Taking a look at what Canadian retirees actually live on

A recent Money Canada article by Noel Moffatt reveals some surprising numbers when it comes to the question of what Canadian retirees are actually living on.

“A newly retired Canadian opens their first government deposit to see their retirement benefits. The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) payments are available, but they total only about $1,530 per month. After working for decades, that amount is often shocking to retirees,” Moffatt begins.

And, he continues, most of us – even with personal savings added in – don’t do much better than that average base.

“According to Statistics Canada, the median after-tax income for individual seniors in Canada is about $31,400 per year, or roughly $2,617 per month. That amount pales in comparison to most working wages in Canada,” he writes.

That got Moffatt wondering.

“So, how much do Canadian retirees actually live on each month? Where does the money come from, and is it enough?,” he asks.

“The median retirement income data for Canadians paints a more realistic picture for most households,” he writes. “For individual seniors, that figure drops to about $31,400 annually, or $2,617 per month. The median senior couple will earn about $64,300 per year,” he reports.

“These totals include all of the retirement benefits that Canadians rely on, including CPP, OAS, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), pensions and personal savings, as applicable,” Moffatt adds.

The article then takes a look at where this income is coming from.

“For most Canadians, retirement income comes from a combination of the three pillars: government retirement benefits, workplace pensions and personal savings and investments,” he explains. “The first pillar includes things like CPP, OAS and GIS Canada, which some seniors may qualify for. In 2025, the average CPP payment was about $772 per month, while the maximum benefit was $1,364.60. For OAS, the monthly payment was $713.34, and for seniors over 75, it was increased to $784 per month,” he continues.

For low-income seniors, the GIS can add up to $1,065.47 per month, Moffatt notes.

The second pillar, Moffatt continues, is “the employer-provided pension.”

While pensions can be a valuable part of the overall income picture, not that many Canadians have access to them, Moffatt notes. “According to Statistics Canada, more than 6.6 million Canadians are a part of registered pension plans, even though fewer than one-third of workers have employer-sponsored pensions,” he notes.

The final pillar is personal savings, he writes.

“This includes investments in registered retirement savings Plans (RRSPs), registered retirement income funds (RRIFs), Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) and non-registered investments. For Canadians without pensions, these savings often determine how comfortable retirement feels,” he continues.

The message in this article is quite clear. If you are thinking that you don’t really need to save for retirement because you’ll get CPP, OAS and maybe GIS, those benefits deliver a very modest benefit.

If you don’t have a pension program through work, don’t worry – all Canadians with available RRSP room have the option of joining the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP is an open, voluntary defined contribution plan. You decide how much to contribute – any amount up to your annual RRSP limit – and SPP does the rest.

You can also transfer in any amount from other RRSPs you may have.

Contributions are invested in our low-cost, diversified, professionally managed pooled fund. At retirement, you will have created your own retirement income pillar – and your SPP funds can be collected as a monthly lifetime annuity payment or the more flexible Variable Benefit, among other options.

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Unretired: how never retiring might be the right choice for you

It’s been programmed into the psyche for most of us – retirement is a time when you finally escape the grind of work and ease into a life of travel, leisure and relaxation.

Not so, writes Mark S. Walton in his engaging book, Unretired.

A quote from Hemingway begins his book. “Retirement is the filthiest word in the language,” the great author once wrote. “Whether by choice or fate, to retire from what you do – and what makes you what you are – is to back up into the grave.”

Walton notes that many older people don’t want to spend their retirement day playing golf “and then a round of dominoes and get back home around 4 p.m.;” they want to continue to be “a contributing member of society.”

As recently as 2022, he writes, “nearly 10 per cent of college-educated Americans aged 65 and older who had previously retired, changed their minds and rejoined the workforce…. By the year 2030, the number of working 65-plus-year-old Americans… will be greater than the populations of Los Angelese and Chicago combined.”

“Retiring from work is not right for everybody – in fact, for a solid majority of people, it can turn out to be a seriously bad idea,” Walton notes.

He notes that for those “who enjoyed and were effective in their work lives,” the “losses” from retirement include personal identity, sense of purpose, daily structure, and friends and a social network.

He adds that “the more successful you have been in your career, especially financially, the more likely you are to feel like a failure in retirement.”

To be “unretired,” he posits, is a solution. Walton lists three “essential building blocks of a joyful and fulfilling future,” namely fascination, flow, and generativity. The last term refers to “the drive to help others.” His book his filled with examples of those who continued to work at important jobs, found new careers, vocations, or started new businesses, and became “unretired.”

Susan Nolingberg was let go at age 60 after the company she worked for was bought. “I had a nice severance. I could have just done nothing, but it would not have been very personally rewarding to me,” she tells Walton 10 years later. “I don’t need to work, that’s not why I’m working, but I’ve been able to live a very nice lifestyle with the additional income in… I’ve done some amazing things in the past 10 years that I wouldn’t have experienced if I’d just hung it up.”

Ruth Johnson, also 70 and still working as a medical doctor, says “I really enjoy what I’m doing. I feel like it’s valuable, it’s helping people, and you can’t beat that really.”

Walton notes that the American Association of Retired Persons now goes by only its initials, AARP, because still-working Americans who were invited to join the association on turning 50 “didn’t want to be reminded they were growing older (and) didn’t want to join a club that included their parents.” AARP recognized that many of its members “continue to work full time or part time.”

That’s changing the look of the U.S. workforce, the book continues.

Chris Farrell of NPR is quoted in the book as saying “older workers are going to change the workforce as profoundly as women did.”

In a later chapter, Walton speaks with Dr. Michael Merzenich about how challenging your brain can keep it healthy even in your later years. “In a well-led life,” the doctor states in the book, “you would consider your brain fitness, your neurological abilities, and try to do what’s necessary to sustain these as close to the peak as possible at all times… what a gift it is that we have the ability to keep ourselves at that high operational level in our 70s, 80s, or however long we live.” Continuing to work and challenge the brain keeps it fitter, the book tells us.

Dr. Shep Nuland tells Walton that “those of us who’ve had challenging things to do in which every year brought greater growth in our profession, are much more likely to be insistent on greater growth once we’re older. We’re not going to sit still for decline.”

This is a great, well-written and inspiring book.

Even if you continue to work after age 65, full time or part time, a little extra income is always handy. You can convert your Saskatchewan Pension Plan to an income stream “any time between the ages of 55 and 71,” according to the SPP Pension Guide (retirement_guide.pdf).

SPP will continue to invest your contributions in our professionally managed, low-cost and diversified pooled fund. When it is time to turn savings into income, your choices include the security of a monthly lifetime annuity payment or the flexibility of the Variable Benefit.

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How to catch up if your retirement savings efforts haven’t really got on track

Let’s face it – life is expensive, especially if you’re looking after kids, renting or owning a home, and still finishing off paying down student debt. These legitimate life expenses can make saving for retirement seem impossible.

But, writes Vishesh Raisinghani for Money Canada, there are a number of ways you can jump-start your retirement savings and catch up.

He begins by noting that for most people, it’s usually not until “the final five years before they retire” that their “earnings have peaked, their children are self-sufficient, and their mortgage is close to being paid off.” This is when “your top priority is typically boosting your (retirement) nest egg as much as possible,” he adds.

Yet, perhaps not surprisingly, many in the pre-retirement years haven’t saved much, Raisinghani writes.

“Many older Canadians still aren’t as fully prepared for retirement as they’d like to be. A 2025 survey by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan found 36 per cent of adults aged 55 to 64 have $5,000 or less saved for their retirement, with only 21 per cent having over $100,000 in savings,” he notes.

So, how does one turbocharge one’s savings? Raisinghani gives us a couple of strategic ideas.

First, he suggests, “max out your tax-advantaged accounts.”

“If you’re close to retirement age and have a registered retirement savings Plan (RRSP), you could take advantage of any carryover room you may have from previous years. That’s because any Canadian with an RRSP can accumulate unused contribution room year after year and carry it forward indefinitely — creating a significant opportunity for you to `catch up’ and build your savings over the last five years of your career,” he explains.

While the 2026 RRSP limit is $33,810 or 18 per cent of your income (whichever is lower), “many Canadians have far more room available because of unused carryover from previous years,” he adds.

Another catch-up strategy would be deferring your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) benefits until you are 70, Raisinghani notes.

“If you wait until you turn 70 to collect CPP payments, you could significantly increase the monthly amount you receive,” he writes. “That’s because even though you’re eligible to start collecting CPP at 60, the maximum monthly amount you could receive at that age is 36 per cent less than if you were to start receiving at 65.” It’s 42 per cent more if you wait until age 70 to collect, he adds.

Similar rules apply to OAS, he notes.

Consider, he adds, moving to a professionally managed investment portfolio rather than doing it yourself.

“Not everyone knows how to do these things on their own, especially when it comes to calculating withdrawal rates, factoring in variables like inflation or putting together a retirement portfolio that will go the full distance. That’s why there are professionally managed portfolios that can do the work for you, building the right mix of investments from various asset classes that can help you maximize your returns and minimize risk,” he suggests.

Another important idea is to know, in advance, the tax consequences of withdrawing from your savings. Taxes are higher, he notes, on investments that pay out interest. And you should make sure you are making maximum use of your Tax Free Savings Account.

You’ll also need to have a retirement “lifestyle plan” in place, he recommends.

“You need a lifestyle plan just as much as a withdrawal or tax plan. If you want to continue working side gigs or part-time hours, include that in your plan. If you want to spend more time travelling, remember to add that as well,” he explains. In other words, you need to spell out what you intend to do with all your time, so that your savings support that lifestyle.

Contributions to your Saskatchewan Pension Plan account are based on your available RRSP room, so if you have a lot of carry-forward room your SPP account can benefit from a large top up.

SPP also permits you to transfer any amount into the plan from other RRSPs you may have. This will consolidate your retirement nest egg.

All hard-saved dollars are invested in SPP’s professionally managed, diversified, low-cost pooled fund, where they will grow in the years leading up to your retirement. And when that day comes, your options include the security of a lifetime monthly annuity payment, or the flexibility of the Variable Benefit.

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The Annuity Puzzle – working paper looks at why annuities, an answer to running out of savings, are not more popular

If people fear running out of savings when they retire, you’d think annuities – a way to convert some or all of your savings to a lifetime income stream – would be more popular.

A working paper produced for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), titled The Annuity Puzzle Revisited: Barriers, Behaviour, and Policy Paths to Lifetime Income, takes a look at why the annuity solution is not more top of mind for retirees.

The paper’s authors are Hal E. Hershfield, Suzanne Shu, Jeffrey R. Brown, Abigail Hurwitz, Olivia S. Mitchell, Tamiko Toland and York University’s Moshe Arye Milevsky.

The paper begins by noting that, when considering retirement, “retirement plan design and academic research have focused on wealth accumulation, emphasizing how to encourage employees to begin saving and contribute at rates sufficient to support financial security later in life.”

However, the authors note, “the process by which retirees spend down their wealth has historically received far less attention from academics, policymakers and industry. Wealth decumulation decisions, or how to optimize consumption over an uncertain remaining lifespan, are among the most difficult ones that people face.”

The paper notes that “a life annuity… in which the consumer exchanges an amount of money for guaranteed lifetime income that may start immediately or at a future date” is often overlooked as a decumulation tool.

“A large body of economic literature has concluded that consumers should place a high value on annuities, yet in practice, few individuals voluntarily annuitize, a conundrum known as the `annuity puzzle,’” the authors notes. “There is also a substantial disconnect between the roughly half of consumers who report they would favor buying an annuity to protect against running out of money in retirement and the much smaller share of about 12 per cent that actually do (Arapakis & Wettstein, 2024),” the paper adds.

So why are annuities, which are the primary way to deliver guaranteed lifetime income, the paper continues, less popular than other options?

Many households, the paper suggests, “value retaining liquid assets to leave to heirs.” In many cases, an annuity conversion is “fully or partially irreversible,” meaning you can’t undo your choice, the paper adds. The paper (designed for a U.S. audience) notes that most government retirement benefits already provide “a substantial stream of guaranteed lifetime income.” (The same can be said of Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security benefits here in Canada.)

The paper goes into detail on other factors that impact people’s willingness to convert savings to annuities, including such things as pricing and their own thoughts on their potential longevity.

There’s a “behavioural impediment,” the paper notes – “people tend to focus on the chance of `losing’ principal when they die, rather than on the insurance value of having lifetime income protection” while they are alive.

Similarly, the paper notes, “retirees who have worked for decades to build a healthy retirement balance are likely to feel strong ownership and endowment over these balances, making the transfer of these funds… in exchange for an annuity highly uncomfortable.”

The paper then explores ways to boost annuity adoption.

“Survey evidence also suggests that many older Americans regret not having purchased annuities, highlighting the consequences of this gap (Hurwitz & Mitchell, 2025a),” the paper notes.

In some jurisdictions – notably Singapore and Israel – retirement systems require “partial” annuitization, the paper notes. At least some of the savings must be used to provide guaranteed income via an annuity, the paper explains.

Another plan design seen in Sweden and Switzerland is to have annuitization as the default choice for decumulation right from the time the member is enrolled, the paper continues. Some systems offer deferred annuities that start when the member reaches an advanced age.

Other systems build in ways “to address concerns about bequest, regret, and loss aversion,” such as offering “refundable income annuities, including cash-refund and installment-refund variants,” to reduce the perception that you have “lost” money by converting to an annuity.

The paper notes that most defined benefit pension plans offer lifetime annuity-style payments, but that the focus for more common defined contribution plans has more usually been on capital accumulation, with less design consideration given to decumulation. In the U.S., the paper notes, more policy and regulatory actions have been recently taken to increase annuity adoption, but progress has been slow.

Clearly, the paper notes, there needs to be more advice given to individuals on the importance of the annuity option, perhaps via more emphasis on financial literacy.

“One set of interventions would involve enhancing financial and longevity literacy, as low levels of financial literacy remain a major impediment to effective retirement planning (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2024),” the paper notes. “This ability is especially important for annuities, given the complexity of the decision process required (Brown et al., 2021). Although evidence on whether general financial literacy increases annuity demand is mixed, annuity-specific knowledge appears to be positively associated with annuity demand (Goedde-Menke et al., 2014; Hurwitz & Mitchell, 2025b),” the paper adds.

Indeed, the paper concludes, the need for better education to help people make informed choices is quite apparent.

“Creating more effective retirement income choice environments will require coordination among employers, insurers, advisors, regulators, and policymakers, even when incentives are imperfectly aligned. No single innovation or regulatory change will reliably deliver the outcomes predicted by idealized economic models. Meaningful progress will instead depend on a combination of education, carefully designed nudges, and continued innovation in products and choice architecture,” the paper concludes.

Members of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan have access to a variety of annuity options when it comes time to convert their savings (in total or in part) to income.

According to the SPP Pension Guide (retirement_guide.pdf), members can choose a life-only annuity (income goes to the member for life with no survivor options), a refund life annuity (where any balance remaining of the amount you transferred for your annuity can be paid to your beneficiary), and a joint and last survivor annuity (where a surviving spouse or common law partner receives some or all of your annuity payment for the rest of their life after you pass away).

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Several strategies can help those who won’t hit retirement “finish line” until after 65

Writing for CP24, certified financial planner and noted financial commentator Christopher Liew observes that a growing number of Canadians are finding that their working life will continue long past the traditional retirement age of 65.

“For decades, 65 was the finish line. You worked, you saved, you retired. But that script is quietly being rewritten across the country,” his article begins.

Citing data from Statistics Canada, he reports that “more Canadians than ever are staying on the job past 65. For some it’s a necessity, for others it’s a choice, but either way, the trend is here.”

As of 2025, he writes, 15.2 per cent of Canadians were still at work after age 65, according to Statistics Canada. That marks the fifth year in a row that the over-65 working cohort has increased in numbers, he adds, and means there are 1.2 million seniors still in the workforce.

And while the average retirement age was just 60.9 as recently as 1997, as of 2025 it has risen to 65.4 years, he adds. “Self-employed Canadians retire even later, at an average of 68.4,” he remarks.

So, he continues, if “done right,” working for a few extra years “can dramatically improve the rest of your life.”

What strategies should “delayed” retirees employ? Let’s read on.

Liew recommends that those working past 65 delay receiving the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS).

“This is the single biggest lever most Canadians ignore. According to the Government of Canada, every month you delay your CPP retirement pension past the age 65 increases your payment by 0.7 per cent. Wait until 70 and you’ll get a permanent 42 per cent boost,” he reports.

It’s a similar story for OAS, he notes. “OAS works the same way, but at 0.6 per cent per month, for a maximum 36 per cent permanent increase at 70. If you’re working past 65 and don’t need the income yet, deferring is almost always worth a serious look,” he advises.

A second benefit of deferring OAS if you are still working is avoiding the OAS “recovery tax” or clawback, Liew notes.

“If you’re earning a good income past 65, taking OAS at the same time can backfire. For the July 2026 to June 2027 benefit year, OAS starts to claw back once your net income hits $93,454, and disappears entirely around $152,000 if you’re aged 65 to 74,” he warns.

A third strategy of working longer is continuing to build up your retirement savings via your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA).

“Working longer means more contribution room and more time for tax-sheltered growth. You can keep contributing to your RRSP until Dec. 31 of the year you turn 71. And since your TFSA limit keeps accumulating regardless of work status, every extra year of earnings is a chance to top it up,” he writes.

“I’ve always thought this is one of the most underrated benefits of working past 65. A 67-year-old maxing out their TFSA and adding to a spousal RRSP can quietly add tens of thousands in tax-sheltered savings before they even start drawing down,” he explains.

Liew adds a couple of additional strategic thoughts.

Those who are 65 and older but still working can still claim the pension income tax credit “on up to $2,000 of eligible pension income, plus a matching provincial credit.” The “trick” is to make sure you are drawing at least that amount from a pension plan or registered retirement income fund (RRIF) withdrawal, he adds.

A last bit of advice is to “phase in” your retirement, rather than making a “hard switch” from working to not working.  

“A growing number of Canadians are moving to part-time work, consulting, or seasonal gigs in their late 60s. Wage growth for workers 55 and older actually outpaced every other age group in March 2026, at 5.2 per cent year-over-year, according to the Labour Force Survey. Older workers aren’t just hanging on, they’re being rewarded,” he concludes.

Members of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan have the option to defer converting their savings into retirement income until the age of 71.

Their contributions will continue to grow in SPP’s professionally managed, low-cost pooled fund. When it’s finally time to draw income from the account, options include the security of a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the flexibility of the Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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Putting your best foot forward – the benefits of walking

We keep seeing it on television, our phones, and over the airwaves – walking is one of the best exercises out there.

What makes it so? Save with SPP decided to prowl around the Interweb to see what people are saying about the health benefits of walking.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “regular brisk walking” can help maintain or manage your weight, “prevent or manage various health conditions” such as “heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, several cancers and type 2 diabetes,” improve heart health and fitness, and build endurance.

As well, the article continues, walking helps strengthen your bones, boosts your energy level, “improves mood, thinking, memory and sleep,” reduces stress and anxiety and “improves your physical function and, in older adults, lowers fall risk.”

The Clinic suggests that “walking faster and farther” is linked to the best results. “If you are just starting out, slowly work your way up to walking faster and farther. Over time, you may notice you can walk farther in less time. This helps you get aerobic activity, improve heart health, build endurance and burn calories.”

The Prevention website chimes in on the health benefits of a nice brisk stroll, noting that it can help your cognitive function and overall heart health.

“Walking is an easy-to-do exercise that has so many benefits with very little risk of injury or death,” Adam Mills, exercise physiologist and cycling coach at Source Endurance, states in the Prevention article.

The key, the article continues, is to get in at least 30 minutes of walking per day.

And, the article says, all the stuff you read about aiming for 10,000 steps a day may be overdoing it.

“A 2021 study published in JAMA Network Open found that for people ages 38 to 50, 7,000 steps was associated with a lower mortality rate,” Prevention reports. “And a 2025 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who walked a minimum of 4,000 steps daily at least three days a week had a 40 per cent lower risk of dying (prematurely),” the article adds.

Any amount of walking helps and is beneficial, the article concludes.

Last word to the folks at Harvard, who add a few “surprising benefits” we can achieve from regular walking.

A half-hour of walking briskly “counteracts the effects of weight-promoting genes,” the article begins. This, the article says, is a way to counter the risks and effects of obesity.

Interestingly, walking “helps tame a sweet tooth.” Research from the University of Exeter, the article reports, found that even “a 15-minute walk can curb cravings for chocolate and even reduce the amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations. And the latest research confirms that walking can reduce cravings and intake of a variety of sugary snacks,” the article notes.

Walking regularly reduces your risk of breast cancer, “eases joint pain,” and can boost your immune function, the article reports. “Walking can help protect you during cold and flu season. A study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, had 43 per cent fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less.”

So, the next time you’re thinking of driving to the corner store for milk, consider putting on your running shoes and taking a stroll. You’ll be doing yourself – and your health – a big favour, while at the same time, saving a little on gas.

And a great place to park those savings is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan.

The SPP was created to provide a pension plan for those of us who don’t have one through work – or want to supplement any plan we do have. SPP is open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room – you can contribute any amount you want each year up to your personal RRSP limit.

As well, you can transfer in any amount from other RRSPs you may have, to consolidate your retirement savings nest egg.

Funds deposited in SPP are professionally invested in a low-cost, diversified pooled fund. When it’s time to turn savings into retirement income, your options as an SPP member include the security of a lifetime monthly annuity payment or the flexibility of the Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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