I took some time off to raise my kids. Will that impact my CPP benefits? [Video]

* Today on Ask MoneyTalk, we answer a question we’re hearing around Canada Pension Plan benefits. Nicole Ewing, Director of Tax and Estate Planning at TD Wealth, joins me now to weigh in. And Nicole, here’s the question for you: I took some time off to raise my kids. How will that impact my CPP benefits?

* Well, Greg, you may be aware that generally speaking you’re able to remove eight years of your lowest or no-income years from the CPP calculation on the base component. Additionally, you are able to exclude no or low-income years during which you were providing child care as the primary child caregiver. And these are called the child-rearing provisions. And they apply so long as your child is under seven years old during that time, you are able to exclude those years from the base calculation.

– Additionally, on top of that, you are …