Retiring may not be as easy as it used to be. With the ‘default retirement age’ all but gone, it can be hard to know when you can collect your State Pension. But money should not be the major factor affecting your retirement – especially when there are ways to make money even after you’ve stopped working full time. Here are just five ways to boost your post-retirement finances.

Rent a Room

If you’re quite attached to your home, or feel like receiving regular income as opposed to a short-term cash injection, you could always rent out a spare room to a lodger. Renting to a lodger is relatively easy, and low effort with regard to legal concerns, giving you the chance to create an income stream beyond your pension.

Explore Equity Release

If you have retired, there is a high chance you are at or over the age of 55. This allows you to make use of equity release schemes. Have you ever wondered how equity release works? Basically, the equity you have in your home – that is, the home’s value with any outstanding debts against it subtracted – is paid to you in either a lump sum or monthly instalments, as a loan against your home. This means you can access the money you have locked up in your property in the short term, giving you the opportunity to enjoy your later years without worrying as much about money.

Downsize Your Property

An easy way to create a quick injection of cash for yourself after having retired is to sell your home, and buy a smaller home with a lesser value, pocketing the profits in-between. You might find yourself with unoccupied bedrooms, or spare living space you simply aren’t using; so you could turn this space into money for yourself, and move to a smaller property.

Continue to Work Part-Time

Retired life has its positives, but you may find yourself more easily bored than ever before – and if also in pursuit of a little extra spending money, obtaining a part-time role somewhere could benefit you in both ways. Positions in retail and hospitality are easily gained with little responsibility, and provide an excellent opportunity for socialising to boot.

Sell Your Unwanted Possessions

A life well-lived can lead you to a home chock-full of things – memories, heirlooms, tokens, and more. But not all of it will mean the world to you – and any chance to de-clutter is a good one, especially if you can make some extra money in the process. Go through your belongings with a keen and strict eye, and don’t be afraid to clear your attic in the process. Anything you don’t feel strongly about keeping could go on an online auction site like eBay, or come along with you to a car boot sale or auction house for sale.

A cryptocurrency wallet is a software program that is designed to keep your public and private keys, send and receive digital currencies, monitor their balance and interact with various blockchains.

There have been many cases where people have fallen victim to not having a secure enough wallet that has resulted in them losing their crypto. There are many trusted Managed Service Providers UK businesses use to manage their IT Infrastructures and they’ve seen how crypto trading is becoming more popular in the UK.

Many cryptocurrencies are not even registered under any country’s law which makes it imperative to choose a wallet with great quality security.

Many people have sleepless nights because they know there is a chance that their cryptocurrency might get stolen. Attaining cryptocurrency is one thing but to be able to store it safely requires you to have a different set of skills. This may come across as a bit overwhelming but storing your cryptocurrency safely is a lot easier than you may think. Below is a list of the best apps available to help keep your cryptocurrency safe.

Ledger

Ledger is one of the leading hardware wallets that is great for crypto aficionados. A hardware wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that stores users’ private keys in a secure and safe hardware device. It secures your computer or smartphone from being hacked through the private keys. Whether you’re using Full IT Support or Remote IT Support for your business, having the right security is very important. Ledger allows you to sell, buy, manage, and exchange your crypto all through a single app which can be on your desktop, tablet and smartphone. We’ve spoken to a few companies who use IT Support for Law Firms and they have noted that Ledger is one of the best apps they’ve ever used.The app supports over 1500 tokens and 27 coins.

Ledger’s advanced technology for hardware wallets can make you feel or the more comfortable because they have the highest level of security for your crypto assets. Their products use a combination of patented OS and Secure Element that protect your assets. The great part is that Ledger gives you the ability to control and own your private keys.

DeFi Wallet  

DeFi Wallet is a wallet that lets you use all their services all in one place. You are given control over your keys and cryptos that manages over 100 coins that include some of the biggest out there. Coins such as BTC, ATOM, DOT, LTC, CRO, ETH and more ERC20 tokens are all secured by DeFi Wallet.

Anything data being recovered can be done using a 12-, 12- or 24-word phrase which makes it a lot more secure. They let you send cryptocurrencies at a network fee of your choice and confirmation speed. DeFi Wallet is all about their clients and helps their clients earn interest on more than 35 tokens with Compound, Yearn Earn V2, Aave, Cosmos Staking and Crypto.org Chain Staking. Earning benefits have never been easier as you gain returns without lock-up terms. DeFi tokens can be exchanged directly with the DeFi Wallet. They have a lot more to offer and can be downloaded through the Google Playstore or Apple App Store.

Exodus

Managing your crypto has never been easier, Exodus allows you to send, receive and exchange crypto. They have an extremely user-friendly app that can be downloaded onto your desktop or mobile device.

Exodus is a hardware wallet that partners with different apps to make controlling your wealth and help you earn interest easier. Exodus has a lot to offer that many other apps cannot compete with. You would have access to live charts, portfolios, built-in exchange and 24/7 support. They pride themselves on not only securing your crypto but also making the experience fun.

With Exodus you can safely manage your crypto assets which uses the Trezor hardware wallet that comes with advanced security. Even when offline your assets remain secure through Trezor hardware.

Trezor

Trezor Hardware Wallet is an excellent choice for storing and managing your crypyo. They have earned a reputation of being reliable because they are better than many online providers that could possibly get hacked.

Your assets would never be safer as their security is blunt in the fact that includes audits by their expert security researchers and verification by their track records. Their interface is extremely user-friendly and instinctive. This can be seen through setting up your Trezor wallet which generates a seed for you. If you are looking for stronger security for the seed that was generated for you then it is bets to not make a digital copy of it. You can acees your wallet instead using your personal 12-24 words recovery seed. Their recovery seed is compatible with other wallet apps. Trezor wallets supports more than 1000 coins and takes all the necessary security measures when dealing with any of them. The security features include encrypted cloud storage, U2F authentication, Bitcoin-only firmware and Encryption via GPG.

Planning and financing a child’s education is very important for their future. Student loans can finance their post-secondary education. However, with loans, the student has to begin their career with debt over their shoulder. RESP provides a more feasible solution to parents, where they can plan their child’s education early.

However, in case the funds are no longer required, things can get a little tricky. It would be uneconomical just to withdraw the funds. So, the experts from Alpine Credits have chalked out this article to help you manage the unused amount in your RESP account.

If you want to set up an RESP account and learn about its functioning, read more here.

What Is A RESP?

The Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a program sponsored by the Canadian government for your child’s post-secondary education.

The account serves as an investment for cash and other assets like stocks, mutual funds, equities, GICs, and many more. The funds invested will be used for the child’s post-secondary education.

RESP provides tax-free earnings for the child’s education. The money can be withdrawn and used for any purpose relating to the students’ education.

Every year, the government also contributes a certain amount (known as a government grant) to the RESP account. This amounts to 20% of the contribution made by the parent, subject to a maximum of $500 per year.

The maximum lifetime amount that the government can contribute is $ 7200. The maximum overall contribution of the RESP account is capped at $ 50,000.

If a student does not pursue an approved post-secondary education course within 36 years of opening the RESP account, the government can demand the return of the grant provided.

Unused RESP Money

According to Canadian law, RESP money can only be withdrawn and used for the child’s post-secondary education and related purposes. Any expenditure other than that money can attract high taxes and penalties.

In many circumstances, a student might not want to pursue a college or university. In such a case, the money remains in the RESP account unused.

You can pursue the following course of actions in case of unused money in the account:

Keeping The Account Open

The RESP account can be kept open and left as it is, which keeps the door open for the child to pursue education. This decision can keep the funds safe for 36 years. But the government will pull the grants back after that, and the rest of the investments must be taxed and withdrawn.

However, once the period of 36 years is over, you must look at alternatives to using the unused amount.

Transferring To A New Beneficiary

The better option would be to transfer the account to a different beneficiary. The beneficiary must be within 21 years of age and should be a sibling to the previous beneficiary.

In the case of an unrelated new beneficiary, their contribution will be taxed accordingly. However, the new beneficiary can utilize the entire amount, and the government grant will be retained as well (except the Canada Learning Bond).

The Canada Education Savings Grant of a maximum of $500 per year will continue, but this time to the new beneficiary.

Transferring To An Existing RRSP

The RESP funds can be transferred to the parent’s existing registered retirement savings plan account. The maximum eligible capacity that can be transferred is $ 50000, provided the existing RRSP has the room left to accept such an amount.

In this scenario, the government grants can’t be utilized, and they will rightfully return to the government. However, no such transfers can take place to the beneficiary’s RRSP.

Close The RESP

The most straightforward way to deal with the unused RESP money is to close down the account and withdraw all the contributions simply. In this scenario, the grants will yet again return to the government.

The contributions and investments made will be duly returned to the owner without charging a single penny of tax. But in case the income generated from these investments will be paid as Accumulated Income Payment (AIP). This income will be taxed at a rate of 20%.

The AIP payout will be made on the following conditions:

• The account has to be open and functioning for a minimum of 10 years.
• You must remain a Canadian citizen.
• All the beneficiaries need to be at least 21 years old.
• None of the beneficiaries are pursuing post-secondary education.

Transferring To A RDSP

You can also get the money transferred to your RDSP account, provided one of the following conditions are satisfied:

• The beneficiary would be unable to continue higher education due to mental impairment.
• The RRSP account was opened 35 years ago.
• It has been 10 years since you opened the account, and all beneficiaries are above 21 years and not eligible for educational assistance payments.

However, the transfer would be within the RSDP lifetime limit of $200000. Also, no transfers are allowed if the beneficiary has attained the age of 59.

Donation To Educational Institutions

Some RESPs allow the donation of the earnings made to various educational institutions. There are some conditions::

• The beneficiaries are ineligible for Educations Assistance Payment.
• The subscriber is disqualified for an AIP.
• The incentives are repaid.

Endnote

Savvy investors can put this unused money in an RESP account for many other uses. You should always put this money to good use, from using it for your retirement to donating it to help fund other students’ education. All the above methods give various options to think and decide when and how you can utilize this money for the greater good.

It is always wise to speak to an expert before you make a decision. Also, it is essential to keep yourself updated with the latest taxation changes so that you do not miss a trick while planning contributions are withdrawal from your RESP account.