At Trans Canada Wealth Management, we’ve built a reputation for helping Canadians draw down their retirement savings in a tax-efficient way. Over time, some viewers of our YouTube channel began reaching out to ask if they could pay a one-time fee to have a personalized retirement withdrawal plan built for them.
At first, this seemed like a great opportunity. As a business owner, I was excited that people valued our expertise enough to pay for it. We started offering one-time plans to individuals who often handled their own investments and were simply looking for help with the drawdown piece.
It worked for a while. But eventually, we stopped offering this service. Here’s why.
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One-time retirement plans don’t hold up
lanning a tax-efficient drawdown of your retirement portfolio might sound like a one-time task, but it’s not. Things change. And when they do, that static plan can quickly become irrelevant.
The amount of income you need may change. Tax laws change. Market returns vary. Life events happen. Your plan needs to adjust with you.
Here’s an example. In March of 2019, we built a retirement withdrawal plan for a couple named John and Jane. They managed their own investments and wanted help structuring their drawdown strategy.
By March of 2020, their situation looked completely different. The pandemic had hit, their portfolio was concentrated in a few stocks that dropped significantly, and they had gifted their son $100,000 for a down payment on a home — something we hadn’t planned for a year earlier.
With just two changes, their one-time plan was no longer useful.
Another example. A plan built in 2021 might have assumed inflation would stay around two to three percent. But by 2022, inflation was pushing eight percent. That kind of shift can throw off projections, spending assumptions, and tax estimates.
That’s why we believe retirement planning should be ongoing
A withdrawal strategy is just one piece of a larger plan. For our long-term clients, we focus on three core areas: generating reliable income, minimizing taxes, and building portfolios that align with retirement goals. We constantly adjust those plans as life unfolds.
With a one-time withdrawal plan, we don’t have the opportunity to make those updates. That means people could end up relying on outdated advice that no longer fits their situation.
Final thoughts
If you’re doing your own planning and just want to fill in a gap, we understand the appeal of a one-time solution. But we’ve learned through experience that retirement withdrawal planning is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. It needs to evolve over time.
That’s why we’ve stopped offering one-time plans. Instead, we’re focused on working long-term with clients who value ongoing advice, personalized adjustments, and a clear financial roadmap that stays up to date.
To learn more about how we help retirees build flexible, tax-efficient retirement plans, check out are website and book an appointment with us.
