Theo Nakamura
CFP, CLU
Theo is a Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Life Underwriter based in Ottawa who specializes in retirement income and decumulation. After 15 years helping Canadians turn a lifetime of savings into a dependable retirement paycheque, he writes about CPP and OAS timing, RRIF and LIF withdrawals, tax-efficient drawdown, and estate planning. His focus is the part of planning most tools ignore — the years when you stop saving and start spending.
Articles by Theo Nakamura
Three years from retirement, Lise wanted a clear-eyed year-end review instead of a vague sense of unease. A simple checklist turned a fuzzy worry into a confident plan.
October 20, 2026
Marcus knew his FIRE number. What he didn't know was whether his plan could survive a brutal market right after he stopped working. So he tested it — and slept a lot better afterward.
September 13, 2026
Eleanor Voss wanted to support a cause she loved and still take care of her family. She assumed it had to be one or the other. It did not.
August 16, 2026
Grace and Tomas Delgado knew the size of their estate. What they did not know was how much of it would survive taxes and actually land in their children's hands.
August 13, 2026
Harold and Brenda Whitfield had planned carefully for retirement, but nobody had told them about the one tax return that arrives after you are gone.
August 9, 2026
Linda assumed the spousal RRSP was a young person's tool. In their early sixties, she and Robert discovered it was exactly the lever they needed to even out their retirement income.
August 6, 2026
Aisha and Omar each had a sensible plan to spend down their own savings. The problem was that two solo plans, added together, were quietly leaving money on the table.
August 2, 2026
Margaret and Glen file two tax returns but live one life. When they looked at their household tax bill instead of two separate ones, a simple move freed up about $3,000 a year.
July 30, 2026
Tom retired at the worst possible moment — right before the market fell. A simple guardrail spending rule turned a terrifying first year into a plan that held up anyway.
July 26, 2026
The Smiths could not stomach the thought of a market crash dictating their retirement. Comparing a partial annuity against managing it all themselves gave them a floor they could trust.
July 23, 2026
Suzanne could afford to retire at 58 but could not see how the income would hold together before her government benefits began. The piece she was missing had a name: the bridge.
July 19, 2026
Marc-Andre had a pension transfer sitting in a LIRA he could not seem to touch. Once he understood how it turns into income, a stranded account became a dependable paycheque.
July 16, 2026
Brigitte assumed her retirement income was simply too low to do anything about. It turned out the way she drew it was quietly costing her a benefit she had every right to claim.
July 12, 2026
60, 65, or 70? Three retirees, three completely different right answers. The lesson is not which age wins — it is that the best age depends entirely on you.
July 9, 2026
Margaret was quietly handing back part of her Old Age Security every year. By reshaping where and when her income arrived, she kept far more of it.
July 5, 2026
Linda's large RRSP felt like a win — until she learned what happens at 71. By acting at 58, she turned a looming tax spike into a smooth, manageable bill.
July 2, 2026
David did not want a rosy single projection. He wanted the truth about whether his money would last. A probability of success gave it to him — and two small levers improved the odds.
June 28, 2026
Helen and Marc had saved well, but the order they spent their accounts quietly handed tens of thousands to the CRA. A small change kept the money in their pockets.
June 25, 2026