I was hoping someone here might provide some clarity, but given how much many retirees (early or otherwise) portfolios have crashed does the Canadian governments current programs offer and sort of assistance? I'm semi-FIREd, but having seen my portfolio lose like 40%, largely as a result of many policies of the gov't shuttering the economy, makes me extremely hesitant to start selling as per normal. They say you need to have $5k income (which I do from dividends and cap gains) to qualify for the 2k/mth CERB but haven't found any concrete answer as to if that qualifies. Similarly I can't even really get a job until my quarantine ends which is on the table, along side just reducing spending. Now, I know the 4% rule dictates just go on per normal, but when you've literally seen cash equal to the value of a home evaporate, it's easier said than done. My fully retired parents are in the similar boat, and not going to return to work any time soon, but are also struggling with the huge losses of the money they were counting on. Fortunately at least they were more conservative because of their age, so they're in slightly better shape,
I sort of feel like the gov't policies led to both people being unemployed along side crashing stock values. To me (maybe with a slight conflict of interest) it seems like two sides of the same coin. Many people equally rely on stocks for income just as much as a typical job.