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

Feds roll out concept of deferred annuity to age 85

An interesting retirement idea in the recent federal budget that hasn’t garnered a lot of attention is the advanced life deferred annuity, or ALDA, option.

While there’s still lots that needs to be done to take an idea from the budget and make it into an actual product people can choose, it’s an intriguing choice.

With an ALDA, reports Advisor’s Edge, a person would be able to move some of their retirement savings from a RRIF into a deferred annuity that would start at age 85.

Right now, the article notes, “the tax rules generally require an annuity purchased with registered funds to begin after the annuitant turns 71.” This option may be a hit with those folks who don’t like the current registered retirement income fund (RRIF) rules that require you, at age 71, to either cash out their RRSP, buy an immediate annuity, or withdraw a set amount of money each year from your RRIF (which is subject to taxation). Currently, the article notes, people can choose one or all (a combination) of these options.

In the article, Doug Carroll of Meridian Credit Union says the financial industry “has for years asked to push back the age at which RRIFs have to be drawn down.”

This proposed change, “addresses that to a large extent. It limits the amount that would be subject to the RRIF minimum, and it also pushes off the time period to just short of age 85,” he states in the article.

Will we see the ALDA option soon? Well, not this year, the article states. “The ALDAs, which will apply beginning in the 2020 tax year, will be qualifying annuity purchases under an RRSP, RRIF, deferred profit sharing plan, pooled registered pension plan and defined contribution pension plan,” the article notes.

The best things to do in retirement – more work?

There’s more to retirement than just money, of course.

According to US News and World Report, the so-called “golden years” should feature more time with friends and family, travel, home improvements, volunteering, new learning, exercise and experiencing other cultures.

There’s also the idea of work – huh? “Just over a third (34 per cent) of workers envision a retirement in which they continue to work in some capacity. And 12 per cent of working Americans would like to start a business in retirement. Perhaps you can scale back to part time, take on consulting or seasonal work, or otherwise find a work schedule that also offers plenty of time for leisure pursuits,” the article advises.

Rounding out the list of retirement “to-dos” are rewarding yourself with a big-ticket car or “other expensive item,” and writing a book. Time to dust off that old Underwood!

Whatever you choose to do with the buckets of free time you experience after retiring, savings from the time you were working will be a plus. The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is like the Swiss Army Knife of retirement savings products, because it has a feature for every aspect of the cycle. You have professional investment at a low cost, flexible ways to contribute, and many options at retirement including lifetime income via an annuity. Check out www.saskpension.com 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

At one time, the world of credit was filled with all sorts of incentives to get you using the card – travel points, points for goods and services, and so on.  But lately, it seems that points are being joined and even overtaken by cash back credit cards and shopping sites. Save with SPP had a look around the Interweb to see what people think about this apparently popular trend.

The Centsai blog agrees that there “are plenty of financial benefits of cash back rewards cards,” but warns consumers to “make sure you don’t fall victim to traps that will wipe out those benefits.”

Cash back credit cards, the blog notes, usually “offer a base level of cash back – usually one to two per cent of all purchases.” (This blog is aimed at the US market, which is similar but not identical to Canada’s.) Some products will give you an even higher discount on pre-selected categories, such as dining out, the blog notes.

Money comes back to you either as a statement credit, or by some sort of direct payment or cheque, the blog reports.

So what’s wrong with getting some of your money back? The problem, Centsai notes, is that you have to spend quite a lot on your card to get significant cash rewards back. We are talking maybe $2 on every $100 spent. “People can easily go out-of-control with their spending by viewing each potential purchase as a rewards-earning opportunity not to be missed,” the blog explains.

As well, notes the blog, the true benefit of cash back accrues for those who pay their credit cards off in full each month. For that type of user, the blog says, cash back is win-win. Turning this idea around, those who max out their credit cards to get the cash back may find that the interest they owe is much more than the cash they got back.

If you do a lot of online shopping, Ebates might be worth a look, reports Yahoo! News. “Ebates receives a commission from retailers for sending shoppers their way,” the article notes. “The app features daily deals such as 14 per cent cash back on purchases at.. Travelocity, Microsoft and dozens of other retailers. Cash back is paid quarterly by cheque or via PayPal.”

Save with SPP has personally tried both these types of things, and what the articles are saying is true. If you are great with your credit cards and pay them off completely each month, these ideas are like free money. If, like Save with SPP, you are less than perfect with your credit cards, the benefits of the cash back are minimized – you have spent more in interest, potentially, than what you are getting back in rebates.

Credit and its evil twin, debt, are a lot like being overweight and out of shape. With a lot of work, and a lot of cutting back, you can make a dent in excess credit (or weight). But you need a lot of self-discipline, and if you have it, you’ll succeed.

So, if you’re good with your credit card and can generate extra cash via cashback products, a good destination for them is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Even small amounts here and there will add up over time and will augment your retirement income – a sort of future cash back reward, if you will. 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 and classic rock. He and his wife live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

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

South of the border, saving hard, education pricey – retirement challenging

In the US, more and more people are having to dip into retirement savings to pay for their kids’ education, leaving them less to live on.

According to a recent article in Yahoo! Finance, things are so bad, people have stopped bothering to worry about it. “Reports of Americans being unprepared for retirement have become so widespread that it no longer seems to elicit any emotional response,” the article notes.

“The Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 40.6 per cent of all U.S. households (where the head of the household is between ages 35 and 64) are projected to run out of money in retirement,” the article notes. “Moreover, the average Social Security benefit provides an income equivalent to the poverty level for a family of four.”

The impact of paying for an education for the kids, “Number 1 goal” for most Americans, has impacted their ability to save. Education costs have left retirement nest eggs “less than robust,” the article notes.

The article says this savings shortfall is not due to a “failure to behave responsibly,” but instead to “a function of conscious decisions made in the past.”

A future as shown in “glossy financial brochures with couples in their mid-50s riding a sailboat” is “an unrealistic expectation for many households,” the article states. People are failing to consider that we are all living longer, and that we may be retired for as long as we were working, notes Yahoo! Finance.

And even if you do have savings, they will diminish as you take money out to live in retirement, the article points out. “To put this into perspective, if you take out 5 per cent from a diversified portfolio each year, you stand a 58 per cent chance of running out of money within 30 years of retirement,” the article explains.

Timing does matter, the authors note. “Anyone taking withdrawals during the 2008 housing crisis would have a dramatically different outcome than investors who retired in 2009 and lived off market returns in the beginning of retirement. Volatility matters,” they tell us.

The authors suggest that a person would need $2 million in savings to generate $100,000 in annual income.

But there is an up side to this daunting article. It notes that money isn’t everything in retirement. “The key to achieving an active, satisfying and happy retirement involves more than having adequate savings. It also entails interesting leisure activities, creative pursuits and mental and physical well-being,” the article concludes. In a way, the best things in life may not cost that much.

Viewpoints like this reinforce the need to make time for retirement savings. A good approach, especially for those who are decades away from the “golden years,” is to start small with savings and gradually ramp up as your income increases. If you don’t have a pension plan at work, or do and want to augment it, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan is worth a look. It features low-cost professional investing, and uniquely is equipped to turn those savings into a lifetime income stream down the road. Check them out at www.saskpension.com.

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

While there are certainly days when Save with SPP wishes there were fewer barky, early-rising and cheese-focused pets living here, the value of having them cannot be overlooked.

Writing in the Chronicle-Herald, Darren Steeves notes that “there is a ton of research on the benefits of having a pet,” including lower blood pressure, healthier hearts, and weight reduction through walking.

“In 2010, a study found public housing residents who walked dogs from the SPCA five times a week lost an average of 14.4 pounds over the course of a year. And here is the kicker: participants considered it a responsibility to the dog, rather than exercise,” he writes.

There are also great benefits for our mental health, reports Australia’s Newcastle Herald.

The article quotes Dr. Paula Parker, speaking about research conducted by the University of Manchester for the Australian Veterinary Association. She states that “the human-animal bond plays a crucial and positive role in the health and wellbeing of the community.”

Those benefits, she says in the article, include “companionship, health and social improvements and assistance for people with special needs,” and she further adds that the research suggests pets “can help people who are struggling with a serious mental illness to manage their mental health.”

And even if you don’t have a pet at home, you may find one helping you when you’re away.  Toronto Life reports that therapy dogs are now on staff at the busy Pearson Airport. “There’s a new crew of canines hanging out at Pearson, but these dogs aren’t drug sniffers. Instead, they’re part of a new therapy dog program, in partnership with St John Ambulance, designed to help travellers de-stress,” the article notes.

We know all about dogs helping those with vision and hearing problems, but increasingly dogs and cats can benefit those with other conditions, such as PTSD.

It’s clear that pets help us physically and emotionally. Looking after them gives us a sense of purpose, even once the kids are gone and the nest is relatively empty. So if you are able to have pets and haven’t yet made the plunge, you might want to consider visiting your local SPCA to see if any furry friends are looking for forever homes.

You’ll need to have savings, in retirement, to look after your four-legged friends’ food and veterinary needs. A good way to stock that future larder is to establish a Saskatchewan Pension Plan account, and put away money regularly for your future. 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 and classic rock. He and his wife live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

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

In BC, they’ll skip travel, entertainment and retirement savings to get into the housing market

Even for those of us who are born savers, we are living in very strange times.

A report in the Vancouver Courier, citing research from Sotheby’s International Realty Canada and the Mustel Group, finds that many people are focusing all their savings efforts on getting into the real estate market.

They are “cutting back on dining out, travelling, and even saving for retirement,” the report notes. Worse, the story states, a surprising 37 per cent of those surveyed are also cutting back “on basic day-to-day living expenses,” which they see as “the primary barrier to building a down payment.”

According to the Huffington Post, there were “4.756 million mortgages on the books of Canada’s 10 largest banks as of the end of October, 2018.” That’s actually a decline of 0.3 per cent over 2017, the publication reports, the first such downturn ever recorded in this country.

The article states that this slowdown is the result of the “stress test” now needed to get a first mortgage.”With Canadians carrying the largest debt burden among G7 countries, slowing down the rate of debt growth was one of the goals of the mortgage stress test. On this point at least, we can call the policy a success,” the article says. The relentless increase in the price of housing – over $600,000, on average, for a home in the top 10 metropolitan centres in Canada, with prices much higher than that in Vancouver and Toronto – is the other factor.

So to get in, people are giving up, the Courier notes. Of those surveyed across Canada, 51 per cent said they were reducing or giving up dining out, 45 per cent eliminated or reduced travel, 45 per cent gave up new clothes and new tech, and 37 per cent cut back on health (fitness) and entertainment.

A very surprising 20 per cent nationally said they would “delay saving for retirement” in order to try and save for a down payment. Other steps people said they were taking included getting a higher-paying job, getting rid of their car, adding some freelance or part-time income, putting off having children or moving home with their parents.

There’s no question that home ownership is a pretty wise thing, and debt needed to secure a home is usually considered “good debt.” Cutting back on expenses to achieve this goal does make some sense. However, if you don’t have a workplace pension plan, cutting out retirement savings altogether is a decision that you may regret when you’re older. Perhaps savings can be reduced in the painful, early phase of the mortgage and dialled back up later. But it’s not a great idea to turn off the tap altogether.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan provides you with the flexibility you need for retirement savings. You can contribute at any rate you want, up to $6,200 annually, and the plan provides an easy way to turn your savings into a lifetime income stream. Check them out today.

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

In The Essential Retirement Guide, noted actuary and financial writer Frederick Vettese offers a different, and decidedly non-alarmist approach to funding one’s golden years.

The book challenges some of the accepted “truths” about retirement planning, such as the possibility we will all live past 100 and that we should save (via all sources) enough money to replace 70 per cent of our pre-retirement income.

On longevity, Vettese notes that “the average person has little better than a 50-50 chance of making it from age 50 to 70 without dying or incurring a critical illness.” The book provides some interesting advice on how to determine your own, more realistic life expectancy target.

As for the 70 per cent target, Vettese produces ample evidence showing many of us can have a well-funded retirement with a much lower target. The income replacement target, he writes, can be “as low as 35 per cent for a couple that spent a considerable amount on housing and child-raising through their working years. The target can nudge above 50 per cent for a middle-income couple who paid off their mortgage earlier and then started to spend much more on themselves during their last few years of employment.”

Why does he feel you need less? He cites research showing that spending drops more than 50 per cent on many items – airline fares, admission fees, alcohol, cigarettes, clothing – once we reach age 80. And while many of us assume we will at some point face expensive long-term care costs, Vettese writes that “the probability of requiring long-term care is about 50 per cent for women and 40 per cent for men,” and it is unlikely that such care will be required for more than five years.

Other advice from Vettese includes paying attention to investment management fees. “Unless the firm that is managing your monies (if you have one) can demonstrate that they consistently achieve higher returns than the benchmark indices, you should expect your own returns will just match the benchmarks, less whatever fees you are paying.” Exchange-traded-funds have very low fees of 0.25 per cent, versus fees of up to three per cent for “some high-cost equity mutual funds,” he warns.

Vettese likes annuities as part of a retirement plan. “Buying an annuity is usually a better bet than managing your own investment portfolio after retirement and drawing an income from it,” he writes. “You lose a little upside potential but you also eliminate some major risks.” He suggests that people with a portfolio of fixed income and equity assets consider converting the fixed income portion to an annuity, which provides them with a set amount of income monthly for as long as they live.

Access to a workplace pension is a plus for those that have it, he notes. “Participating in almost any workplace pension plan is a good thing,” he writes. Nearly every kind of workplace savings arrangement is a group product, which gives individuals access to low-fee investments, Vettese notes. That leaves more money for retirement income, he writes.

Vettese provides a nice six-point retirement strategy, as follows:

• “Save 10 per cent of your pay each year.
• Invest it in low-cost pooled funds, weighted towards equities.
• Keep the asset mix the same, through good times and bad.
• Apart from the mortgage on your home, avoid going into debt.
• Pay off your mortgage by the time you retire.
• Buy a life annuity at retirement.”

This is a good reference book for anyone wanting to fine-tune (or develop) a retirement plan and it has been written to work with both Canadian and American audiences, a somewhat rare feat.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan provides some of the tools you may need for your retirement plan, such as low-cost, professional investing in a pooled fund, and the ability to convert some or all of your savings to an annuity at retirement. Check it 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 and classic rock. He and his wife live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

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

The unempty nest: a new problem for retirement savers

We’ve heard all about the main obstacles to retirement saving – paying off debt, the lack of workplace pensions, and competing savings needs, like ponying up for a down payment.

A recent article in The Guardian from Charlottetown, PEI, points out another problem that can crop up, which we’ll call the unempty nest, or caring financially for kids age 30 and beyond.

The article notes the somewhat shocking statistic that “more than half of Atlantic Canadian parents are still supporting their adult children between the ages of 30 and 35,” and how that helping hand is “putting a damper on their retirement plans.” The article cites numbers from a recent survey by RBC.

A whopping 58 per cent of Atlantic Canadian parents are in this situation, the article reports; for the nation as a whole the figure is a lower but still noteworthy 48 per cent. The article states that while 88 per cent of parents “were happy to be able to help support their adult children,” more than a third of them – 36 per cent – “were worried about the impact on their retirement savings.”

How much support are we talking about? The article says that the average Canadian pays “$5,623 annually to support adult children age 18-35 and $3,729 annually for… adult children age 30-35.”

Sixty-nine per cent of parents are helping adult children with education costs, 65 per cent help with living expenses (rent, cable and mortgages) and 58 per cent help with cell phone costs, the article notes.

There is no question that younger people are facing higher education, housing, cable and phone costs than their parents ever did, so these statistics aren’t all that shocking. It’s clear that today’s wages don’t align with living costs like they did decades ago. So what can one do?

The cost of higher education for your children can be addressed by signing up for a RESP when they are very young. According to the Canada Education Savings Program’s 2017 Statistical Review, the average tuition cost in Canada was $6,373, and there may be additional costs for “administration fees, books, tools and accommodation and living expenses.”

The publication shows how various programs can help people save up to $21,000 per child if they start at the child’s birth. Many people are taking advantage of this program, the publication notes – there was $55.9 billion in RESP assets in 2017, compared to just $23.4 billion 10 years earlier, benefitting more than 622,000 students.

Save with SPP can attest to the benefit of a RESP; the great thing about it is that your successfully educated child graduates with less student debt thanks to the RESP saving.

So what’s the takeaway? Even if you can only put a little money away for the kid’s education and your own retirement, that action will be far more beneficial than doing nothing at all. Slow and steady wins the race, and as far as retirement savings are concerned, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan  lets you contribute as little or as much (up to $6,200 a year) as you want.

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

An interview with Chris Roberts of the Canadian Labour Congress 

These days, it’s pretty common knowledge that many of us don’t save enough for retirement, and/or don’t have a savings plan at work. Save with SPP reached out to Chris Roberts, Director of Social and Economic Policy for the Canadian Labour Congress, to see how this lack of retirement preparedness may connect to seniors having debt and poverty problems.

Is the shortage of workplace pension plans (and the move away from defined benefit plans) in part responsible for higher levels of senior poverty/senior debt?

“Certainly old-age poverty rates and indebtedness among seniors have risen over the past two decades, while pension coverage has fallen (and DB coverage in the private sector has collapsed). Seniors’ labour-market participation has also doubled over those time period.

“It’s clear (from research by the Broadbent Institute) that falling pension coverage and inadequate retirement savings more broadly will deepen the financial insecurity and even poverty of many seniors. But while there’s been considerable research linking stagnant wages and rising household indebtedness, studies linking falling pension coverage with rising poverty and indebtedness among seniors are relatively scarce.

“Both rising poverty rates and growing indebtedness among seniors have several causes. Canada’s public pensions, especially Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), provide a minimum level of income in retirement for individuals without private pensions or other sources of income. Part of the rise in the low-income measure of old-age poverty has been due to the fact that OAS is indexed to the consumer price index rather than the average industrial wage, causing seniors’ incomes to lag behind median incomes. Unattached seniors, especially women, are at particularly high risk of poverty, but so are recent newcomers to Canada who are eligible for only a partial OAS benefit.

“With respect to rising indebtedness, a declining number (according to Stats Can data) of senior-led households are debt-free. More Canadians are taking debt (especially mortgage debt) into retirement, and they’re shouldering more debt in retirement as well. At the same time, the total assets of senior-led families have also risen, and their net worth has grown even as debt levels rose. Indebtedness and net worth seems to have grown fastest (again according to Stats Can data) among the top 20 per cent of families ranked by income.

“So I think we have to be somewhat careful to avoid seeing rising senior household debt levels as driven solely or even primarily by financial hardship caused by declining pension coverage. There is certainly ample evidence (according to research by Hoyes Michalos) of a significant and growing segment of seniors that are struggling with debt and financial pressure. But rising debt levels among higher-income senior households likely have other causes besides financial hardship.”

Is a related problem the lack of personal retirement savings by those without pension plans?

“Richard Shillington’s study for the Broadbent Institute demonstrated that a retirement savings shortfall for those without significant private pension income will be a major problem for many current and future retirees. This shortfall has also been documented in the United States (see a study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College). While retirement contributions as a share of earnings have been rising (even as the household saving rate fell), these additional contributions have gone toward workplace pension plans; contributions to individual saving plans have declined, suggesting that those without a pension have not been able to save independently to compensate for not having an actual pension (see this article from Union Research for an explanation).”

Is debt itself a key problem (i.e., idea of people taking debt into retirement and having to pay it off with reduced income)?

“I think rising debt levels in retirement do pose risks, even if the challenges vary significantly with income. For low- and modest-income seniors, some forms of debt (e.g. consumer credit, payday lending) can be onerous and even unconscionable. For home-owners, even if mortgage debt is accompanied by rising home values and rising net worth, servicing debts while managing health-related and other costs on fixed incomes can be challenging for seniors. Debts acquired at earlier stages of the life-cycle will likely become a mounting problem in Canada, as, for instance, the student debt of family members (see article from Politico) and seniors themselves (see coverage from CNBC) is becoming an urgent problem in the United States.”

Apart from things like CPP expansion, which seems a good thing for younger people, can anything be done today to help retirees to have better outcomes?

“Increasing GIS but especially improving OAS will be important to improving financial security for seniors. For the reason discussed above, OAS will have to be expanded or indexed differently in order to stabilize relative old-age poverty. But in my view, there are also good reasons to expand it. Current as well as future seniors would benefit. OAS is a virtually-universal seniors’ benefit (about seven per cent of seniors have high enough incomes that their OAS benefit is clawed back by the recovery tax), and it’s particularly important to low- and modest earners, women, Indigenous Canadians, and workers with disabilities. It isn’t geared to employment history or earnings, so it’s purpose-built for a labour-market increasingly characterized by precarity, and atypical employment relationships (e.g. “self-employment,” independent contractors, etc). Modest income-earners with pensions would benefit from a higher OAS; these workers earn only a small workplace pension benefit, and unlike increases to CPP, their employers would be unlikely to try to offset the costs of a higher (tax-funded) OAS benefit. While growing along with the retirement of the baby-boom cohort, the cost of OAS (as a share of GDP) is projected to peak around 2033 before declining. And at a time when workplace pension plans, individual savings plans, and even the CPP increasingly depend on uncertain and sometimes volatile investment returns, the OAS is funded through our mostly progressive income tax system.”

We thank Chris Roberts for taking the time to talk to Save with SPP.

Given the scarcity of workplace pensions, more and more Canadians must be self-reliant and must save on their own for retirement. An option worth consideration is opening a Saskatchewan Pension Plan account; your money is invested professionally at a very low-cost by a not-for-profit, government-sponsored pension plan, and at retirement, you have the option of converting your savings to a lifetime income stream. Check it out today at saskpension.com.

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

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

House as bank machine – or, how to pay your mortgage forever

Our parents bought houses, paid off their mortgages (and had a mortgage-burning ceremony), and then retired.

Those of us who are not yet retired, on the other hand, seem to want to continue paying for our houses long into retirement. What’s going on?

An article by Bloomberg printed in the Financial Post lets us in on the dirty little secret most of us share – we are using the equity in our homes to pay for our lives.

The article warns that Canadians “are ramping up borrowing against their homes even as the real estate market slumps,” a practice that could put our financial system at risk.

According to rating company DBRS, the article notes, home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, “reached a record $243 billion as of Oct. 31,” an astounding 11.3 per cent of all household debt.

“In the event of a correction, borrowers could find themselves with a debt load that exceeds the value of their home, which is often referred to as negative equity,” the article notes.

An obvious reason for this particular problem is the high cost of owning a home. Houses today can be 10 or 20 times more expensive that what our parents and grandparents paid back in the 1950s and 1960s.

So getting into the housing market is a difficult yet high priority for younger Canadians, reports Yahoo! Finance Canada. One in five younger Canucks admits to not saving for retirement, and instead saving “to afford their property,” the article reports, citing research by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.

Another eye-opening stat from this story is that 31 per cent of those surveyed dipped into RRSPs for their down payments. That move, possible via the Home Buyers’ Plan, allows one to withdraw up to $25,000 to put towards a down payment if they are a first-time home buyer; the HBP expects the money to be repaid within 15 years. If the money withdrawn is not repaid, the borrower has to pay income tax on it – and the RRSP doesn’t grow back to where it was.

“The dream of home ownership remains compelling for today’s young families, but the reality is that many are facing serious obstacles to achieving this given rising costs of living, rising costs of housing, and other financial needs, such as saving for retirement,” states Brad Henderson, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, in the article. The piece goes on to report that the number of RRSP contributors “between 25 and 54 years old fell 16 per cent between 2000 and 2013.”

So, let’s arrange these three thoughts together. Those with homes are using them as bank machines. Those without them are making ownership a high priority, over paying off debt and saving for retirement. As a result, retirement savings rates are dipping, and the new home owners may also decide to dip into their home equity to help with cashflow.

Our grandparents succeeded because they kept the concepts of home ownership, debt repayment, and retirement savings separate. They paid off the mortgages, they paid down their debts, and they used the proceeds to save towards retirement.

If, as they say, everything old is new again, it is time these old school concepts were re-introduced.

If you lack a retirement plan at work, and are looking for a way to set aside some of your hard-earned dollars for your retirement future, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan offers all the tools you need to get the job done. Check them out today at www.saskpension.com.

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

Like everything good for us – losing weight, eating right, managing debt – saving money seems like a daunting, overwhelming task. In fact, like other resolutions, it’s something that seems so difficult and impossible to stick with that we have given it up by Groundhog Day.

However, the experts tell us that great things can be accomplished by moving one small step at a time. Save with SPP today looks at tips on getting your savings effort fired up and back on the road forward.

At The Simple Dollar blog there are over 100 savings tips on offer. Among them are these ideas – to “stop collecting and start selling” any of “your collections that you thought would bring you riches,” as well as turning off the TV and signing up for “every free rewards program that you can.” The latter is self-explanatory, the thinking behind the “no TV” idea is “less exposure to spending-inducing ads,” and the possibility of a lower cable bill if you downgrade your package.

Interviewed in the Globe and Mail, Scotiabank’s Mike Henry says “to take small steps to save money, you’ve really got to understand… what’s important to you and what you’re trying to balance in your life, and you’ve got to understand how much money is coming in and how much money is going out.”  The article suggests automatic savings via payroll deduction or automatic transfers between accounts, and to examine any expenses that can be cut or reduced, like “gym memberships, Internet bills and groceries.” Getting rid of the daily latte is also advised, the article reports.

A key strategy – “living below your means” – is recommended by the Creating My Happiness blog. “If you earn $1,500 a month and you spend $1,500 a month, you have nothing left to save!  You have to start living on less than you’re making so that you can put money away for the future,” the blog advises.

Other tips for those wanting to reduce spending including “starting small – don’t try to cut your budget by 50 per cent right away,” and making saving a priority. On this last point, the blog says spending “temptation is everywhere. We are bombarded with images of people who appear to be happy because they got the new iPhone/Xbox/gadgety thing-ma-bob.” Tell yourself that having the latest thing is “nice, but not a priority,” and walk away, the blog recommends.

The Better Money Habits blog stresses the importance of recording all expenses, making a budget, and then planning to save some of your money. “Try to spend 10-15 per cent of your income,” the blog suggests. “If your expenses are so high you can’t save that much, it might be time to cut back.” Focus on the expenses you can trim, such as non-essentials like dining out and entertainment, the blog advises.

There are many ways to turn your financial ship around, and all of them involve living within your means and not spending more than you make. We can all get there by making little improvements which will add up over time. And when you’ve creating a regular budget for retirement saving, a great destination for those funds is a Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Check it out today!

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22