A sad comment on the state of pension planning.
One in six adults relies on inheritance to fund old age By James Hall, Consumer Affairs Editor, The Telegraph, posted 7:00AM GMT 17 Mar 2012
More and more people seem to be banking on the death of a loved one to help get them through their old age. That’s risky, because the high costs of elderly care can erode someone’s savings in their final few years, and an inheritance might shrink as a result,” said Joanne Segars, the NAPF’s (National Association of Pension Funds) chief executive.
The NAPF survey, which was carried out by Populus and based on a group of 2,000 adults, found that people aged between 45 and 54 are the most reliant on inheritance.
A fifth of this age group said that they are banking on a windfall from their parents.
Ms Segars said: “Those a decade or so away from retirement seem to be putting greater store in what might get left to them in a family will, perhaps because their own savings are inadequate. Sadly less than half the workforce is putting anything into a pension, so most people are in for a deep shock and a fall in living standards come retirement.”
She said that regular payments into a workplace pension can make a big difference to retirement pots, “especially with the help of employer contributions and tax breaks”. However she added that a “simpler, more generous state pension should be top of the Government’s to-do list”.
The survey also found that 8 per cent of people are relying winning the lottery to fund their retirement.
Meanwhile, almost one in seven people who is already a member of a workplace scheme said that they are not confident that they will have enough money to live off in retirement.
When there are very little options people rely on chasing the rainbow. If governments wanted to help they would make access to Old Age Pension and Canada Pension easier, not harder. Steven Harper vision of Canada is not one that most Canadians agree with, but that fact only makes his determination stronger.
He, I think, believes that Canadians are not smart enough to know what is in their best interest so it is his job to provide for us. Religious Zealots are dangerous. Most Canadians do not trust his government.
A poll taken before the budget found that 49 per cent of Canadians are preparing for a "bad news" budget from federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and that 57 per cent do not "trust" Harper and the Conservatives to make the "right choices" to ensure the budget is "fair and reasonable."
As well, more than two-thirds of Canadians oppose the view that the country needs to "sacrifice" pensions to keep taxes down or increase the retirement age to control rising pension system costs.
"If he moves on pensions, it's going to get nasty," Ipsos Reid president Darrell Bricker said in an interview Friday.
Bricker said it's clear the government has "conditioned" the public for a tough budget and that Canadians won't be expecting tax cuts or a message of "sunshine and celebration" from Flaherty.
But it has failed to prepare the public for the political time bomb - on pension cuts - that seems ready to explode.
The issue was unexpectedly catapulted to the top of the country's political agenda in January when Harper announced in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, that the future costs of the pension system would be scaled back to keep it affordable.
Since then, the government has increased the eligibility age for Old Age Security (OAS), which provides benefits for people once they turn 65. and the OAS eligibility will be increased gradually to 67.
Still, the poll shows Canadians have not been persuaded by Harper. Among the highlights:
The telephone poll of 1,012 adults occurred Feb. 13-20. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Canadians+want+pension+changes+poll/6318290/story.html#ixzz1pQuZltSp
One in six adults relies on inheritance to fund old age By James Hall, Consumer Affairs Editor, The Telegraph, posted 7:00AM GMT 17 Mar 2012
More and more people seem to be banking on the death of a loved one to help get them through their old age. That’s risky, because the high costs of elderly care can erode someone’s savings in their final few years, and an inheritance might shrink as a result,” said Joanne Segars, the NAPF’s (National Association of Pension Funds) chief executive.
The NAPF survey, which was carried out by Populus and based on a group of 2,000 adults, found that people aged between 45 and 54 are the most reliant on inheritance.
A fifth of this age group said that they are banking on a windfall from their parents.
Ms Segars said: “Those a decade or so away from retirement seem to be putting greater store in what might get left to them in a family will, perhaps because their own savings are inadequate. Sadly less than half the workforce is putting anything into a pension, so most people are in for a deep shock and a fall in living standards come retirement.”
She said that regular payments into a workplace pension can make a big difference to retirement pots, “especially with the help of employer contributions and tax breaks”. However she added that a “simpler, more generous state pension should be top of the Government’s to-do list”.
The survey also found that 8 per cent of people are relying winning the lottery to fund their retirement.
Meanwhile, almost one in seven people who is already a member of a workplace scheme said that they are not confident that they will have enough money to live off in retirement.
When there are very little options people rely on chasing the rainbow. If governments wanted to help they would make access to Old Age Pension and Canada Pension easier, not harder. Steven Harper vision of Canada is not one that most Canadians agree with, but that fact only makes his determination stronger.
He, I think, believes that Canadians are not smart enough to know what is in their best interest so it is his job to provide for us. Religious Zealots are dangerous. Most Canadians do not trust his government.
A poll taken before the budget found that 49 per cent of Canadians are preparing for a "bad news" budget from federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and that 57 per cent do not "trust" Harper and the Conservatives to make the "right choices" to ensure the budget is "fair and reasonable."
As well, more than two-thirds of Canadians oppose the view that the country needs to "sacrifice" pensions to keep taxes down or increase the retirement age to control rising pension system costs.
"If he moves on pensions, it's going to get nasty," Ipsos Reid president Darrell Bricker said in an interview Friday.
Bricker said it's clear the government has "conditioned" the public for a tough budget and that Canadians won't be expecting tax cuts or a message of "sunshine and celebration" from Flaherty.
But it has failed to prepare the public for the political time bomb - on pension cuts - that seems ready to explode.
The issue was unexpectedly catapulted to the top of the country's political agenda in January when Harper announced in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, that the future costs of the pension system would be scaled back to keep it affordable.
Since then, the government has increased the eligibility age for Old Age Security (OAS), which provides benefits for people once they turn 65. and the OAS eligibility will be increased gradually to 67.
Still, the poll shows Canadians have not been persuaded by Harper. Among the highlights:
- 70 per cent of Canadians disagree with the statement that "social programs, seniors' pensions, and other benefits in Canada are more generous than we can afford to pay for."
- 70 per cent also disagree with the statement that "we need to keep taxes down, even if it means we have to sacrifice in terms of seniors' pensions and other social benefits."
- 68 per cent disagree with the statement that "given the financial pressures on Canada's public pension system, it is necessary to increase the retirement age from 65 to 67."
The telephone poll of 1,012 adults occurred Feb. 13-20. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Canadians+want+pension+changes+poll/6318290/story.html#ixzz1pQuZltSp
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