there is no way to predict the future. That is the challenge of planning for later years. Challenging to predict your future lifestyle, including where you will live, and challenging to estimate the cost of growing old. The ultimate trade-off of nancial planning is whether to spend now or save for a rainy day. How do you really know what is best since the future is unknown? A useful exercise is to look forward and unGuest Contributor Peter Watson 2376 Parkhaven Blvd, Oakville 2376 Parkhaven Blvd, Oakville · 905-257-5880 905-257-5880 maximekitchens.ca maximekitchens.ca derstand the types of medical issues that could arise. It will most likely be medical issues associated with aging that will be the reason life gets expensive during the last decade of your life. Scott McNabb, executive director of Homewatch Care Givers, spoke to the Estate Planning Council of Halton in March. He provided an interesting perspective on the aging process. We understand people are living longer and many live into their 90s. More than 25 per cent of seniors living at home receive help with day-to-day living activities. Ten per cent of seniors older than age of 80 live in a long-term care facility. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the leading cause of injury to seniors is as a result of a fall. Eighty- ve per cent of injury-related hospital admissions are a result of a fall. Half of those who survive, lose their mobility and 40 per cent lose their independence. Falling is a risk that could signi cantly change your life and signi cantly add to the cost of living. As Canadians live longer, dementia can become a medical issue. According to a mental health survey in 2002, dementia issues are low at age 65 but increase steadily until age 90 where they affect 50 per cent. In Halton, the Alzheimer Society of Canada estimates there are currently 5,600 people suffering from dementia and that number will grow to more than 11,000 by the year 2031. In previous generations, things were different. First of all, people did not live that long. When they, did family members were available to assist when needed. Today, things are different. Children often live far from their parents and both husband and wife are working without excess time to be devoted to care for an elder family member. In addition, many families are now blended, which adds additional dynamics to family caregiving challenges. More seniors will have to be cared for by others. Initially, care can be received from the healthier spouse. The physical and emotional stress on the healthy spouse, though, can take a toll on their own health. Many seniors are single so there is no in-house help available. The end result is aging seniors see Project on p.33 Bank of Canada Remains On Hold With Hopes of Economic Rebound As was widely expected, on Wednesday April 15, 2015 The Bank of Canada announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 3/4 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/2 per cent. Core inflation, at 2 percent, is a reflection of the dampening effects of a slowing economy offset by the pass through effects of the lower dollar. The Bank is hopeful that global growth will strengthen in coming months to 3-1/2 percent-- consistent with their forecast in January's Monetary Policy Report (MPR)--as a direct result of central bank rate cuts and quantitative easing in Europe. Lower commodity prices will boost growth in some countries. The Bank also believes that strong growth will resume in the United States after a weak first quarter, which, of course, has yet to be confirmed. First quarter growth in Canada has been revised downward to 0.0 percent in the April MPR (from 1.5 percent growth in the January MPR); however, the second quarter is expected to see a rebound to 1.8 percent growth, revised up from earlier expectation. The Bank continues to assert that, "Underneath the effects of the oil price shock, the natural sequence of stronger non-energy exports, increasing investment, and improving labour markets is progressing." This will be aided by an improvement in the U.S. economy and the easing in financial conditions. There remains a good deal of uncertainty in this SPONSORED CONTENT Dr. Sherry Cooper Chief Economist for Dominion Lending Centres Dr. Cooper has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. She began her career at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. where she worked very closely with then-Chairman, Paul Volcker and subsequently joined the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) as Director of Financial Economics. sequence: While March employment in Canada improved substantially, business investment remains disappointing, manufacturing is weak--especially in the auto sector--and the improvement in trade has been less than expected. Real GDP growth is projected to rebound in the second quarter and subsequently strengthen to average about 2 1/2 per cent on a quarterly basis until the middle of 2016. The Bank expects real GDP growth of 1.9 per cent in 2015, 2.5 per cent in 2016, and 2.0 per cent in 2017. The Bank also believes the risks to the outlook are balanced, an upgrade since the last policy meeting in March. As a result of this view, they judge that the current degree of monetary stimulus is appropriate and have left rates unchanged. I am cautiously optimistic that the Bank has got it right, but I continue to believe that the risks are on the downside for the economy and inflation. My forecast for Canadian growth this year is 1.5 percent-below the Bank's 1.9 percent forecast. Much hinges on the U.S. economy. The April MPR revised down its U.S. growth forecast for this year from 3.2 percent to 2.7 percent. 1-888-806-8080 www.dominionlending.ca