Freedom 68?
Longer lifespans may force Canadians to rethink retirement age.
Longer lifespans may force Canadians to rethink retirement age.
An attention-grabbing new report is arguing that Canadians need to get over our obsession with early retirement.
Among other recommendations, the report by the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation suggests that we follow the lead of the U.S., Britain and Germany and raise the eligibility age for pensions beyond 60. Given that the average Canadian now lives well past 80, the economics are inarguable, and there’s precedent—pension eligibility used to kick in at 70. If lifespans keep increasing, Canadians’ golden years may soon last almost as long as our working years.
The report’s authors do acknowledge one little roadblock: no sane politician is ever going to propose raising the retirement age, and Canadians, as a group, probably won’t be too thrilled with it either.
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