Pensions have had a lot of exposure in the media recently. On last night's CBC
news economist Amanda Lang and another lady, an expert on pensions, were
sitting at a table in a shopping mall advising anyone who cared to ask what
they should do to provide for their retirement. It was a bit ironic because
many of the people in the mall probably had nothing to retire from - like a job.
What Lang and the pension guru told people was something like "Put away a fixed
amount every month, even if it's only ten dollars, and let it build up."
Hmm.... $10 a month is only $120 a year and only $3,600 in thirty years in
current terms. Is that enough to retire on? Hardly. And even if one were
putting away $100 a month, or $36,000 in thirty years, would that be enough?
Probably only if one died in the thirty-first year.
The pension problem got me thinking about an article in yesterday's Globe and
Mail. It was called "Full House" and was about an increasing trend of
multi-generational families living together. Its subtext said it all: "Kids in
the basement, grandparents upstairs or in laneway homes out back..." I guess
that would be OK if everybody in the family got along, but most families aren't
like that. What if my mother-in-law moved in? Where would I go? Probably way
down the basement behind the furnace.
And besides, would there be enough earnings or pensions in the house to permit
the family to make a go of it? One would hope so, but given current and
probably continuing uncertainties in the job market, its an open question.
Ed
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