Most of us have an old flip phone lying around, or a Windows 7 laptop gathering dust in the basement, or a collection of our old Palm devices from the early 2000s. All this tech – which no longer has a current use — has long been replaced with new and better stuff.

But is there any value left in all that old, obsolete technology? Save with SPP had a look around to find out.

Old cellphones, reports Yahoo! News, may still hold quite a bit of value.

“The trade-in value will depend on the type of phone, how old it is and its condition, but you may be able to get $100 (U.S.) or so for even a fairly dated iPhone model. An iPhone 8 64G in good condition is typically valued at $105 U.S., according to SellCell.com,” Yahoo! News notes.

Old laptops, the article continues, can be worth “$400 to $800 U.S.,” depending on “the model, the year, and its condition.”

Business Insider offers a few more suggestions. Remember the old Speak and Spell device – a sort of fun way to learn spelling for kids – from the 1970s? These old devices, manufactured by Texas Instruments, “can fetch anywhere between $50 and $100 U.S. on eBay, depending on its condition,” the publication reports.

Can you recall the days when a Sony Walkman was the way to make your music go mobile? These “wearable” little cassette players, first rolled out in 1979, are now worth “between $300 and $700 U.S. on eBay.”

An original iPhone in the box is worth up to $15,000 U.S., the article adds. And if you happen to have a rare Xerox Alto personal computer – one of the first to use a mouse – your 1973 vintage machine is worth $30,000 American, the article adds.

The Komando website reports that factory-sealed original Nintendo games can be worth a small fortune — $75,000 U.S. for an original copy of the Mega Man game, for instance.

An original Apple Macintosh computer will net you $2,000 U.S., and an old Commodore 64 computer will be worth $1,200 in good condition.

Save with SPP took a peek on eBay to see if our old Palm devices were worth anything. Surprisingly, they were listed from $35 to $55 Canadian. Our rare Samsung Windows Phone is similarly available for $25 to $35 in loonies. So, you never can tell.

If you are able to turn any old tech from trash into cash, a great destination for those dollars is a Saskatchewan Pension Plan account. Those old tech devices will serve your future self very well, as SPP will invest the proceeds from their sale, and over time, turn obsolete tech into future retirement income. Check out SPP today!

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It’s clear that the pandemic – which we all hope is entering its final phase – has made many Canadians rethink the idea of living in a big, crowded, city.

But, as people sell their condos and townhouses and move to larger living spaces in the nation’s smaller towns, cities, and rural areas, experts are predicting this mass migration may cause problems in the labour market.

According to a report by Julie Gordon of Reuters, published via Yahoo! News, “the pandemic-driven exodus… has depleted a core age group of workers from the already tight labour market.” This, her story explains, may drive up wages as companies struggle to replace these “missing” job seekers.

The folks leaving the cities are typically younger people with young children, the report notes. The exodus, she explains “has shifted mid-career workers – a key segment of the labour force – out of big cities, making it difficult to find established talent in sectors where in-person work is essential or preferred.”

The article notes that most people leaving are in their 30s and 40s – Vancouver saw 12,000 people leave the city in 2021, Montreal lost 40,000, and Toronto witnessed an eye-popping 64,000 people moving away.

It’s not just the pandemic that’s prompting people to pack up. The cost of housing is another huge factor. The average Toronto condo costs $1.2 million, while the average price for a detached house in the Ontario suburbs is “just” $800,000, the article notes.

A report in the Globe and Mail notes that nationwide, 3.8 million of us – or about one in 10 Canadians – are living in smaller urban centres.

Smaller centres are benefitting from the urban exodus, the article reports. Over in B.C., the city of Squamish has grown by an amazing 21.8 per cent in one year, and now has more than 24,000 new citizens. Other small centres experiencing big growth are the Ontario towns of Wasaga Beach, Tillsonburg, Collingwood and Woodstock.

“With the pandemic, the capacity of Canadians to do more (remote) work has certainly encouraged some Canadians to really move to these smaller urban centres and leave maybe larger urban centres,” states Laurent Martel of Statistics Canada in the Globe article.

A CTV News report says it’s not just affordability and a healthier, more open space that is attracting Canadians to rural areas.

“We’re seeing small cities, including small cities outside the orbit of large metropolitan areas showing some robust growth,” Tom Urbaniak, political science professor at Cape Breton University, states in the CTV report.

“This signals to me that Canadians are looking for some flexibility, places reputed for their quality of life and are finding it easier to work from different places.” In fact, the article adds, for the first time in more than 40 years, the Maritimes’ population grew at a faster clip than the Canadian Prairie Provinces.

Getting back to the land can breathe new life into smaller communities. Consider the wonderful efforts of Brad and Kendal Parker in restoring a 107-year-old farmhouse in rural Harris, Sask.

The CBC reports the Parkers left Saskatoon and took on the renovation of an old farmhouse that had been boarded up for 70 years.  Descendants of the folks that originally built the house in 1915, the Parkers say, are thrilled the old place is getting a new lease on life.

“It’s really something. One of the grandchildren shared a painting with me of the original homestead,” Kendal Parker tells the CBC. “They tell me it’s so wonderful this house is coming back to life and to have children running around.”

Building a new home is great, and so is building a retirement future. The Saskatchewan Pension Plan can help with the latter goal. It’s a great resource for anyone who doesn’t have a retirement program at work – or does, but wants to augment it. You can contribute up to $7,000 a year towards your retirement future through SPP! Check them out today!

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A wise employer once suggested that the best way to get a problem solved quickly was to turn to one’s laziest employee. By nature, that person would think of the quickest and usually simplest way to fix things.

Can the same thinking be applied to health and fitness? Are there ways to achieve health and fitness goals that don’t require “putting in the work,” and “giving it 110 per cent,” for those of us averse to 6 a.m. runs and “boot camp” workouts? Save with SPP sure hopes that’s the case, and took a look around to see what’s out there.

The PureWow blog on Yahoo! News offers some suggestions. “Just walk more,” the blog advises. “Walking is, like, the easiest exercise. It is also super simple to incorporate more of it into your day.” Park farther from where you’re going, get off the bus, LRT or subway a few stops earlier, or take the stairs instead of the elevator, the blog advises.

The blog also recommends “Deskercise,” little workouts that can be done while you’re working, giving yourself non-food incentives if you do manage to get to the gym, and to “do your chores.” A video on their site shows these workouts.

“Did you know that chasing your dog around burns 100 calories in 30 minutes? Don’t limit `exercise’ to what you do in a sweaty gym. Turn everyday tasks like grocery shopping or cooking into mini workouts by doing them a little faster. And hey, the sooner the kitchen’s clean, the sooner you can get back to Netflix,” the blog post advises.

Over at MSN, the Lifestyle Asia blog suggests some simple, non-workout weight loss tips.

Drinking half a litre of water before having a meal “can help in shedding those extra kilos,” the blog advises. More water makes your body burn calories more efficiently, the post continues, and the average person should consume 3.7 litres a day of water.

Sunshine helps us “soak up some Vitamin D,” the post continues. Some studies have suggested that those of us with lower levels of Vitamin D tend to be heavier, the article says.

Other lazy ideas include more sleep (an easy one for the lazy) and to “stay stress free,” through yoga and meditation.

Across the pond, The Mirror sees staying flexible as an easy path towards health.

Putting your hands behind your head “stretches muscles at the top of your back and the back of your upper arms which can help improve upper back posture and reduce shoulder inflammation,” the article notes. Other recommendations are gentle hamstring stretches, to “sway side to side” to relaxing music as you sit, and to do a simple “Sphinx” stretch while watching TV.

Finally, Rolling Stone magazine suggests simple home exercise with free weights, getting a yoga mat, and getting back into the schoolyard activity of skipping.

These are all good suggestions. The takeaway seems to be to avoid doing absolutely nothing at all to improve your health or diet. Start with one small new thing, make it a habit, and add more, and then away you go.

It’s just like saving for retirement. If you’ve got a Saskatchewan Pension Plan account, start small, and save amounts you can afford. Then make it regular, and then automatic (via direct deposits from your bank account), and watch your retirement savings grow!

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Many people young and old made a big change in their living arrangements during the pandemic.

Younger people – liberated from having to go to the office each day – sought more affordable housing in other cities or provinces. City dwellers generally, including retirees, wondered if it would be safer during times of COVID to move to places with lower infection rates.

Save with SPP took a look around the Interweb to see how this is playing out now that the pandemic is (hopefully) starting to turn the final corner towards “over.”

Better Dwelling magazine reports on how people have left Ontario to live in Atlantic Canada. In the second quarter of 2021, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick attracted 4,678 and 2,145 interprovincial newcomers. Ontario saw an outflow of 11,857 people in the same quarter, the magazine reports.

What’s the attraction?

“Lower COVID spread in the Maritimes probably amplified the region’s appeal. But relatively affordable housing was likely an even bigger draw, especially as home prices skyrocketed in already-expensive parts of the country and more Canadians were able to work remotely,” states RBC economist Carrie Freestone in the article. 

“With housing affordability worsening in major urban markets in Central Canada, this may mark the beginning of a trend: young talent moving east for an improved quality of life,” she tells Better Dwelling.

But it’s not just Ontario that is seeing people move. Closer to home, Alberta is also seeing people pack up to start over elsewhere, reports the CBC via Yahoo! News.

Why are they leaving?

The article says high COVID case counts may be one reason, but quotes Mount Royal Professor David Finch as saying “”Young people are leaving the province for a variety of reasons — some tied to employment, some tied to economics or education.”

A recent study, the 2020 Calgary Attitudes and Outlook Survey, found that a startling 27 per cent of Calgarians aged 18 to 24 planned to leave the city in the next five years, the CBC reports.

“In Alberta, there is a perception that there is a lack of diverse career pathways, leading people to look at other parts of Canada or beyond for opportunities in education or employment that may be closer aligned to their career objectives and social values,” Finch states in the article.

Retirees thinking of relocating to cheaper places need to think the idea through carefully, suggests the Boomer & Echo blog.

Most seniors making such moves do so for better weather, as well as “proximity to family, affordable housing costs, the availability of healthcare facilities, and things to do,” the blog notes.

A lower housing budget will give you more money for travel (when travelling is more common), the blog adds. The blog advises that you try visiting your intended destination for a long stay before committing to the move, and go in both summer and winter. Check differences in provincial tax rates, and find out about transferring your provincial healthcare.

The grass may appear greener down the highway, but you may expect some higher costs and fewer services if you move from a city to a smaller centre, warns the Globe and Mail.

The article cites the example of Ian Cable and Amy Stewart, who decided to move from Toronto to Owen Sound, a small city on the shores of Lake Huron. They found that the cost of a house in Owen Sound “was a fraction (of the cost) of a similar property in Toronto.”

But in Toronto, with a vast public transit system, they only needed one vehicle; in Owen Sound they have two. Isaiah Chan of the Credit Counselling Society tells the Globe that smaller town residents usually have to drive more often, and farther – instead of a half hour drive for your kids’ hockey you might now be looking at two to three hours, Chan says.

The article flags other possible problems – are you on a water and sewer system, or septic tanks and wells? If you need to return to the office from the country, can you afford the commute, the article asks.

The article concludes by suggesting anyone moving to a smaller place to save money must do thorough research on what the full costs of living there will be.

The key takeaways here seem to be that you need to get as much intel as possible about the place you are thinking of moving to before you make the jump. Save with SPP once travelled two hours by car – each way – to work from about 10 years. The cost of keeping the car going tended to wipe out any advantage from the lower cost of living.

In a way, retirement is like a destination – a place where you are going to go one day. The intel you need to know now is whether or not you have sufficient retirement income. If you are in a retirement plan at work, great; if not, consider joining it. If there isn’t a plan, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan has everything you need to set up your own individual or employer-based one. Wherever you end up in retirement, things will go more smoothly if you can unpack some retirement income when you get there, so check out SPP – celebrating 35 years of building retirement futures – today.

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Where should you be – retirement savings-wise – at different ages?

Saving for retirement tends to be a solitary process. While we are encouraged to put away what we can for that future post-work life, there’s little information out there on how much is enough, or what targets we should shoot for at various ages.

Writing in Yahoo! News, author Jami Farkas provides a little bit of clarity on those savings benchmarks.

First, Farkas writes, “the best time to start saving for retirement is when you start earning.” So even in your 20s you should be thinking about putting some of your paycheque towards retirement, Farkas continues.

As you age, those savings targets become more concrete, Farkas notes.

“By age 30, you should have saved an amount equal to your annual salary for retirement,” the article advises. “If your salary is $75,000, you should have $75,000 put away.”

The article suggests this goal can be met by putting away 20 per cent of what you earn, and to “live and give on the remaining 80 per cent.” The article, intended for an American audience, says signing up for any workplace retirement program, like a pension plan or here in Canada, a group registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) is another positive step towards your savings goal.

Saving for retirement in your 30s can “even trump paying down debt,” the article notes.

In your 40s, you should have three times your salary stashed away, the article urges.

“If you don’t have a retirement savings strategy as part of your overall financial plan by this point, don’t delay,” Farkas writes.

A common mistake at this point is growing your lifestyle at the expense of your savings, the article explains – moving into a bigger house or apartment, or upgrading your car. Dr. Robert Johnson of Creighton University states in the piece that “what happens is they are unable to improve their financial condition because they spend everything they make. People are wise to effectively invest any money from a raise as if you didn’t receive the raise. That is, continue to live the same lifestyle you led before receiving a raise and invest the difference.”

If, instead, you were to invest some or all of a raise in your future, it would add up, the article notes. A $5,000 raise invested annually at 10 per cent will yield an eye-popping $822,000 in savings after 30 years, the article explains.

By age 50, the article notes, you need five times your salary in savings. With kids usually gone from your home and their education paid for, this is a good age for catch up if you have fallen behind, Farkas writes. And be sure you are investing in a low-fee savings vehicle, the article adds.

At 60, the article concludes, you should have seven to eight times your salary in retirement savings because you are now five years away from retirement. As well, the article warns, you should consider reducing your exposure to riskier investments, such as equities.

The article notes that those approaching retirement in 2007/8 would have seen their equity investments fall by 37 per cent in one year.

Let’s sum all this thinking up. Start saving for retirement as soon as you start making money. Make it automatic. Don’t forget your savings program in the excitement of getting a big raise and making more money. Don’t put all your savings eggs in one basket, particularly if that basket is full of stocks and no bonds or alternative investments.

The article suggests that a great way to get to the finish line in retirement saving is to join up with any retirement plan your employer offers – often, they will match what you contribute. That’s great advice. But if you don’t have access to an employer retirement program, fear not – the Saskatchewan Pension Plan is available for do-it-yourselfers. Through SPP you can save in a low-fee program that has delivered strong investment returns for over 35 years. Check them out today!

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At one time, the world of credit was filled with all sorts of incentives to get you using the card – travel points, points for goods and services, and so on.  But lately, it seems that points are being joined and even overtaken by cash back credit cards and shopping sites. Save with SPP had a look around the Interweb to see what people think about this apparently popular trend.

The Centsai blog agrees that there “are plenty of financial benefits of cash back rewards cards,” but warns consumers to “make sure you don’t fall victim to traps that will wipe out those benefits.”

Cash back credit cards, the blog notes, usually “offer a base level of cash back – usually one to two per cent of all purchases.” (This blog is aimed at the US market, which is similar but not identical to Canada’s.) Some products will give you an even higher discount on pre-selected categories, such as dining out, the blog notes.

Money comes back to you either as a statement credit, or by some sort of direct payment or cheque, the blog reports.

So what’s wrong with getting some of your money back? The problem, Centsai notes, is that you have to spend quite a lot on your card to get significant cash rewards back. We are talking maybe $2 on every $100 spent. “People can easily go out-of-control with their spending by viewing each potential purchase as a rewards-earning opportunity not to be missed,” the blog explains.

As well, notes the blog, the true benefit of cash back accrues for those who pay their credit cards off in full each month. For that type of user, the blog says, cash back is win-win. Turning this idea around, those who max out their credit cards to get the cash back may find that the interest they owe is much more than the cash they got back.

If you do a lot of online shopping, Ebates might be worth a look, reports Yahoo! News. “Ebates receives a commission from retailers for sending shoppers their way,” the article notes. “The app features daily deals such as 14 per cent cash back on purchases at.. Travelocity, Microsoft and dozens of other retailers. Cash back is paid quarterly by cheque or via PayPal.”

Save with SPP has personally tried both these types of things, and what the articles are saying is true. If you are great with your credit cards and pay them off completely each month, these ideas are like free money. If, like Save with SPP, you are less than perfect with your credit cards, the benefits of the cash back are minimized – you have spent more in interest, potentially, than what you are getting back in rebates.

Credit and its evil twin, debt, are a lot like being overweight and out of shape. With a lot of work, and a lot of cutting back, you can make a dent in excess credit (or weight). But you need a lot of self-discipline, and if you have it, you’ll succeed.

So, if you’re good with your credit card and can generate extra cash via cashback products, a good destination for them is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. Even small amounts here and there will add up over time and will augment your retirement income – a sort of future cash back reward, if you will. 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 and classic rock. He and his wife live with their Shelties, Duncan and Phoebe, and cat, Toobins. You can follow him on Twitter – his handle is @AveryKerr22