Wealth Professional

Feb 20: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

February 20, 2023

“Greyer” workforce retirements rise, creating skills gap: TD

If you think you’ve noticed more grey heads around the office of late, you’re not wrong — but things may be about to change.

According to a new report by TD Economics, cited in an article in Wealth Professional, while more older workers than usual are currently employed, their pending mass retirement “is a risk to the economy if it is not addressed.”

James Orlando of TD tells Wealth Professional that the problem is that “many Canadians who would have been eying retirement have chosen (or perhaps been forced) to work longer than expected. But older workers will not stay in the labour market en masse for ever.”

It’s a bit of a good news, bad news situation, the magazine reports. Older workers who have delayed retirement have “provided an important buffer for those businesses that would otherwise be struggling to fill skills gaps,” the article points out.

In fact, the article continues, this “greying effect” on the workforce, where workers aged 55 and over stay in their jobs, has been happening since 2020.

Had older workers been retiring at the same rate they did 20 years ago, Wealth Professional reports, there would be an eye-popping one million fewer older people in today’s workforce.

It’s felt, the article tells us, that “lower asset values and rising housing and energy costs” are reasons the older gang is still at their desks — concerns about inadequate “pension pots” is another, the article adds.

Now for the bad news.

Figures show a “17 per cent increase in the number of retirements in 2022 compared to the prior two years, with 266,000 people retiring through the end of last year,” the article reports.

This trend, the article continues, is expected to continue “and with a projected one million over-65s by 2025, this could mean 900,000 retiring based on current participation rates.”

Put another way, that’s a 50 per cent jump in the retirement rate.

Orlando tells Wealth Professional that “businesses cannot ignore the likelihood of losing both the headcount and the knowledge that is in those heads.” He states that there is a need to address the skills gap through greater training of young people and through finding room for people with “foreign credentials and experience.”

“The aging of Canada’s existing population is opening the door to make the structural changes necessary to bring in, integrate, and support all current and future Canadians. Therein lies a huge opportunity for Canada,” Orlando tells Wealth Professional.

We’ve seen similar stories that talk about mass retirements in certain key sectors, such as healthcare and in skilled trades. If there is a positive side to this story, it’s that a once-in-a-generation time of opportunity is presenting itself to younger workers willing to up their skill sets.

Changing jobs often means changes to your workplace pension and benefits. But a job change is no biggie if you’re a member of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP). Because your SPP isn’t tied to your employer but to you, you can continue contributing at your new job, even if it’s in a different province or territory. This level of portability makes SPP a pension benefit that travels well!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Dec 26: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

December 26, 2022

Lack of access to workplace pensions, debt and inflation hamper millennial savings efforts

New research from Edward Jones Canada has found that debt, inflation and the lack of workplace retirement savings programs are among the reasons millennials aren’t saving as much as they’d like for retirement.

An article in Wealth Professional took a closer look at the findings from the research.

A key learning was that 70 per cent of millennials (people aged 26 to 41) said “they are not able to save enough for their retirement,” the article notes.

Julie Petrara of Edward Jones Canada tells Wealth Professional that “we dug a little deeper and found that 27 per cent were unable to afford to save for retirement. Twenty-four per cent said they’re not saving as much as they want to; 15 per cent don’t know how much to save; and four per cent can afford to start saving, but haven’t.”

Reasons identified for not being able to save were “debt, their job and employment situation, and lifestyle,” as well as a lack of access to pensions, the article continues.

“Group plans aren’t often an option for young go-getters who earn income from the gig economy, while millennial workers with full-time corporate jobs are less likely than workers of decades past to be offered pension plans by their employers,” the article notes.

So for those without savings programs through work, retirement saving becomes “a self responsibility,” Petrara tells Wealth Professional. And on top of that, the cost of living was seen by 49 per cent of millennials surveyed as the “biggest obstacle” for retirement savings.

For millennials, the survey found, retirement savings is seen as something that can be put on the back burner versus “more immediate financial goals, such as paying down debt, homeownership, or starting a family.”

This is understandable, states Petrara in the article. “Millennials are further from retirement than more senior generations,” she tells Wealth Professional. “If we assume everyone is focusing on shorter-term financial goals, then Baby Boomers are prioritizing retirement, while millennials are dealing with their now and next, which includes addressing the costs they’re faced with today, and those they’ll be faced with in the near future.”

Petrara suggests that millennials consider working with a financial advisor to set priorities for saving.

There’s a lot of good information here and it rings very true. Of the millennials we know, some have good pensions through full-time work. But most are part-time workers, so retirement programs are either not available or optional. If you are able to take part in any type of retirement savings plan through work, be sure to sign up and start contributing — the money will go straight into savings right from your paycheque and you’ll be paying your future self first.

If there isn’t a retirement program at your workplace, ask your employer about signing up to offer the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, which is open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan room. SPP will handle the lion’s share of administrative work for the employer, and you and other employees will benefit from having a plan for your future. Tell your employer about SPP for employers today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Nov 28: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

November 28, 2022

Younger Canadians doing better than you’d think on finances: RBC poll

New research from RBC, reported on by Wealth Professional, suggests that young people are taking their finances – including saving for retirement – quite seriously.

A whopping 83 per cent of young adults aged 18 to 24 say “financial stability is key to overall happiness,” while 59 per cent say “they’re very or extremely engaged with their finances, compared to just 47 per cent of parents who think they are,” Wealth Professional reports.

“Canada’s young adults are planning and saving for their future,” Jason Storsley, senior vice-president of Everyday Banking and Client Growth at RBC, tells Wealth Professional. “The survey results showed about 32 per cent of young adults are saving for a house, and about a fifth of them (19 per cent) are already saving for retirement as well,” he states in the article.

Chief concerns among young adults, the magazine continues, are “the high cost of living (70 per cent) and inflation (54 per cent).” Sixty-seven per cent admit feeling “stressed about their finances,” and 58 per cent “worry about having too much debt.”

It sounds to us like the younger generation is being very responsible about money, and that their parents and grandparents may be underestimating that fact.

“It does feel like there is a disconnect between kind of what parents’ perception is and what youth are actually willing to do with respect to side hustles,” Storsley states in the article. “I think we sometimes underestimate the resourcefulness of our youth, and how they are stepping up to meet some of the challenges they are facing today.”

Some good news for younger Canadians is that when they get older, the payout from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) will be higher.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, noted actuary and financial author Fred Vettese explains that both the contribution rate and benefit payout rate from CPP are on the rise.

“The maximum pension payable will ultimately be 50 per cent greater in real terms than it was in 2019, but the actual increase will be less if one didn’t always contribute the maximum. It will take more than 40 years before the expansion is fully phased in,” he explains.

A chart included in the article shows a steady increase coming for the next 30 years, which is positive news for younger people who will hit age 65 in the late 2040s and 2050s.

If you’re 18 to 24, perhaps still a student or early on in your work career, you may not have access to a pension through the workplace. But the Saskatchewan Pension Plan has you covered.

Any Canadian adult with registered retirement savings plan room can join, and your membership means access to a voluntary defined contribution pension plan that has been delivering retirement security since 1986. With SPP, your contributions are prudently invested at a low cost and grown between today and the long-off future date when you untether yourself from the labyrinth of work. Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


OCT 31: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

October 31, 2022

Canadian women receive 18 per cent less retirement income: analysis

Women in this country receive, on average, 18 per cent less retirement income than men, reports Wealth Professional.

The publication cites an analysis of Statistics Canada data recently carried out by Ontario’s Pay Equity Office (PEO). Another alarming finding, Wealth Professional adds, is that the gap of 18 per cent in 2020 is worse than the 15 per cent gap women experienced in 1976.

This gap, known as the Gender Pension Gap (GPG), has long been a problem, the article continues.

“Among the 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average GPG was 25.6 per cent as of 2021,” the article adds, again citing PEO analysis.

Across the country, the widest GPG is over in Alberta, where women’s retirement income is, on average, 23 per cent less than that of men. The province with the lowest gap – 13 per cent – is Prince Edward Island, the article notes.

“We see that the Gender Wage Gap (GWG) has narrowed with time. Meaning, women’s wages in Canada have steadily increased with time to be closer to that of men’s, although the gap has not closed completely,” states the PEO’s Kadie Ward in the article. “A natural assumption would be that with increased wages, the pension gap would also begin to close with time, but this does not appear to be the case,” she states.

There are several reasons why, the article continues.

“After having children, women are more likely than men to leave the workforce (temporarily or permanently), work fewer years over the course of their careers, work part-time to balance caregiving responsibilities, and make less money overall than men (due to the GWG),” the article explains.

“The impacts of the GPG should not be dismissed. Aging in poverty is linked to food insecurity, housing insecurity, and overall poor health outcomes, including higher rates of mortality,” Ward tells Wealth Professional.

“[T]here is no better time to call attention to not only the contributions of women around the world but the need for equal pay, better social protections, and shared domestic work between men and women,” she tells the publication.

There’s another factor to consider that this article doesn’t touch on, and that is the reality that women live longer than men. So, as the article notes, if the average woman has 18 per cent less retirement income than a man, she is also very likely to live (and thus, need retirement income) longer. That smaller pension pot will most likely need to sustain her for a longer time.

Women who do have a pension plan or retirement arrangement through work should make sure they are contributing to the max. Some types of plans allow you to contribute while you are away on a maternity leave (or afterwards, on your return to work). Your retired you will be glad if you look into this when you are younger.

If you don’t have any sort of retirement arrangement at work – or want to top up what you have – the Saskatchewan Pension Plan may be a very helpful resource. Set up originally to benefit women without any pension benefits, SPP is open to people with registered retirement savings plan room. SPP will take your contributions, grow them through prudent investing, and will help you turn them into retirement income down the road. Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


JUL 25: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

July 25, 2022

Research shows “soon-to-retire” have different plans for life after work

New research from Edward Jones, reported on by Steve Randall in Wealth Professional, finds that many near-retirees don’t plan on a lot of rest and relaxation in retirement.

“Instead of taking it easy, more than half of Canadian retirees and those who are within 10 years of retirement see their post-work years as a ‘new chapter’ in their lives,” Randall writes.

As well, the Edward Jones/Age Wave survey found that 56 per cent of Canadians (aged 45 and over) surveyed see retirement “as a chance to reinvent themselves,” the publication reports. Some of that non-rest and relaxation includes work, the article continues, with 60 per cent of those asked saying they plan “to do some work as part of their ideal scenario.”

They are also expecting a long retirement – Wealth Professional reports the study found those polled expected around 27 years of retirement, and that they may live to age 100.

The article contrasts these retirement dreams with some less dreamy retirement realities. On average, the survey found, folks started saving for retirement at age 37 on average, with most wishing “they had started nine years earlier,” the article tells us.

“For those within 10 years of retirement, 58 per cent are contributing to an account but only 30 per cent have a thorough financial plan,” the piece continues.

“Those who retired in the last two years fear outliving their savings and among those three-14 years into retirement, 55 per cent have taken action to shore up their finances such as starting a part-time job or downsizing their home,” reports Wealth Professional.

Interestingly, only nine per cent of those surveyed think retirement should start at a certain age, the article notes. For 21 per cent of those asked, retirement should coincide with “financial independence,” the article adds.

The article concludes by identifying “the four pillars of retirement” as health, family, purpose and finances.

This is interesting research, for sure. The takeaway seems to be that while most of us are aware of what we want to do when we aren’t working as much, fewer have focused on the “finance” pillar, which plays a critical “enabler” role for the other pillars.

Way back when this writer was a newly-minted pension plan communications guy, we were taught that the three pillars of retirement where government retirement benefits, personal savings, and your workplace pension plan.

That three-legged stool isn’t as common a concept as it used to be. These days, the majority of Canadians don’t have a workplace pension plan. If you’re in that boat, don’t fret – you have the ability to create a do-it-yourself retirement program via the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. SPP can be your personal pension plan, or can be offered to your employees. You provide the contributions, and SPP grows them until it’s time to take up deep sea fishing, ballroom dancing, or what-have-you. Check them out today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Feb 21: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

February 21, 2022

Retirement savings is just a key first step in the process: IG Wealth

No one applauds retirement savings of any sort more than Save with SPP, but new research from IG Wealth suggests most of us don’t think about the many other steps in the retirement process.

The research is covered in a recent article in Wealth Professional.

The article points out that two-thirds of Canadians over 18 have registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), and “57 per cent plan to invest in theirs” before the 2022 deadline.

As well, the average amount in our RRSP kitties is around $13,000, the article reports. All good, right?

But, the article asks, have many of us thought about the other issues retirement presents?

“Investing for retirement is just one piece of the overall retirement readiness puzzle,” IG Wealth’s Damon Murchison tells Wealth Professional. “It’s important to be thinking about retirement planning in a more holistic manner, and as a key component of an overall financial plan.”

So what are we not sure about, retirement-wise?

First, the article reports, the survey found that only 21 per cent “understand taxation of retirement income.” Those of us who are no longer working for the old company know all about this – the easy days of having the payroll department deduct enough from your pay so that you always got a tax refund are over. It’s trickier to figure things out when you are getting income from multiple sources.

Next, we are informed, only around 21 per cent have thought about their insurance needs. Once the office is far off in your rearview mirror, you may not have any drug, dental or vision coverage. Have you factored in the cost of getting this on your own, or checked out to see what your province or territory may be able to help you with?

Only 19 per cent have thought about estate planning, only 18 per cent have thought about their budgets, the article notes.

Save with SPP has had several friends who passed away suddenly, and without making a will. Without getting into this complex topic, let’s just say a will helps ensure your stuff goes to who you want it to go to. Without one, the process is slower, costly and complex, and at best is a guess by someone else of what you ought to have wanted.

A budget is highly recommended. And it doesn’t have to be a mega-detailed spreadsheet. As a former colleague of ours once explained in a masterful one-page financial planning document, it’s just knowing how much of your money needs to go to expenses, and how much is left to spend or save. When you’re retired, your expenses will probably be less, but so will your income, so the clearer the idea you have about your total retirement income, the better off you will be.

If you’re a member of the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, one way to be certain about your SPP income is to consider transferring some or all of your savings into an SPP annuity.

An annuity delivers you the same monthly payment for the rest of your life. The Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security also give you a predictable monthly income. That income certainty will make budgeting and tax planning a whole lot less painful.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Feb 7: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

February 7, 2022

One-third of Canadians more worried about retirement now versus last year

New research from Scotia Global Asset Management (GAM) Canada, reported on by Wealth Professional, shows 32 per cent of Canadians are today “more worried about their ability to fund their retirement” than they were a year ago.

A further 45 per cent say “the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their retirement plans,” the magazine reports. Another poll from Scotiabank, its annual Worry Poll, recently found that a whopping 75 per cent of us are “worrying about their finances,” Wealth Professional explains.

The article says getting professional assistance may be a way to chase away the retirement saving blues.

“Confidence levels are boosted when working with a financial article,” the report notes, adding that “87 per cent of Canadians who met with an advisor in the past six months… (say) their advisor makes them feel confident that their investments will be OK.” That confidence level drops to 67 per cent among those “who did not meet with an advisor.”

“These results indicate that while investors are concerned about meeting their retirement goals, regular meetings with financial advisors significantly alleviate those concerns. In a continually changing environment, the value of advice prevails,” Neal Kerr, Head, Scotia GAM Canada, states in the article.

Further findings from the survey suggest that 86 per cent of respondents feel “their advisor keeps them on track to meet their goals, regardless of market changes,” and that 76 per cent feel “they are better off financially than if they managed their money on their own.”

The article concludes by urging advisors to seek out new clients, in an effort to show them “the future is brighter than they may think.”

Save with SPP has long been a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to advice, but now – in our senior years – we are seeing the benefits of getting legal, financial and other advice when warranted. We recently had to get the services of an immigration lawyer to clear up the citizenship status of a late relative. We employed a disability benefits specialist to help another relative who is recovering from a bad accident. Efforts to try and solve these problems on our own had been going nowhere; now both are either resolved or on the road there.

Another place where we tend to hate getting advice is on the golf course. Yet the three other players in our foursome are consistently improving while we flail away the same old way. They are equipped with fancy GPS watches that tell them the distance to the green, suggest what club to use, all while keeping track of their scores. Our watch tells us the time. They take lessons and practice. We warm up on the first tee only. They are getting ahead, we are staying behind. Hmmm.

One place where we enjoy the benefits of professional advice is in our Saskatchewan Pension Plan accounts. Do you know that SPP, whose Balanced Fund returned an impressive 11.53 per cent last year, features professional investing at a very low fee? While last year’s returns are no guarantee of what lies ahead for investments, it’s nice to know that someone other than oneself is at the rudder to pilot us through these turbulent economic times.

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Jan 17: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

January 17, 2022

Offering a retirement program benefits employers as well as workers: study

Research carried out by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and retirement benefits organization Common Wealth has found that offering a pension program for employees offers positive benefits for employers as well, reports Wealth Professional.

The study, titled The Business Case for Good Workplace Retirement Plans, notes that a good workplace pension plan should offer “value drivers” such as “regular automatic savings, lower fees and costs, investment discipline, fiduciary governance, and risk pooling,” the article, written by Leo Almazora, notes. As well, portability – the ability to keep the retirement program even if you change jobs – was seen as a positive feature, the article adds.

Common Wealth’s Alex Mazer states in the article that “having a plan that lets workers keep benefitting from the first five value drivers over the course of their career, even as they go from job to job and into retirement, can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional wealth accumulated over their lifetime, compared with saving for retirement on one’s own.”

Alex Mazer spoke to Save with SPP a few years ago about ways to encourage more retirement saving, and to make it automatic.

What’s interesting, the article notes, is that employers offering such programs also benefit.

“From an employer’s perspective, being able to offer a good workplace retirement plan is also a powerful tool. According to the research, having a vehicle to help them progress toward retirement is highly prized by employees, as it consistently emerged among the top benefits for recruitment or retention. Beyond that, it can also contribute greatly to improving productivity on the job,” the article reports.

“There’s a real linkage between people’s financial stress and their productivity,” Steven McCormick, senior vice president for Plan Operations at HOOPP, tells Wealth Professional. “In the research we’ve done, three quarters of employers said that any financial stress on an employee has an impact on productivity overall. I think that really makes the case for business owners to see workplace plans as an investment in their business as well as their people.”

Some business owners may see offering a pension plan as just another big expense, but McCormick says there’s a different way to look at it.

“For business owners who may have preconceived notions about the impact of putting a retirement plan in place, we’d suggest they should perhaps take another look,” McCormick states in the article. “They might not have a plan that hits all our five value drivers right off the bat, but we think it’s something to consider building toward to help their staff, their business, and society as a whole.”

This is a great look at an important issue. Let’s not overlook the fact that without a workplace pension plan, the responsibility for retirement saving becomes an individual burden. As well, those without sufficient savings for retirement may find themselves living on the spartan monthly income provided by the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and – if applicable – the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Did you know that the Saskatchewan Pension Plan can be leveraged as a company pension plan? Contact us to find out how your company can offer SPP to its employees.

And, if you don’t have a pension program at work, perhaps the SPP can do the job for you. With SPP you get the benefit of low investment costs and pooling, and good governance. You can arrange to make regular, automatic contributions and SPP travels with you if you change jobs. Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Nov 15: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

November 15, 2021

Canadian pension system earns a “B” rating

Canada’s pension system stacks up reasonably well against those of other developed countries, reports Wealth Professional.

The magazine cites new research from the Mercer CFA Global Pension Index, research that covered pension systems that served “65 per cent of the world’s population,” and notes that Canada retained its prior “B” rating.

“Ranked for adequacy, sustainability, and integrity, Iceland came top … with an overall score of 84.2, followed by the Netherlands (83.5) and Denmark (82.0),” Wealth Professional reports.

Canada, the magazine reports, came in at 69.8, putting it “ahead of countries including the U.S. (61.4), Germany (67.9) and New Zealand (67.4).”

So while “B” is not bad, there is still work to be done, the magazine article continues. A higher overall savings rate (thanks to COVID) and economic growth help, but there are still issues that need to be addressed, the magazine adds.

“While COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact on the retirement savings of certain groups, such as women, gender gaps in retirement savings have long existed,” Scott Clausen, a Mercer Canada partner, tells Wealth Professional. “Employers are encouraged to review the design of their pension plans, as well as other compensation programs, to ensure that they are not unconsciously disadvantaging women in their workforce,” he states in the article.

The article points out that “most of the Canadian workforce are left to save for their pension themselves rather than through workplace schemes.”

Clausen tells Wealth Professional that this shortfall in coverage represents an opportunity for the country.

“Employers can provide a pension to their employees, while delegating the governance and administration responsibilities to a third party, by joining a collective defined benefit pension plan or by providing an outsourced defined contribution pension plan,” he states in the article.

Making it easier for women to save is something that pension systems in Canada and worldwide need to improve on, says Mercer’s Dr. David Knox. He tells Wealth Professional “the world cannot sit idle as data shows that poverty among older people is more prevalent for women.”

He suggests making it easier for individuals to join pension plans generally, as well as adding some sort of pension credit system that factors in time spent caring “for the young and the old.” Decades ago, it was quite common for most employers to offer some sort of pension plan for their employees. Over the years, the level of coverage has slipped.

The bottom line is this – if there’s any sort of pension arrangement at your place of work, be sure to join and contribute to the maximum. After a while, like any benefit deducted from your paycheque, you won’t notice money being put away for your future.

If there isn’t a plan to join at work, the responsibility for retirement saving has been shifted onto your shoulders. If you’re not sure how to go about the job of saving, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan may be an answer. SPP will invest the money you contribute – professionally, and at a low rate – and then can convert your nest egg to retirement income down the road. This do-it-yourself pension plan has been getting it done for an impressive 35 years. Check them out today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.


Sep 20: BEST FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

September 20, 2021

One in five over 50 will delay retirement plans: RBC

The pandemic has made many Canadians rethink their retirement agenda, according to new research from RBC, covered in a recent article in Wealth Professional.

According to the article, the study – called the 2021 RBC Myths & Realities Poll – indicated that nearly 20 per cent of Canadians 50 and older have decided to change their retirement date.

There are a number of concerns outlined in the research.

A total of 21 per cent of those with assets of $100,000 or more fear they will outlive their retirement savings. Most of this group, the article continues, “believe they will need $1 million saved for their retirement but more than three quarters are at least $300K short of this.”

It’s worse for those with less savings, the article notes. Those with $50,000 in assets think they will need $533,000 in their savings pots, but are “an eye-watering $473,000 short of this goal,” Wealth Professional reports.

So what are people considering in what the article calls a Retirement Rethink?

  • 22 per cent are “thinking more about where they will live in retirement,” with 20 per cent “deciding where they don’t want to live,” typically meaning not in a retirement home, the article states.
  • Fifteen per cent are said to be reviewing or updating their wills; 17 per cent are “taking stock of their financial affairs,” and 16 per cent “realizing life is short” and are taking up new activities and hobbies, Wealth Professional notes.

Other actions they are thinking of taking, the article concludes, are to “stay in their own home and live more frugally,” to return to work, to downsize or move home, or ask family members for help.

What do we make of all this?

For starters, the cost of a dream retirement condo, cottage or timeshare has gone up significantly lately. It’s not so easy to sell your city house and pick up a cheaper one somewhere else, as prices are up everywhere. This and the massive cost of long-term care, in the thousands per month in most places, makes one’s existing home have new appeal. After all, it is either paid for or in the process of being paid for, you don’t have to pay moving expenses, realtors and lawyers to stay put, and your costs of living are known and predictable.

The article makes the point that having a financial planner makes sense in terms of establishing your financial goals for retirement. For instance, if you plan to stay home and live frugally, will you really need $1 million? It’s important to try and estimate, in advance, exactly what you will need to live on when you live the workforce.

If you are among those Canadians who worry about running out of money in retirement, be aware that the Saskatchewan Pension Plan offers annuities as an option for SPP retirees. With an annuity (they come in various forms with different options) you forego the risk of running out of money in retirement, as annuities provide you with a lifetime income stream. And you won’t have to put your sand wedge down in mid-swing to worry about investment decisions; with an annuity, there are none. Check out SPP, celebrating its 35th year of delivering retirement security, today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

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, and playing guitar. Got a story idea? Let Martin know via LinkedIn.