News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 27, 2012) - As the February 29^th deadline to contribute to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) approaches, BMO Financial Group advises Canadians to take a step back and determine if their investing strategies are appropriate for their age and/or anticipated life events such as marriage, the purchase of a home or retirement.

"For Canadians to get the most from their money, their investments must be properly aligned with their current life stage," said Serge Pépin, Head of Investments, BMO Investments Inc. "In today's volatile market, it's especially important not to lose sight of individual needs and to recognize the importance of a comprehensive, well-considered financial plan. More than 90 per cent of Canadians who have a plan believe it has played an important role in helping them achieve their financial goals."

BMO Financial Group experts are available to discuss investing strategies for each life stage, including:

Your 20's - Getting Started:

• You are likely to be at the beginning of your career and are starting to build a long-term financial plan.
• Given the longer time horizon to eventual retirement, you should be able to take a more aggressive approach to your asset mix by having more equities than fixed income or cash.
• Diversification remains the core principle, but with a higher balance of equities compared to people who are older.
• Focus on paying down debt, and try to save some money as well.

Your 30's and 40's - Juggling Priorities:

• The 30's can bring a lot of changes, such as plans to raise a family or to make larger, long-term purchases.
• If you are closer to the end of this stage, you need to manage debt carefully while planning for your kids' education.
• A portfolio at this stage should be relatively balanced across all asset classes and include a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) if you have a child or children. RESPs offer the benefits of a tax-sheltered investment and, coupled with the federal government's Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), provide a secure, growth-assured education investment.

Your 50's and 60's - Focusing In:

• If you are in this category, you should be considering shifting your investments from a long-term to a mid-term focus in order to strengthen retirement savings.
• Risk management is particularly important at this stage as individuals and families cannot afford sudden dips in their savings.
• At this life stage, BMO recommends a more conservative asset mix that has a good portion of fixed income and GICs. For example, the BMO Blue Chip GIC offers the shortest term available for a market-linked guaranteed investment at one year, while providing exposure to some of Canada's most reliable blue chip companies.
• During this period, people in this category should also be focused on paying off any outstanding debts before their transition into retirement.

Your 60's and Beyond - Retirement:

• Once you have reached this stage, you will most likely be making final decisions on what the next phase of your life will look like.
• Early retirement, second careers or planning for extended travel may be on your horizon, and it is important that you adjust your financial plan to achieve your ideal retirement lifestyle.
• Income-generating investments coupled with a conservative asset mix are particularly important at this stage in life.

"Investing according to one's life stage can be complicated. We introduced BMO LifeStage Class Funds to help investors with such decisions. BMO LifeStage Class Funds offer a suite of mutual fund portfolios that annually shift asset mixes to enable investors to become more conservative as they approach their target end dates," concluded Mr. Pépin.

To learn more about how to invest according to your life stage, please visit www.bmo.com/smartinvesting or www.bmo.com/lifestage.

Get the latest BMO press releases via Twitter by following @BMOmedia.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly-diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $477 billion as at October 31, 2011, and more than 47,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.

®Registered trade-mark of the Bank of Montreal