We’re 2 years away from retirement and have rented for years. Should we buy a home for financial security before we stop working?

But not everyone wants to become a homeowner again.

Let’s consider the hypothetical Samantha and Ryan. They’re in their early 60s and planning to retire in two years. They’ve been renting and want to keep doing so, since they don’t like maintenance costs and hate the headache of unexpected repairs.

However, Samantha and Ryan feel a lot of pressure to buy a home, since everyone they talk to says they should own a property so they don’t have to worry about rent in retirement. Is this good advice? Financial planners who work with Canadian retirees don’t necessarily think so, and there are a few reasons why.

The cost of buying may be higher — and it may not be affordable

The first major factor to consider is that renting may actually be cheaper than owning in most of the country right now.

A recent analysis of 30 Canadian housing markets found that renting remains the more affordable monthly option almost everywhere outside of Regina and Winnipeg, where buying edges out renting by a small margin. In Toronto, renters can save close to $2,000 a month over what they’d pay to own a comparable home. In Ottawa, Montréal and Calgary, renters typically save $400 to $450 a month.

“What a lot of people fail to realize about the shift to renting is the bills and costs that are associated with ownership are gone, and you have a giant sum of money that can now produce an income,” said Adam Chapman, a certified financial planner in London, Ontario.

Samantha and Ryan don’t want to struggle to afford higher payments just to become homeowners again in their golden years, especially if they’re already worried about making ends meet.

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Neither way of paying for a home is a sure win

The next thing Samantha and Ryan have to consider is how they’d actually pay for a home. They have two options, and both come with their own problems.

They could borrow: Nearly three in 10 Canadians (29%) planning to retire in 2025 or 2026 expect to still be paying off a mortgage after they leave the workforce, up from just 8% in 1999. Taking on a monthly mortgage payment — especially one higher than rent — could strain a fixed retirement budget.

They could pay cash: This would likely mean a large withdrawal from a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), and that comes with its own tax bite. RRIF and RRSP withdrawals count as taxable income, and a large one can push a retiree’s net income above $95,323 for the 2026 tax year, triggering the Old Age Security (OAS) recovery tax — better known as the OAS clawback, which takes back 15 cents of OAS for every dollar of income above that threshold. Samantha and Ryan also risk pulling so much out of their accounts that they don’t have enough left invested to generate the returns they’ll need to cover other costs later on.

If they do choose to buy, they’ll need to build a full retirement income plan first, ideally with the help of a professional, to make sure a purchase won’t derail their finances over the long term. The last thing a retiring couple wants is to overextend themselves right as their paycheques stop.

Maintenance and unexpected repairs could become a bigger issue than expected

Beyond mortgage or RRIF costs, there’s another factor: the cost and effort of maintaining a home. Owning means dealing with wear-and-tear repairs and emergencies, such as a broken-down furnace or leaky roof — costs a fixed retirement income needs to be able to manage.

That’s not something renters have to think about. Being able to move easily also matters more than people expect. “It’s easier to get out of a rental apartment if your health deteriorates or if you need to move into an assisted-care facility. Selling a home can be more challenging, especially if the market is slow,” said Julie Seberras, head of wealth planning and practice management at Manulife.