(LAST MONTH: Problems and Proposals - It has become clear to all, from the poorest pensioner and the nervous boomer right up to Canada’s federal and provincial finance ministers, that our patchwork system of public benefits and pension plans, workplace plans and private savings mechanisms is leaving too many retirees behind. We review the problems and proposed solutions.)
Call it the perception gap. Pension analysts say most seniors are relatively well off, while poor seniors – 1.6-million of whom live on less than $15,000 annually – just try to 'keep warm' this winter. It’s estimated that 60 per cent of Canadians have no company pension plans to count on.
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