Pension. What word in the English language, other than “taxes,” strikes such fear into the average Canadian’s heart? In fact, talk about both in the same sentence and you’ll have honest folk feeling faint and grabbing for a chair.
Many of us in the Baby Boomer generation didn’t pay much attention to pensions. After all, we were the first age group to live off credit. The future looked pretty rosy when you were humping around 32 credit cards and juggling credit lines like clowns in a Barnum & Bailey’s circus.
Unfortunately, you can’t put retirement on your American Express. As pension expert Daryl Diamond writes, “In order to retire, we have to pay first and enjoy later. This is contrary to how Boomers have done most things throughout their working life.”
Boomers also felt comforted by the fact that many of us had company pension plans to fall back on. Every month, the corporate “suits” took a chunk of our paycheque and we were relieved that some smart accountant type in head office was making sure that when we retired, ideally at age 55, the dinero would be there. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it worked out. Those who worked for companies like Kaiser Resources aka BC Coal aka Westar Mining, for example, soon discovered that the cupboard was bare. And the “suits” had retired to Costa Rica and built a golf course.
If all else failed, we Boomers knew there was the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS). Assuming, of course, that they did not fail.
Before we knew it the candles were ablaze on the birthday cake and firefighters were banging on the door. We were 65 or 70 and discovered, like thousands of other retirees, that all the things we thought were in place, are not. We look back with regret and wish that someone had told us what pension poverty feels like.
In 2013, more than half of all Canadians have to fund their own retirement. With high school students learning Advanced Mathematics and the Origins of Western Philosophy, you’d think someone in charge would put more effort into making the next generation of retirees pension-savvy. If you think they know more than we do, ask an 18-year old about a Tax Free Savings Account, how Canadian dividends are taxed versus capital gains, age credits, and LIFs.
And if government won’t take the lead – why should they start now? – Boomers can put pressure on those in charge to do something to make sure that the next generation are more pension prepared. We may be poor and arthritic but we pay a lot of taxes and are a massive voting block - which means we can be heard in the only way politicians understand. Let’s start demanding that pension education gets to the top of someone’s “To Do” list. Now.
Go ahead, flex a few muscles. You’d be surprised at how many we actually have left.
