Are Canadians Getting the Most From Their Retirement System? + MORE Sep 17th

Depending on where you live and work, the answer to this question will vary. In addition to potentially having a workplace pension plan, Canadians have private options such as RRSPs and TFSAs, as well as several government products to navigate such as CPP, OAS and GIS. Depending on which province you are in, you may also benefit from a provincial pension plan. With so many products, it is no wonder that Canadians are struggling with determining how much they will need to retire.

Despite the number of potential income streams, does the current retirement system in Canada help retirees amass enough assets to live off of for 20 to 30 years of retirement, or are its requirements and constraints hindering people from saving and investing effectively?

As provincial and federal governments attempt to improve our retirement system, one has to ask whether Canada currently has an ideal system and what can be done to strengthen it. Determining the best way forward can be challenging, since retirement security spans government politics, employer practices, individual investor education and cultural differences…

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I’m hard at work on this year’s MoneySense Retirement 100. But before it’s published next month I’d like to share a few observations about the general state of Canadian dividend stocks.
There are about 330 dividend payers on the TSX and the largest 100 by market capitalization get into the Retirement 100.
Royal Bank is the largest dividend stock in the land with a market capitalization of about $100 billion. Barrick is about 10 times smaller and trades near $10 billion. It’s the 38th largest dividend payer. DHX Media is at $1 billion and is in 151st place. Strad Energy Services, with a market capitalization near $100 million, is number 292. Overall, there are only a few large dividend stocks in Canada and many smaller ones.
Dividend stocks have, collectively, fared poorly over the last 12 months with average total returns of -8.3%.
But a few big outliers can skew the average…

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Tap for the latest from Maclean’s on the 2015 campaign

For most voters, the state of the country’s economy will be a deciding factor when they cast their ballot on Oct 19. Here are five questions Canadians may want answered on the economy in Thursday night’s leaders’ debate:
1. Are you talking to me?
All three parties have economic platforms targeting the so-called middle class, which they all say they want to help. But the leaders don’t often go beyond the superficial label. This is important because some data show the income of most families has not substantially grown since as far back as the 1980s…

The $112 billion Public Sector Pension Investment Board has become the latest Canadian pension fund to open a European office in London, appointing a former Permira deal maker to spearhead its private equity efforts in the region.