“In addition to clients, I talk to people who are fairly well off at the golf club, and I would say there are very few of them who want to spend their retirement years in Canada, and it’s mostly because of the increase in taxation and socialism that they see coming down,” he said. “It’s attacking their wealth, and they don’t see it abating at all.
“That’s the biggest concern, but number two is that it’s very difficult to live in retirement in Canada with the expenses that we keep incurring, from purchasing automobiles and food and everything else. It’s so ridiculously inexpensive to live the States, compared to Canada, and people are just simply tired of the government having its hands in their pockets all the time, so they don’t even have the amount of money that they need. People have just had it, and they don’t see a way to live the type of retirement that they want.”
Little said he is constantly dealing with clients who can’t afford the money they’re asking for monthly, so are feeling squeezed by all the tax they have to pay – property, income, and even the new 10% federal wealth tax on vehicles.
Little, who is the senior wealth advisor for the Burlington, Ontario-based Blue Oceans Private Wealth, IA Private Wealth, noted he’s hearing that people are moving not only to Florida, but Costa Rica in Central America, the Turks and Caicos Islands in the West Indies, and even Portugal because health care is available, but the retirement living is cheaper.
“That’s what’s driving the desire of people that I’ve talked to,” said Little, noting many he knows have already gone and wish they’d gone earlier. “They’re not looking at Canada as a place that they’re going to spend a lot of their retirement. They’re going to spend it outside of Canada, where it’s much less expensive.”
