Retirement age protests in France shed light on new retirement realities: Canadian experts

Experts say the protests in France underscore the fact that people in Canada and elsewhere have to rely on themselves more than they ever have for financial security.

Protests erupted in France this week against plans to raise the retirement age, with experts saying that people don’t want to defer their retirement any longer.

While the nationwide strikes have been unique to the situation in France, some experts say the events still underscore the fact that retirement as a general concept is changing, with people in Canada and elsewhere having to rely on themselves more than they ever have.

“A lot of times a country will move those ages forward because they feel they don’t have the resources to pay the pension obligations that they’ve set the system up for. And the idea that your country can’t afford to pay you is something that makes people very nervous and understandably so,” said Millie Gormely, a certified financial planner (CFP).

Gormely says it’s “wonderful” that Canada and a lot of other countries across the world have a social safety net, but “it can be taken away and things are going to change” — and they already are.

“I think retirement as a general concept is changing a lot. The idea of leaving school when you’re 19 or 20 years old, you go work in a factory, you stay there for 30 years, they give you a gold watch and a pension, and then you sit on the front porch whittling for a few years until you die. That’s just not the norm,” Gormely told Global News.

There are two types of pensions, according to the federal government’s website. One is the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which is “a monthly, taxable benefit that replaces part of their income when one retires and receives it for the rest of their life.”

The other type is Old Age Security (OAS), which is “a monthly payment a Canadian can get if they’re 65 and older.”

“In some cases, Service Canada will be able to automatically enroll them for the OAS pension. In other cases, a Canadian will have to apply for the Old Age Security pension.”