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Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy
When has it ever been anyone other than your own responsibility to take care of your own retirement?
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Up until the last 20 years or so, most middle-class Canadians enjoyed secure and guaranteed pension plans, either from their private employers of government plans. And back in my grandparent's day, people didn't expect to live beyond 70 or so, which meant a pension was something to make the final 10 years or so of your life comfortable.
And there are many 55+ Canadians today who are enjoying comfortable retirements after a working life where they put little of their own money away. That model is obviously dying (unless you're a police officer, nurse, or teacher or something), but it does color people's perceptions.
So the game has changed. Working Canadians today are facing something their parents and grandparents did not have to face: saving up enough money to live for 20+ years with little to no help from employers.
As for not expecting government pensions to be around, that may be prudent, but if CPP and OAS really are insolvent in 30 years, we'll have a major social catastrophe on our hands, with 70 to 80 per cent of Canadian seniors - millions of citizens - living in abject poverty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy
- Manage your affairs and relationships well...
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Getting married and staying married is hugely important. As is maintaining a good relationship with your family. I expect we're going to see multi-generation households come back in a big way. Not only is it important to give your kids the advantage of discipline and a good education, you'll want to get along with them (and their partners) well enough to live with them for the last decade or two of your life.
Oh, and people who think they'll be content enough to keep working until they die are kidding themselves. That may seem tolerable from the vantage of a 35 year old. But I doubt when you're 66, tired, with a nagging health issue or two, waking up to a January snowstorm, you're going to look forward to 20 more years of the same with jaunty stoicism.