A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

What if the boomer retirement wave is a trickle, rather than a tidal wave?

We all seem to feel pretty certain that any time now, an unprecedented wave of boomer retirements (some call it the silver tsunami) will wash ashore, overloading the system and causing all kinds of problems.

Financial author and MacDonald-Laurier Institute fellow Linda Nazareth isn’t so sure.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, she likens concerns about this upcoming boomer retirement wave to “almost an urban legend.”

She says many speculate that “shortages of workers will be the bane of every industry,” and “younger workers will finally (finally!!) get to experience what it’s like to be in a seller’s market. After all, every day that huge generation gets older they are collectively getting a day closer to the golf course and out of the office.”

However, there may be a few facts getting in the way of this great story, she writes. A recent study by the OECD, Nazareth notes, suggests “there are factors at play that will keep older workers in the workforce and that will go a long way toward offsetting the impact of population aging in most developed countries, including Canada.”

The OECD research noted, she writes, that many countries, including Canada, have done away with mandatory retirement ages. Getting rid of those old rules – here it used to be retirement by age 65 – led to a “10.9 percentage point increase in the labour force participation rate… of those between 55 and 74 between 2002 and 2019,” she explains.

The OECD, Nazareth explains, chalks up the increase in older workers to “rising life expectancy,” the fact that people are living (and thus working) longer, and “educational attainment,” the idea that better-educated workers can stay on the job longer.

So instead of a “silver tsunami,” Nazareth says the OECD data suggests that the number of older people in the workforce should actually begin to increase “by 3.4 percentage points through 2030 for the median (OECD) country.” Japan will see a startling 11.5 per cent increase in older workers by 2030, at the lower end, Germany will see a fall of 2.5 per cent in the same timeframe.  Canada should see the older worker participation rate dip by 1.7 per cent by 2030.

Nazareth concludes from the OECD data that the long-expected explosion of boomer retirements is being delayed by “longer lifespans… and higher education levels.” Another factor, she explains, is that while older folks may be working longer, they may tend to be doing so “on contracts or in part-time jobs.” Nonetheless, she concludes, “the rush to the golf greens may be a little slower than expected.”

These conclusions sure seem to line up with what those of us of a certain age – let’s say 60 – are seeing. Those of us with good workplace pensions are leaving or planning to leave the workplace, those without intend to keep working. Many are working or consulting into their 70s.

One great way to ease the transition from working to not working is to augment any workplace pension you may receive with personal savings. A great place to park your hard-earned retirement dollars is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, which offers professional, low-cost investing, an enviable track record of growth, and best of all, many options at retirement to turn your savings into lifetime income. Be sure to click on over to check them out!

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

Data expert proposes boosting CPP payouts, given lack of pensions in the workplace

Writing in the Journal Pioneer, columnist Don Mills reveals a surprising fact – the current maximum payout for the CPP is well below the poverty level.

Mills begins his op-ed piece by noting that increased life expectancy leads to a question – are Prince Edward Islanders “financially prepared for retirement?”

He then observes that only 34 per cent of the workforce in Canada “has employer-sponsored pensions,” with that number dropping to 30 per cent in his native PEI.

“The rest of Canadians must save for retirement or depend on the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and/or Old Age Security (OAS). While CPP is healthy in terms of sustainability at current payouts, it’s only available to those who have contributed to the plan – and maxes out at $1,100 per month. Without other resources, those relying on CPP and/or OAS are facing a life of poverty or a significantly diminished standard of living,” writes Mills.

He notes that the general “rule of thumb” for retirement is that you should have income that equals 70 per cent of what you made at work. “If a household’s income leading up to retirement was $100,000 per year with two incomes, $70,000 is needed after retirement to maintain current standards,” he explains in the piece. But given the relatively modest payout of CPP, Mills notes that “a two-income household with no other retirement savings would receive less than $30,000 from CPP and have a $40,000 shortfall to maintain previous standards of living.”

He notes that while defined benefit pension plans are still common in the public sector – the type of plan that provides “guaranteed payouts that increase with inflation,” only large private sector companies have such plans. The rest, he says, have defined contribution plans which don’t guarantee a set payout (the amount contributed is what is defined, not the payout), if they have any plan at all.

“Few small- or medium-sized companies have the capacity to fund pension plans for employees – meaning only 25 per cent of those who work in the private sector have a pension. The percentage with a defined benefit (inflation protected) plan has decreased from 61 per cent to 40 per cent in the past 10 years,” he explains.

Mills says that the government needs to take steps to ensure that those without indexed DB plans also get some income guarantees in retirement.

“The federal government must commit to substantially increasing CPP payouts by committing tax revenue to this purpose, the same way taxpayers help fund public sector pensions. This includes increasing the contributions by those working and from the federal government by allocating more taxpayer money for that purpose to the CPP and OAS. At minimum, the government should guarantee a retirement income at least above the poverty line in Canada – currently $20k for an individual and $28k for a couple in P.E.I., where 10 per cent of residents currently live below the poverty line, according to the latest census,” he writes.

Mills’ column underscores the little-known fact that benefits from CPP and OAS are modest – and that if that’s all you have to live on when you retire, it is going to be tough sledding. There is also the Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income earners which helps those without savings or workplace pensions.

Mills is correct – more and more people lack a workplace pension and must depend on CPP and OAS, which were never really designed to be the main source of retirement income, but were considered supplemental income. When these programs were launched in the 1960s, most workplaces offered pensions; as Mills notes, nearly two-thirds of workers don’t have such coverage today. This is a problem that could lead to future senior poverty.

If you don’t have a workplace pension, or want to supplement it on your own, an excellent do-it-yourself product is available through the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. You decide how much you want to contribute, and they’ll invest it for you – efficiently and at a low cost – so that your savings grow as you approach retirement. Then, they have a wide array of options for you to convert those savings into a lifetime income stream.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

Half of retirees plan to bring debt into retirement – those with written plans remain optimistic

Half – 46 per cent, to be exact – of Canadian pre-retirees expect to “have long-term IOUs heading into retirement,” but those with a written retirement plan are still optimistic about life in retirement, new research finds.

Fidelity Investments Canada ULC put together this research in their annual study, called Retirement 20/20, according to a recent media release.

“For Canadians, the path to retirement is becoming more complex. With higher debt loads and longer than ever life expectancy, those approaching retirement must think critically, plan ahead and take action today,” states Michelle Munro, Director, Tax and Retirement Research, in the release. “Our latest research findings show that working with a professional financial advisor and putting a plan on paper is the best way to navigate this new environment.”

The study found that 87 per cent of those surveyed who had a written retirement plan were optimistic things would be fine in retirement – for those without such a plan, 42 per cent had a negative outlook about retirement, the release notes.

Other key findings from the research:

• About three in four of those surveyed (70 per cent) say they believe they will be working in retirement
• More retirees (34 per cent) are working to keep mentally and physically active
• Those with a written retirement plan feel better prepared “emotionally, socially and physically” for retirement

Save with SPP used a written plan to prepare for retirement. It certainly helped cement the choice of when to leave full-time work behind. The key things were to note all sources of retirement income (income at the start, and then later, government programs and so on) and at the same time, to note all expenses. Five years later, this plan is still working, and of course there have been unexpected expenses that messed up the plan occasionally. But the ship is still sailing on course.

One of our friends actually prepared for retirement by figuring out what the retirement income was and then living on it – in practice mode – for a few months prior to the big day. That took all the surprises out of it for he and his spouse. Clever.

12 great things about retirement

Many of us (certainly this writer) obsess about the financial side of retirement, but there’s a lot of other less tangible aspects about it that we must not lose sight of.

US News and World Report lists a dozen great things about retirement, including “newfound freedom,” being able to “quit the rat race,” catching up on all the movies you didn’t have time to see, being able to work if you like (but not work if you don’t like), time with kids and grandbabies, volunteering, and time for travel.

You can’t put a dollar value on these things – in a sense, the time to do what you wish is priceless. So no matter how the finances work out, you’ll still benefit from being away from the office on permanent hiatus.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

If retirement looks unaffordable, there’s always Ecuador

New research by a New Brunswick-based economic sociologist sheds some interesting light on why many North Americans move to lower-cost, better climate retirement spots – specifically Ecuador.

Market Watch recently published an interview with Matthew Hayes, author of the book Gringolandia, which looked into some of the reasons why middle-class North Americans are doing a “reverse migration” to the South American country.

Hayes says in the interview that he began realizing that most ex-pats who retire to Ecuador were doing so because of a lack of retirement savings. He says a lot of “peoples’ lives were being reorganized” after the global financial crisis of 2008, and for many, retirement plans had to be cheapened up.

His research showed that it was not so much that Ecuador was more attractive than where they were, it was that they needed to escape from “the rat wheel,” the article explains. “Maybe their careers didn’t develop the way they wanted to live. Or they wanted a more meaningful life. Some told me it might be difficult to purchase and sustain retirement in a place like Los Angeles if you’re not independently wealthy,” Hayes states in the interview.

Many, he states, saw moving to a new continent with a different language as being a great, late-life adventure akin to travel.

“They talked about being more active and able to socialize more and staying young by meeting people and getting involved in activities and seeing things they hadn’t seen before. It’s all very tied to the idea of active aging, which is a dominant cultural ideal of aging at this moment in time,” states Hayes.

But the main point of the move was that the North Americans, lacking in savings, were “economic refugees,” the article explains.

“They couldn’t stay in the United States living the life they were living without continuing to work. And some felt they were displaced. In a lot of cities, like Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco and New York and Chicago, the cost of living has increased so much in the last decade or two that some people feel it’s impossible to remain in place,” Hayes states in the article.

And, he states, the “refugees” found there were more benefits than simply lower costs by moving to Ecuador. “What came up in many interviews was how they lost weight when they moved to Ecuador because they’re so much more physically active, walking to places and eating healthier food,” the article notes.

This story underlines the importance of having retirement savings – the more you can afford, the better – to give you options when you retire. Staying where you are today and having the same level of expenses will be difficult if you don’t have retirement savings to bolster what you’ll receive from government retirement benefits.

If you don’t have a workplace pension or do but want to supplement it, an excellent do-it-yourself pension plan is out there for you. It’s the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, an open defined contribution plan with more than $500 million in assets serving 33,000 members. They can set you up with a pension account, you determine how much you want to contribute, and they’ll handle investing the money at a management fee that’s typically less than 100 basis points (1%). When retirement comes, you just contact SPP and they’ll set up your monthly lifetime pension. Check them out today!

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

Women have to plan for a longer retirement

What works for a man may not work for a woman, and that sentiment is true when it comes to retirement planning.

According to the Young and Thrifty blog, women need “to know how to save more than men.”

They need to save more than the conventional 10 per cent of salary, the post notes, or else they could risk not having enough money in retirement. “Advice given to women about how much to save for retirement may be so far off base that, according to the Broadbent Institute, 28 per cent of senior women are currently living in poverty in Canada,” the article notes.

The article notes that as a starting point, women earn less than men, about 87 cents for every dollar earned by a man. That means less to save for retirement, the blog notes.

Secondly, women “tend to invest more conservatively than men,” the article advises. Women, the article notes, tend to shy away from riskier market investments in favour of GICs and high-interest savings accounts. “While these can be great short-term strategies, these investments offer a lower return, stunting the growth of the money over the long term,” the blog reports.

So the problem is that women “are earning less, saving less, and generally choosing investment strategies that yield less,” the article notes. “But because women generally live longer than men, they need to squirrel away more money in their nest egg.”

The article notes that women tend to live four years longer than men, meaning a more expensive retirement. “Four years longer doesn’t seem that long, but if you assume a retirement age of 65, that’s 28 per cent more years spent in retirement,” the article warns.

A final factor – women tend to leave the workforce to raise children, meaning they don’t have as long a career or as many opportunities to save, the article says.

What to do?

The article advises women to consider sharing some of their parental leave time with their spouses, so that they aren’t off work as much. If you are off on a leave, a spouse can open a spousal RRSP to ensure that retirement savings continues while you are caring for a child. The article urges “more aggressive investments” by women, including the use of exchange-traded funds or ETFs, so that you are getting more benefit from the stock market.

And finally, the article says the savings target for women should be 18 per cent of income, as opposed to 10 per cent for men.

Interestingly, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan was invented with women in mind. The SPP started out as a way for busy women and moms to have their own way to save. The SPP offers professional investing at a very low cost, is scaleable (you can put more in when you make more, and less in when you make less) and very importantly, offers a simple way to turn those savings into reliable monthly lifetime income when you leave the workforce.

It’s an ideal tool for women who want to upgrade their retirement savings – check them out today.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

Caring for parents hits retirement savings bottom line

New research has found that 14 per cent of Canadians with a living parent “are expecting the impact of helping their parents financially will mean delaying their own retirement,” reports Wealth Professional.

A further 12 per cent say caring for parents will prevent them from paying off debt, the magazine notes, citing research carried out by Leger for FP Canada and Chartwell Retirement Residences.

Other fears connected with parental care include having to take time off work to look after parents (a concern for 13 per cent of respondents), or having to quit work entirely to provide care (a fear for five per cent of those surveyed), the magazine reports.

For sure, having a parent who develops a serious illness and can’t live on their own anymore can throw a wrench in any plan. Is there much that can be done about it?

According to Sharon Henderson, VP of Marketing & Communications for Chartwell, an important thing to do is to talk with the parents about the possibility of a future health downturn.

“One of the biggest concerns we see in retirement living is the avoidance of financial conversations between adult children and their senior parents. This can create uncertainty and prevent proactive planning for support later in life,” she states in the article.

It’s important to go over the potential costs of long-term care, and to be aware of what measures the parents have put in place to help pay for it, the article advises. As well, there are tax credits available if you are acting as a caregiver, the article notes.

As Kelley Keehn of FP Canada notes in the article, “the senior years can be financially challenging, and as a result, many older Canadians turn to family members for support. That can cause a significant financial strain, and as Canadians live longer, that strain will only grow.”

Some great things about retirement

While it’s a safe bet that no one’s retirement will be completely smooth sailing, there are good things about it that we must not lose sight of, reports US News and World Report.

For starters, “a weight is lifted from your shoulders when you quit the rat race,” the article notes. There’s more time for movies and TV. You can try new things, join new clubs, and meet new people. And if you miss the routine of working, you can still do it part-time, the article suggests. There’s loads more time for family and friends, and to “give back” via volunteering, the article notes.

Other ideas include travel, enjoying the “time to do nothing,” and generally doing what you want instead of what others want you to do, the article concludes.

Whether it’s caring for a relative or doing your own thing, retirement is a time of life where you’ll appreciate having money. Sure the government provides some, but if you don’t have a workplace pension, or you want to supplement what it provides, consider saving on your own via the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. You can start small, you can ramp up your contributions as your income increases, and when it’s time to collect your savings you can receive it as a lifetime monthly pension. Check them out today!

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

Be sure you don’t miss out on pension benefits from long-ago work

When this writer was a young reporter in the 1980s, it seemed that moving to a new job took place every year or two. It’s quite common, in fact, for people to have many different jobs over the course of their careers.

So it’s not that surprising that some of these folks had pension or retirement savings through their old employers that they’ve forgotten about – and that unclaimed pension money is still there, looking for them.

A recent report in Benefits Canada took a look at the size of this problem. While no one knows exactly how much unclaimed pension money is out there, “the federal government says the number could be rising with people switching jobs more often, qualifying for plans faster, retiring abroad more often and not updating their mailing address because of increased reliance on online accounts,” the magazine reports.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, for instance, “has about 30,500 members it can’t locate,” the article says. In the UK, an estimated $682 million in unclaimed pension money is piling up in various accounts, hoping to be reunited with its owners.

When the various plans can’t reach members, they’ll try tracking them down “through Equifax, search firms, and the Canada Revenue Agency,” the story notes. Unfortunately, there are so many fake CRA calls out there now that many people don’t respond, believing it all to be a scam, the article adds.

So what should you do if you think you might have had benefits in a retirement plan of a long-ago employer?

The article recommends that you “call up the human resources or pension administrator at the old company. If the company has been taken over, gone bankrupt or is otherwise hard to find, (you) can try getting in touch with the provincial regulator.”

If you think you may be missing out on benefits from long ago, it’s a good idea to make that call.

Take a tip and help your retirement

The Retire Happy blog offers some great tips to help you plan for retirement.

First, the blog notes, “take care of your health and make fitness a priority.” As well, “prepare for the retirement process by having a good idea, in advance, of what your income will be as well as your expenses,” the blog advises. The idea here is to have no surprises.

A third great bit of advice that many retirees wish they had taken is to “pay off debts while you are still working.” The blog notes that a surprising 59 per cent of retirees are in debt, and “for 19 per cent, that debt has grown in the last year.” The blog advises “laying off the credit cards” before retirement and remembering that in nearly every case, your retirement income will be less – not more – than what you were making at work.

Save with SPP has an additional tip to add to these excellent suggestions, and that is this – start saving early. The earlier you start saving for retirement, the more you’ll have when work is a fading memory. You can start small and grow your contributions to savings when you get a raise or a bonus. A terrific tool for your retirement savings program is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan; be sure to check them out today.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

A new retirement worry – the cost of healthcare as you age

They say the best things in life are free – however, the cost of healthcare, particularly for older Canadians, does carry a price tag.

And, according to recent Ipsos poll, conducted for the Canadian Medical Association and reported on by the CBC in Prince Edward Island, the cost of future care may prompt some Canadians to delay their retirement.

According to the polling, “58 per cent believe Canadians will have to delay retirement to afford health care. The poll also found that 88 per cent of respondents are worried about the growing number of seniors requiring more health care,” the CBC story reports.

Why are people concerned?

In the article, the CMA’s president Dr. Gigi Osler explains what people worry about.

“Our current health care system is already strained and already not able to meet the needs of our seniors, and will be even more strained in the coming years,” she states. “As our population ages, not only are people going to have to pay more for those services it’s going to cost our already strained health care system more in the coming years.”

Those concerns certainly seem to impact the thinking of older Canadians, the article notes. “Older Canadians (55 and over) are most concerned about how health care costs may affect their wallets. The survey found 77 per cent of those 55 and over were worried about the financial burden of health care costs, compared to 70 per cent of those 35-54 and 58 per cent of those 18-34,” the article reports.

The takeaway here is to be aware that costs of care can be fairly significant, particularly if you live to a long age and require some form of long-term care. Perhaps we all need to factor those future and often unexpected costs into our savings plans.

Another retirement thorn – carrying a mortgage after you’ve left work

The Financial Post runs a cautionary tale about a couple – who appear to have been great savers and investors – who are running into problems in retirement due to a “late life mortgage.”

“The couple has a late-life mortgage because they sent their children, now in their mid-20s, to private schools and paid their university costs. As a result, the kids have no education debts — but the parents have a big debt in retirement. On top of that, the kids are still living at home,” the article notes.

The couple are having cash flow problems, despite owning a $1.5 million home, having more than $500,000 in RRSPs and $100,000 in TFSAs, and a further $20,000 of investments, the article adds.

The solution from the Post is for the couple to sell their home and downsize. The article quotes Derek Moran, of Smarter Financial Ltd. In Kelowna, as saying that “more cash and less house” would give the couple more financial security. “Moreover, selling the house would give the kids a nudge to move out,” he states. “They should have independent lives.”

You can’t fault these parents for helping out their kids, but putting themselves behind the eight ball impacts their retirement and limits their ability to help the kids further.

If you’re still a long time away from retirement, and haven’t yet begun to put money away, a great choice for you is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Those savings will add to your income when you retire, allowing you to roll with the punches should health or family issues arise. A nice little extra chunk of income is never a bad thing when you’re too old to work.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

Millennials need to boost their savings discipline

A story from CNBC, citing research from U.S. bank Wells Fargo, suggests younger folks, “those who grew up… listening to Bon Jovi” have a harder road to retirement than their Beatles-fan parents.

The Wells Fargo report, called Reimagining Retirement, looks at the savings needs of all the different generations, and reaches some interesting conclusions.

Assuming, the article notes, that you will need to save $1 million to self-fund your retirement, younger people will have to be more self-reliant. “Millennials, less likely to have a traditional pension than baby boomers, need to develop financial discipline. Members of Generation X, finding themselves in their peak earning years, need to ramp up their savings right now,” the article notes.

The report itself shows some of the barriers younger people have to face when it comes to saving (remember, this is U.S. data, but it probably paints a similar picture to what is going on here). The report notes that “65 per cent of GenXers’ monthly income goes towards meeting monthly expenses,” and that only “48 per cent of GenXers agree that they are saving enough for retirement.” The GenXers are advised to avoid dipping into their retirement accounts for non-retirement purposes, to sign up for any retirement savings plans available at work, and to “invest for growth.”

Millennials, the report says, find basic financial skills to be “intimidating.” A surprising 32 per cent of this age group don’t “believe the stock market is a good place to grow their retirement savings,” the report notes. For this group, the advice is to sign up for any retirement programs work may offer, and to try to move any work-related savings with you when changing jobs. They are advised to avoid being too conservative when investing (avoiding risk) and avoid getting caught up in “the latest investment craze.”

Retirement can last a really long time!

Writing in Benefits Canada, Simon Deschenes, a partner at  Eckler Limited, notes that when he was growing up in the 1980s, people living to age 100 “made the news,” it was that rare and unlikely.

These days, he writes, actuaries assume that males age 65 “will live to about age 88 and females age 65 will live to age 90 – and that’s for the average Canadian pensioner.” He notes that he recently “came across two statistics that blew my ‘80s childhood mind – the chance of one half of a retired couple, both age 65, reaching 94 is about 50 per cent.” The chances of one member of that couple reaching age 100 is a surprisingly high 10 per cent, he adds.

He concludes by saying the “risk” of living a really long life (known in the industry as longevity risk) should be a major consideration for retirees in how they draw down their savings; he also suggests the new advanced-life deferred annuities are a new tool worth looking at that can bolster your retirement income if you live a really long time.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan has you covered if you are worried about outliving your savings. SPP has a wide variety of annuity options, check out the SPP Retirement Guide for full details.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

A look at the best of the Internet, from an SPP point of view

When working becomes the new saving

The boomers are often blamed for having had an easy time of things versus the younger generations – lower costs for education and housing, better employment opportunities, and so on.

Despite this apparent rosy and opportunity-ridden life path, however, new research shows that boomers – even the youngest tier – haven’t been savers.

According to a study by Franklin Templeton Investments Canada, reported on via Benefits Canada, a stunning 21 per cent of “younger baby boomers” haven’t saved anything for retirement.

Young boomers, “defined as those between the age of 55 and 64,” have a simple solution to their lack of saving, the article notes. Forty-six per cent of them, the report states, “said they would consider postponing retirement.” In plainer terms, they are extending their careers.

How long will the extension be? “Fifteen per cent of Canadians said they expect to work until the end of their life and 22 per cent said they don’t ever plan to retire,” the article states. However, paradoxically, about half of the young boomer group (54 per cent) “retired earlier than expected,” the article explains.

It’s sort of hard to imagine people working on into their 70s and 80s. Even if there is work to be had, will people’s health be good enough for them to keep at it? At best it seems like an iffy option.

“With life expectancy increasing and retirement savings becoming ever more challenging, due to the high costs of living, we are seeing increased concern over having enough money for retirement across all generations,” states Franklin Templeton’s Matthew Williams in the Benefits Canada article.  “Although it’s never too late to start saving, the best time to start contributing to retirement savings vehicles is when a person starts out in their career and may not have big financial commitments like a mortgage or childcare costs, and to find a way to maintain healthy savings habits as they age.”

Saving for retirement gives you options. You may be able to work less, and ultimately, not at all if your own savings augment your government retirement benefits. Your savings will also provide extra income, over and above that of any workplace pension you may be able to join.

If you haven’t started down the saving path, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan is worth a hard look. It’s open to any Canadian citizen, it’s been professionally run since the 1980s, has a strong record of good investment returns (at a low management expense) and has many options to turn your savings into an income stream when you retire.

Don’t let working be your savings plan – sign up for SPP today.

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22