News & Education

Welcome to our WealthStyles segment – your online access to approachable ideas about financial planning with a lifestyle and life event approach.

Losing a job
available in PDF format

Soft landing – Surviving the pink slip
Scott Wilson had watched co-workers receive pink slips from time to time during his long career. As vice-president of a pharmaceutical company, he had even laid off employees himself on a few occasions, but the work “downsized” had never applied to him. At 57, nearing retirement and comfortably settled into middle management, he felt secure he would never be downsized.

Take a Deep Breath
Scott's situation is surprisingly common. About one in 18 Canadian employees permanently lose their job each year, according to Statistics Canada (the daily, March 25, 2004). However, the negative effect on your short-term or long term finances can often be significantly reduced if you handle it calmly and engage trusted professionals to handle some of the legal issues and tax consequences surrounding a severance package.

For the full article, click here (PDF format)