Is having a life coach for retirement the next new thing?

For nearly all of us, retirement is something we imagine as a wonderful life after work is done – and as well, something we should be saving money to pay for.

An article in Forbes magazine suggests that “the transitions surrounding retirement can lead to a time of anxiety and questioning.”

The article cites a 2019 study from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. as noting “much of this angst may stem from a loss of identity, family tensions and a sense of loneliness. Financial factors often play a role too. Living on a fixed income can be rough and the cost of living may exceed expectations.”

These factors, coupled with the general uncertainty due to the pandemic, can make “a retirement date that’s nearing seem daunting,” the article notes.

But, Forbes reports, there’s a solution to retirement anxiety – getting a life coach.

“You may be familiar with life coaches, who help people evaluate themselves, grow and implement lifestyle changes. Often, a life coach will provide a working plan to help improve a specific area of your life,” the magazine tells us.

“Retirement coaches frequently act as life coaches, with a specific focus on the retirement years. Like other life coaches, retirement coaches may specialize in certain things, such as finances or behavior,” the Forbes article explains.

New retirees can face obstacles that they don’t expect, states Monte Drenner, a Florida-based life coach interviewed by Forbes for the article.

The social networks built through work have to be rebuilt, he says. Travel plans may not be financially achievable – the dream is more expensive than savings permit, Drenner tells Forbes.

It’s important for them to realize that retirement is a phase of life and not a break from work, Drenner says in the article. ““Many people bring a vacation mindset to retirement,” he explains – but that thinking can lead to dull days if nothing much is planned in the time between travel dates.

Another life coach quoted in the article, Kay Goshtabi of San Diego, says self-awareness is something many new retirees need to attain.

“The majority of my clients who are reinventing in retirement tell me that this is the hardest challenge they have faced to date,” she tells Forbes, adding that before retiring. “people have not stopped to figure out who they are.”

It’s important, she says, to set realistic expectations about retirement. “I look at it as a marathon and not a sprint,” she says.

The article gives some examples of how you might reinvent yourself in retirement by working part-time at something you like, or developing projects to help your family such as a family-focused cookbook. Write down your “dreams, wishes and interests” prior to retirement to help keep you on track when you’re there, the article concludes.

It’s true that retirement is what you make of it, but some dreams are more expensive than others. That’s where the Saskatchewan Pension Plan can be of assistance. It’s like a personal pension plan you can leverage as your main retirement savings tool, or to augment benefits you’re getting from work. The SPP grows your savings and offers you many income options when it’s time to start chasing dreams, such as the ability to get a lifetime pension. Be sure to check them out today.

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If you’re going to live longer, you’ll need more savings

Writing in the Globe and Mail, John Ibbotson flags a new and somewhat concerning problem for Canadians – we’re living a lot longer than anyone expected.

The oldest boomers, he writes, are about to turn 75. And, he continues, “the boomers are living inconveniently long lives.” It is expected that over the next three decades, the number of Canadians over age 85 will increase three-fold.

In the story, McMaster geroscientist Parminder Raina (click here to see his recent interview with Save with SPP) is quoted as saying the big spike in older folks is a big problem. “The rapidity of aging is the real issue for policy makers,” he tells the Globe.

What are the problems with having more old people?

The article identifies a few issues. First, the article notes, “the boomers haven’t saved enough. Which means looking after them will cost younger generations a great deal of time and money.”

Next, “the boomers were also the first generation to stop having enough children to replace themselves, there are fewer young people available to look after the old,” the article reports.

The article notes that “when the pensions and health-care systems that Canadians rely on today were first put in place in the 1960s,” men were expected to live until age 69, four years after retirement began. Now, the article warns, men will live on for another 19 years, and women, 22 years, after reaching age 65.

And with a birthrate of just 1.5 children per couple, Ibbotson writes, Canada’s population would actually decline were it not for immigration.

You’d think that those of us who are nearing retirement might have read that we could live for 20 years, into our 80s or 90s, after retirement, and started putting away a few extra bucks for retirement. Not so, the article tells us – “half of Canadians approaching retirement age do not have a workplace pension. The median level of savings for these people is $3,000. No, there isn’t a missing zero.”

As for not having as many kids, the article quotes Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald of the National Institute on Ageing (click here for Save with SPP’s interview with her) predicts that lower fertility rates mean “that services that have traditionally been provided by the family – namely women – will still need to be paid for.”

So we’re not saving enough and aren’t having enough kids, so there will be little money to spend on our care and no family to provide it free.

Are there solutions? The article lists a few – raising the retirement age, perhaps, or forcing older people to “unlock the wealth accumulated by older Canadians” in their real estate and other holdings. Rather than giving seniors discounts, they should be paying a premium for services, the article suggests. Such measures might be political suicide, Ibbotson admits, so maybe things like long-term care insurance should be promoted.

The bottom line, he writes, is “if we are to live well, we must care for one another, however old we are and whatever we may need.”

The lack of a workplace pension is a serious issue for many Canadians. Workplace pensions are usually a sort of “forced savings,” where money comes off your paycheque and is later returned to you in the form of income. While some people want to spend all of their paycheque, few with pensions or retirement plans at work complain when they can draw on that retirement income. If you don’t have a workplace pension plan, you need to save on your own for retirement. A great way to do this is through the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. They’ll grow your savings with professional investing at very low fees, and when it’s time to finally start collecting your savings, they can pay it out to you in the form of a lifetime pension – monthly payments that continue for as long as you live. Check them out today!

Written by Martin Biefer
	Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. A veteran reporter, editor and pension communicator, he’s now a freelancer. Interests include golf, line dancing, classic rock, and darts. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

An interview with Dr. Parminder Raina

A large-scale research study, called the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) has been underway for a few years now, and is expected to provide insight on why some of us fare better in our old age than others.

Save with SPP contacted Dr. Parminder Raina, a professor at McMaster University and director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging, who is leading the research along with Christina Wolfson of McGill University and Susan Kirkland of Dalhousie University. We wanted to find out what the study – which follows 50,000 Canadians who were aged between 45 and 85 at recruitment for 20 years – has found out thus far.

The CLSA’s Report on Health and Aging, says Dr. Raina, shows that “when you look at the overall picture, people are aging in a healthy fashion.” However, he says, subpopulation data shows “that poverty rates are higher in women, and depression rates are higher, probably because of the social isolation issues.

“So while the overall picture looks good, you see some patterns that are not as positive when you start to segment populations differently. So from that point of view, this is an important finding because many of the data that are out in Canada are not specifically able to look at health issues in women,” he states.

Dr. Raina says the study has also helped develop what he calls “a normative cognitive score tied to age. It’s similar to a growth chart for children, but instead tied to memory and cognitive function,” he explains.  Having the score means that a cognitive test with your doctor could “be compared to a normal value developed using the CLSA data,” he states. “We know that aging is a developmental process. At the early ages, there are lot of gains and few losses. But in old age, there can be more losses than gains. By developing cognitive norms, we are able to determine what is normal and what is not when it comes to cognitive changes as we age.”

Another area being explored is frailty. “The traditional sense is that frailty is limited to older people that as they come into their 70s and 80s, they become weak, they lose resilience and become frail. The belief is that is part of growing old. And some older people are frail, and others aren’t,” Dr. Raina says. “Part of our goal is to understand frailty and how does it manifest itself. Some of our initial analyses and results are indicating that frailty is as prominent, in a different way, in a 45-year-old as it is in a 75-year-old.”

Is that frailty seen in younger people “the same as the frailty we see in older people?” he asks. “The other question, which we will answer over the years, is the people who are already frail in some ways, are they more prone to be much more frail in later life? That actually changes the way we look at the whole area of frailty in older people. We need to look at it in a very different way. It might be an issue that cuts across the whole age spectrum.”

Save with SPP asked Dr. Raina if any of the findings thus far come as a surprise.

“Overall, Canada is doing quite well when it comes to aging of the population. However, we can’t paint everyone with the same brush. There are some populations who experience more challenges than others. We need to keep this in mind, especially when developing policies and programs,” he says.

Finally, we asked Dr. Raina what those of us who are older can do to stay in better health as we age. “The two things tend to drive many health issues are smoking and lack of physical activity. Keeping people socially engaged is also tied to healthy aging. So exercising more, eating well and staying connected to friends and family can have a major impact on how we age. Those are the things that will actually lead to some beneficial impact on the health and well-being of people as they grow older,” he says.

In May 2018, the CLSA released its first report on health and aging, which included some important findings, such as:

• 95 per cent of older Canadians rate their own mental health as excellent, very good or good
• Women are more likely than men to express feelings of loneliness and social isolation, and that there is a notable correlation between feelings of loneliness and the prevalence of depression among older Canadians
• 44 per cent of older Canadians report that they provide some level of care to others, and caregiving rates are at their highest (almost 50 per cent) among individuals aged 55-64
• Driving a motor vehicle is the most common form of transportation for older Canadians regardless of age, sex, geographic location, health or functional status

Save with SPP thanks Dr. Raina for taking the time to answer our questions.

Poverty, as we learned, is a factor that influences health and aging. If you don’t have a workplace pension plan and are saving on your own for retirement, a good option to consider is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Find out more today.

Written by Martin Biefer

Martin Biefer is Senior Pension Writer at Avery & Kerr Communications in Nepean, Ontario. After a 35-year career as a reporter, editor and pension communicator, Martin is enjoying life as a freelance writer. He’s a mediocre golfer, hopeful darts player and beginner line dancer who enjoys classic rock and sports, especially football. He and his wife Laura live with their Sheltie, Duncan, and their cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22

By Sheryl Smolkin

If you always wanted to go to college or university and life got in the way, it may not be too late. Some schools like Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University have eliminated tuition waivers for seniors due to provincial budget cuts. However, at least one Saskatchewan University plus several other well-known Canadian schools do not charge seniors for tuition.

For example, the University of Saskatchewan waives tuition fees for people 65 years of age or older, who are provincial residents and who register in the following types of courses and programs:

• Regular sessions: To a maximum of 15 credits
• Evening or off-campus courses: To a maximum of 15 credits
• Intersession and summer session: To a maximum of 6 credits
• Non-Credit extension programs

At the University of British Columbia, BC residents who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents aged 65 years or over during the session in which they are registered are not assessed application, tuition, or student fees. However, there are tuition fees levied for some programs where facilities and resources are limited.

Tuition and fee waivers apply for seniors who meet residency and age requirements at the University of Manitoba.  Although most of costs are waived for senior students, they still must to submit an application form and meet entrance requirements.

York University’s deal applies to Canadian citizens or permanent residents whether they are registered in a degree course, as a visiting student or simply auditing a program.

Ryerson also offers free tuition to students over 60 for four-year undergraduate programs and McMaster University in Hamilton has a similar program for undergraduates over 65. In addition, McMaster reduces fees by 50 per cent for seniors registered in Continuing Education courses.  However, you are out of luck if the program you want is at University of Toronto, as only nominal ancillary fees are waived for older students.

Dalhousie University encourages learning opportunities and professional development by offering senior students 65 years of age or over who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents at the time of registration and are enrolled in an undergraduate non-professional degree program a senior citizen waiver. This waives only the tuition portion of the fees. The student must pay any incidental fees.

Other colleges and universities across country also offer seniors a tuition break. For more information, contact the school of your choice.

I got an LLM. in the mid-90s, 20 years after I was called to the Bar, so embarking on another rigorous degree program at this stage is not at the top of my “To Do list.”  But if I ever get around to retiring and have some time on my hands, I will definitely be tempted to audit opera, music, theatre and other general interest courses.

Do you have tips for seniors who want to fulfill their lifelong dream to get a university degree? Share your tips with us at http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card. And remember to put a dollar in the retirement savings jar every time you use one of our money-saving ideas.

If you would like to send us other money saving ideas, here are the themes for the next three weeks:

10-Oct	Thanksgiving	Paying it forward: Volunteer opportunities
17-Oct	Halloween	Cheap and cheerful costumes, snacks
24-Oct	Charity	How to raise money for almost anything on Indiegogo