International DSTers: What is your retirement like?

[Inkspots]

All of this talk about our election and "socialism" has made me realize that although I somewhat understand eduction and healthcare in other countries, I don't know anything about retirement. How is retirment taken care of in your country? Are you expected to take care of it yourself? Rely on family if necessary? Will your country take care of you? Provide an assisted living if needed? Awhile ago there was a huge uproar in the US over retirements and people who have worked for years for companies nearly losing theirs at the brink of retiring--FIL was one of those, but fortunately didn't. Some people have even lost or had cut their retirements after retirement due to business failures.

[mishou]

Well I have to admit I don't know all that much on how retirement works LOL I don't know how well I can answer your questions but here goes:

In Canada we have "Old Age Security (http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/isp/pub/oas/oas.shtml)" (OAS) which is a cheque that everyone gets every month from the government regardless of their situation (if you meet certain basic requirements), and then there is the Canada Pension Plan (http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/isp/pub/factsheets/retire.shtml)(CPP), which you only get if you've paid into it throughout your life.

Here's some info I found online:

CPP (Canada Pension Plan) or QPP (Quebec Pension Plan)

The CPP/QPP ensures a basic income for retired workers. If you have paid into the CPP/QPP, you are entitled to receive a monthly pension payment as early as age 60 or as late as age 70. CPP/QPP is based on how much, and for how long, you contributed to the plan and the age at which you choose to start your Canada/Quebec pension payments. As of January 2008, the maximum CPP payment is $884 per month. Should you choose to start your Canada/Quebec pension payments earlier than age 65, your monthly CPP payment will be reduced by 0.5% per month for every month before 65. If you choose to delay retirement, your monthly CPP payment will be increased by 0.5% per month for every month after age 65 up to age 70.

Monthly OAS (Old Age Security)

The Old Age Security pension is a monthly benefit available, if applied for, to most Canadians 65 years of age or over who have lived in Canada for at least 10 year after reaching age 18.

(My grandma used to get like $400/month from OAS I think)


In addition to these two government things, there are also Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RRSP)and many employers offer additional pension plans that you can pay into.

Someone else on here might be able to give you more details!!

[DebF]

Our social security system in Australia provides for an old-age pension for those who don't have the means to provide for themselves, which also includes medical and prescription, travel and utilities assistance. However, since the 80s (? not certain of exact date) the government introduced compulsory superranuation (retirement savings) which all employers are (by law) required to make contributions for their employees. You can also add to it if you have the extra $$, but it cannot be accessed until retirement age - there is lower taxation on these contributions, although it seems to me that the government dips into it a LOT. I believe that the eventual plan would be for most people to fund their own retirement and reduce the government's pension payouts. Oh, and there has been much discussion lately about the inadequate level of the pension to keep a retiree - I believe the sinlge pension is less than $300 per week.

[newfiemountiewife]

Michelle is right....I will not receive much CPP as a self employed worker, because I do not pay into it. I unfortunately have not planned well for this, and am pretty much going to be dependent on my DH's pension, which will be good.

[suejones]

Whilst there are many self-funded retirees in Australia, there are many that aren't.
Centrelink (social security) provides a pension for people. If you are legally blind or disabled then you are eligible for a separate pension that has no eligibility rules attached to it.
To receive the pension, a male must be 65 or over and meet an income and assets test. Female ages vary according to their birthdate and they also have an income and assets assessment. To also be eligible you must be either an Australian citizen or meet the 10 year residency test.
The income and assets test is different for homeowners and non-homeowners. It also takes into consideration how much superranuation you have. Those who live in a retirement village or granny flat are able to claim an extra 'rent' allowance. You are allowed to earn up to $240 per fortnight (every two weeks) for a couple or $138 per week for a single without it affecting your pension payment. For every $1 over that your pension is reduced by 40c. (My FIL earns about $60 per week for staffing a visitor information centre twice a week and his pension isn't affected at all).
The maximum that a person will be paid on the pension is $562.10 per fortnight for a single or $469.50 each if you are a couple. You may also be eligible for various allowances (your maximum will more than likely include this) for rent assistance, pharmaceutical allowance, telephone allowance, utilities allowance and you can also recieve a pension concession card which allows for discounts on pharmaceuticals, doctor visits etc. (Taken from the Centrelink website). www.centrelink.gov.au

There is currently a campaign running in Australia for the aged pension to increase because many aged pensioners are not able to feed themselves adequately and pay for their numerous bills. A politician in Tasmania actually set out to prove that it was possible for a single old age pensioner to live on what they were paid. Her shopping wasn't even enough to provide adequate nutrition for 2 days let alone 2 weeks. She also did not have to pay rent from the income she received. The last tv interview that I saw with her had her changing her views and also lobbying for an increase in the aged pension.
All of my inlaws and both sets of parents are on pensions. (My mother is not elible for the aged pension yet and is attempting to claim a disability pension. If she can't claim that then she will have to apply for unemployment - and since she is 64 years old it is highly unlikely that she will ever find a job although to claim unemployment she has to prove that she is trying to find work). They don't receive a lot because their assets are substantial. They would be paid more if they sold their homes and moved into a retirement village.
I have no issue with increasing the pension for aged retirees. The majority have either worked all their lives or raised families on one income and they have paid taxes.
One of the tv shows here in Australia is running an Adopt a Pensioner (http://adopt-a-pensioner.yourwebspace.com.au/) program for families to adopt someone to help out.

So... that is the Australian way for retirees. They either fund themselves or rely on the govt for basic help. But overall a lot of aged retirees are finding that they are dependent on others for help to survive.

[lorig]

Michelle is right....I will not receive much CPP as a self employed worker, because I do not pay into it. I unfortunately have not planned well for this, and am pretty much going to be dependent on my DH's pension, which will be good.


We are self employed but we will get CPP. We have to pay in both the employee and employer portions. It is almost 10% of our income that goes to that.

I also wanted to add that for low income seniors there is the Guaranteed Income Supplement. It basically tops up the CPP and OAS and other retirement income to a minimum amount. If you make more than the minimum you don't get this benefit.

There has been a lot of discussion since the 1990's about whether the CPP will still be around when we retire. There have been some changes to the plan to make it more likely. Our RRSP's are similar to some of the US's retirement funds. Most of ours are in the markets so it has been quite a rollercoaster ride for us but then I don't expect we will retire for 25 to 30 years so there is time for it to recover for us personally. I know many others who are feeling the pinch though.

[cheribear]

There's also the thing where healthcare is covered, obviously. So you wouldn't be looking at any kind of situation where somebody's life savings for retirement could be wiped with a bad fall or cancer treatments or a heart attack or stroke or multiple surgeries, etc. requiring more expensive care if their health begins to decline.

There are government long-term care facilities and home-care services available for patients who need them - this is administered by the provincial governments and so varies from province to province but for the most part the cost of it is based on need and what they can afford - if they are on a fixed income, most of the income coming in goes to pay for that care. Those with better means will likely choose private or subsidized care.

My grandmother lives on a fixed income (CPP, OAC, GIS or whatever) for the most part - was widowed most of her life and worked but didn't make a huge income or have much in savings. She doesn't own her own home and is in a senior's complex so she has to pay rent, etc. monthly but it is subsidized. She lives modestly and doesn't worry about her future costs and as a family - we worry about getting her to and from appointments and when (eventually) she'll need to move into more assisted living etc. - but we don't worry about the money.

My other grandmother has a lot more savings etc. to live on, owns her own home, and the means to pay for better care if/when it becomes necessary - but I don't think she'll do much differently than my grandma who is on a fixed income. When the time comes for her to be in a home or have assisted living, then she'll probably be responsible for a little bit more of it on her own, and as a result may choose private care if she's paying for it anyway.

Aside from those differences - we just worry about their health but not about the money so much, even though one is quite well-off and the other doesn't have much except for her fixed income.

When the time comes for my parents to retire - they'll have a lot more in savings, RRSP's, investments etc, mostly because they have plans to do things, retire at the cabin, travel, etc. and those plans require quite a bit more than a fixed income would allow. Like most people, they 'plan' to live long and to be healthy enough to enjoy their lives for quite some time - and saved much of their lives to allow for that.

We'll do the same - except because we were told in the early 90's that we couldn't expect CPP etc. to be there for us when we retire, so unlike my parents' generation - our generation has tended to start worry about retirement and saving for it a lot earlier - so we've been buying RRSP's and putting into employee retirement plans etc. in our 20's rather than in their 30's and 40's like my parents' generation did. Most people do have retirement plans through their work, or if they are self-employed, they make sure they are planning for retirement early on.

~Cheri

[OrianaVianey]

In Panama you have to pay certain amount of Social Security quota to be able to retire with full coverage. If you don't fulfill your quota that your retirement money will be just a fraction of your last pay check. And there is a roof for maximum $$.

Here in El Salvador is pretty much the same, but is a private retirement fund

[Inkspots]

Thanks to everyone for sharing! I've enjoyed the read.