I’ve been asked to take over my parents finances (both 82 years old) as my dad has always managed it in self-directed accounts but is now in declining health. My first thought was that it should just be managed professionally but my dad is very against that and is still well enough to have an opinion. So for now, I’m looking for advice.
Here is their situation:
RRIF: $450k
TSFA: $410k
Non-Registered: $400k
$11k/month in Pension and Annuity income – mostly payable until both pass. With the minimum RRIF withdrawals, it puts their annual before tax income in the $160k range.
$8k/month in expenses
Currently they have about $50k in cash and the rest is in a hedged S&P ETFs (XSP). House is paid for.
So generally, things are quite comfortable and simple and it’s unlikely that they will have any money issues.
They have already given a lot of money away, what they have left is “just in case” money, that, barring some unforeseen expenses, will grow until they pass and then be left to their \~50 grandkids and great grandkids (My siblings and I are nearing retirement and don’t need the money).
I understand that the standard advice is probably something safer than 95% stocks, but in their case I don’t think that applies since it’s unlikely that they will need to touch any of the investments.
I understand the trade-offs between drawing the RRIF down slowly vs quickly and will likely do this at a medium pace. There will also be a significant tax hit when the Non-Registered investments need to be liquidated so I’m wondering if it’s worth trying to spread that out somehow.
The status-quo would just be to continue to the RRIF drawdown, add to the TSFA as room is available, add to the Non-Registered accounts with excess funds and continue to add to the S&P ETF.
Is there any significant benefit to doing something different?