4 tips for comfortably living off your savings in retirement

As your working days wind down, here are a few ways to make your life savings last for the entirety of your retirement years.

You've worked your entire life and now you are heading toward retirement, but will you have enough money to survive?

This is a question that millions are facing every year and is one of the greatest challenges for seniors.

Because you can only estimate how long you will live, making your money last is very important.

If you retire with a substantial sum of money in a retirement account,  it can be easy to go through it quickly.

While retirement should be a time to do all the things on your bucket list, such as travelling or moving to a new location, it is important not to increase your spending far beyond the current level.

If you're not careful, you'll spend the money in just a few years and have nothing to live off of for the remainder of your life.

Retirees should also expect their health-care costs to rise dramatically in their later years. You'll want to plan a contingency fund for this expected increase in expenses.

Individuals lucky enough to receive a pension will have a source of monthly income for the remainder of their lives.

Often, a monthly pension will come with certain guarantees, like the promise of continued benefits even if the company goes out of business.

However, in order to avoid these responsibilities, many companies are beginning to offer their retirees a lump-sum pension payout that does not offer the same provisions.

While making a lump-sum payment to pay off your mortgage may not be the most enjoyable thing to do with your retirement savings, it is often the smartest.

Most likely, the monthly mortgage payment is your largest expenditure. Remove that monthly bill and you'll have more money available to put toward other expenses and toward a rainy day fund.

In Canada, the Old Age Security pension is a monthly payment that is available to individuals who are 65 years or older and meet certain requirements.

Eligible individuals include those living in Canada who are legal citizens, legal residents who have lived in the country for at least 10 years, and people living outside of Canada who retain their citizenship or residency status and have resided in the country for at least 20 years.