‘We’re losing lots of money’: Market volatility worries retirees as savings dwindle

Global stocks have tumbled for the third straight day. It's bad news for everyone, especially those looking to retire soon as they see their savings dwindle.

Global stocks have tumbled for a third day, and fears of a recession continue to grow.

It’s bad news for everyone, but especially for those looking to retire as they see their savings dwindle.

“My wife is going to be 71 in November. She’s got eight months to make up the losses that have been incurred by the Trump administration. She’s not going to do that,” Ian Harrison said.

“I could probably run it out for another couple of years, but who knows what’s going to happen. We’re losing lots of money.”

In Canada, the TSX closed down nearly 1.5 per cent on Monday, and fears of economic turmoil pushed oil close to the lowest in four years with North American crude trading below US$61.

However, Premier Danielle Smith says she’s not going to panic about Alberta’s budget just yet, which is based on West Texas Intermediate (WTI), sitting at US$68.

“We had a lot of variation last year and a worst-case-scenario budget. We knew we were going to end up with a lot of volatility. We hoped we’d be able to avoid it,” Smith said Monday.

Still, the province says every $1 drop in that price during the fiscal year means a $750-million hit to government revenue.

One UCalgary finance professor is advising people to postpone liquidating their stocks for a while and wait for the turmoil to subside.

“It’s most likely it’s going to lead to a global recession and loss of confidence for consumers and companies. Investments globally are going to go down. It’s going to have a huge impact on Canadians,” said Yrjo Koskinen.

Financial adviser David Popowich suggests you don’t panic and sell off your portfolio. Instead, set up a meeting with your financial adviser to go over your investments.

“Given that there’s no clarity on what the Trump administration is trying to accomplish, it becomes very scary for investors, in particular the group of investors that are transitioning to or living in retirement,” Popowich said.

If you don’t have a financial adviser, Popowich says now is a good time to get one for a second opinion.

“General advice to a group of people is a ‘rule of thumb,’ and that’s no good in this environment. It’s very specific to each individual and family case,” Popowich said.

“Find out what the options are relative to what you’re trying to accomplish—what your specific goals and objectives are.”