Fishing is what conventional retirees do.
By Ashliegh GehlThinking of retirement? If yes, consider rubbing elbows with Margaret Wente’s circle of friends. It’s a taste-test of how sweet retirement can be; or at least Wente’s romanticized, slightly unrealistic version of it.
In her column, “Is there life after retirement?” in The Globe and Mail, Wente tiptoes through a handful of retired friends. One by one Wente gingerly introduces the reader to an assortment of exotic fruits, the kind retirement could potentially bear.
Who knew there was more to retirement than early morning games of golf or a summery Alaskan cruise under the midnight sun. These conventional forms of retirement, as Wente calls them, may not be so conventional anymore. After all, who can afford to take the financial leap when Canadians are constantly reminded of how poorly the economy is doing.
“Only 38% of Canadians contributed to an RRSP by the March 1 deadline, a poll commissioned by BMO Financial Group found. About 56% saying they had decided not to contribute and 6% preferred not to answer,” the Toronto Sun reported yesterday.
Why did less than half of Canadians not contribute to RRSP’s? The BMO survey found two-thirds mentioned a lack of cash was the primary reason.
On Feb. 26, the Ottawa Citizen reported RRSP’s dropped from 6 per cent in 2007 to just above 5 percent in 2008.
“I think it’s very common that people will think of what their current needs are for money, as opposed to what their needs might be down the road,” said Executive Director Gena Katz, of Toronto-based Ernst & Young’s tax practice, in the Ottawa Citizen.
If Canadians are barely covering costs now, making sure finances are secured come retirement is a distant, even nonexistent thought. When people are focused on the now, building schools in a different country does not register on the mental radar. Food, shelter, and family is what comes first.
The only plausible and realistic point Wente makes involves how Boomers inching into retirement are being portrayed.
“Boomers, we are warned, will soon be a huge drain on society.
As they age into senility, their pension entitlements and medical demands will suck the system dry. They will consume far more than they produce,” says Wente.
If there is any hint of agreement in perspective with Wente, it rests in knowing a handful of Boomers who are not societal drains with 911 on speed-dial. Retirees can choose to live actively, contributing to the communities in which they live.
What was most interesting about Wente’s pedestal-retirees, who may be setting to the bar for lofty-retirement goals, is what they chose to do. Two examples chose to work internationally while the other two focused energies at home.
“I’m betting that there are lots of people like the Ebys out there, and that there will be more and more as the boomers gradually age out of their careers,” Wente writes.
What the Ebys are doing is honourable. It’s a goal they have set for themselves and from what Wente has disclosed, a lot is coming from it. Let’s hope there are more people like Wente’s two other examples who are keeping the good work they do in the country.
If Boomers are thought of as drains, one way to dispel the myth is to not be a part of the problem, but create solutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment