Goodbye Tension, Hello Pension

 

I have been 65 for 1 month and 24 days and still no pension cheque. Hello!

 

And if that doesn't hurt, I got a letter this week from Canada Pension Plan stating what my "Extra Benefit" would be since the CPP rules changed two years ago. You remember. It used to be that when you took your CPP as early as age 60, you no longer had to contribute. That made a lot of sense for a self employed person as we put both employee and employer portion into the plan. Then two years ago, the new rule stated that even if you were collecting CPP you had to contribute if you had employable earnings. So I did contribute for the last two years, and up to my birthday this year. My benefit for all that contribution? $13.51 extra per month.

 

And, one more whammy against the aged. I applied for the extra home-owners grant for my municipal taxes today. At age 65, one can get an increased grant to offset the taxes. My extra grant was $225.00. I am on a 10 month equal payment plan so that is $22.50 per month. But, guess what. My taxes went up by $12.00 per month. I am, as an old age pensioner, now saving $10.50 per month.

 

The bottom line is this. If you are not preparing in a big way to look after yourself in your golden years, you have a big surprise coming. The government is only throwing crumbs and finding creative ways to make the crumbs smaller.