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Canada's Call for Pension Reform

Thursday Feb 25 2010

The C.D. Howe Institute recently released their recommendations on how to break the deadlock in the Canadian pension system. With many citizens not saving enough for retirement, provinces, lobby groups and retirement gurus alike are looking to increase tax-deferred saving, improve access to good retirement saving plans, and modernize the rules governing retirement income.[Read More]

Written by eldering at News

Tagged with: pension pension_reform retirement

Poverty or Pension?

Wednesday Apr 29 2009

Many retirees these days are revisiting their retirement and pension plans to see if they'll have enough funds to weather the global recession. In Canada, 35% of seniors receive the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement benefit, which ensures that individuals receive a minimum annual income (including Old Age Security benefits) of at least $13,683. This level is still below the level set by the government as the deemed poverty level ($15,336 for 2008). CARP is now proposing that the government revise the Canada Pension Plan (CPP)to guarantee Canadian workers receive an adequate indexed pension for life. Currently, recipients of CPP receive a 25% benefit of pre-retirement income; however, this pre-retirement income figure is 'capped' at $46,300, the deemed average salary of Canadians. Read more about what expanding the CPP could mean.[Read More]

Written by eldering at News

Tagged with: canada cpp gis oas pension retirement

Vanishing Pensions

Friday Jan 23 2009

By Jim Selman | Bio

I have had several conversations with friends in Buenos Aires about how people deal with their financial security in their older years. To my surprise, the uniform answer is that they mostly don’t. Then I hear a story which, by my naïve North American standards is shocking, but whhich reveals something important for all of us as we contemplate our own future and worry about the uncertainties in the financial markets. The story goes like this.[Read More]

Written by eldering at Retirement

Tagged with: bankruptcy eldering elders government pension retirement uncertainty