The CCPA responds to Harper’s musings in Davos about raising the retirement age
“Raising the age of eligibility for Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement (OAS/GIS) benefits is the worst possible way to deal with the retirement income security crisis facing Canadians.
Experts such as former Assistant Chief Statistician Michael Wolfson project that one half of all middle income baby boomers face a severe cut to their living standards in old age. This is due to falling employer pension coverage (down to 25% in the private sector), rising household debt combined with low savings, and the big hit to “fend for yourself” RRSPs which comes from high fees and low investment returns.
The right way to deal with this looming crisis is to expand the Canada Pension Plan now to raise incomes for seniors in the future.
The wrong way is to raise the retirement age for OAS/GIS.”