Pension benefits on death - who is a spouse?

The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently dealt with the question of who is a spouse of a man who died while married to one woman but living common law with another woman, for the purposes of figuring out who should get his pension benefits. For those of you who think it's "easier" not to get divorced and just live with someone else while you're still married, take a lesson from this case and realize what a mess you're leaving behind. It took many months, thousands of dollars and an appeal to the higher court before the question was answered.

The court decided that both the married wife and the common law wife fit the definition of spouse under the law, but found there were reasons to disqualify both of them.

Click here to read a report on the case of Carrigan v. Carrigan from Ontario lawyer Chris Staples.

Retirement can get old very fast

According to the National Post, the concept of retirement is changing dramatically, egged on by the debt problems faced by governments funding pension programs. Click here to read the story.  The attached photo is by Chloe Cushman for National Post.

Understand your pension decision

Are you retiring? Do you have a defined pension benefit plan? Do you really understand the implications of the options presented to you? Many of us are not confident that we really do know the consequences of our choices. Read this article from Canadian Tax Resource Blog for some help.

The importance of beneficiary designations

Naming a beneficiary for certain assets is an essential part of your estate planning. It's important to understand how the beneficiary designations will work with your will, your joint property and your intentions. This article from http://www.capitalmagazine.ca/ talks about the types of assets that should have designated beneficiaries, and their importance. Click here to read the article.

Working longer only way to keep pension afloat

By this time, we've all heard it said that the standard retirement age of 65 is slowly rising, and that early retirement is a thing of the past. This latest article from the Financial Post delivers the latest news from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Click here to read it.

Pension income splitting for Canadians

Here is a good article that explains how pensions are split, which pensions are eligible, etc. Click here to read it.

Pensions top the public agenda

This article is a commentary from the National Post's Tasha Kheiriddin that talks about the fact that pension reform is being debated and developed. Click here to read the article and be brought up to date. You have to love an article that starts with the line "it's official; seniors are hot".

Retiring some pension options

For those of you keeping an eye on what the Canadian governnment is doing about reforming the Canada Pension Plan, click here for an update.

Why 68 or 70 should be the new 65

This article from the Globe and Mail makes the point that the CPP eligibility age should be raised above its current age 65. The author makes a persuasive, informed argument, in my view. See if you agree by clicking here to read the article.

Pension envy all the rage

In this article, Jonathan Chevreau of the National Post weighs in on the impact of changing the retirement threshold in Canada from 65 to 67 (which is under discussion at present but not yet mandated). He compares the situation of the 'average Joes' - that being you and I, the working people - to that of politicians who can retire a good decade earlier than we can already. Click here to read the article.

Should Canada's retirement age be raised?

We have all heard that there's a pension crisis coming. Politicians are casting about for answers. One that may or may not be up for discussion is raising the qualifying age for CPP to 67 from 65. Click here to read this article from the Globe and Mail.

Fighting the new normal

This article in the National Post discussed the financial pros and cons of different retirement ages, particularly with respect to pensions. If you're wondering how the new CPP rules will affect your choice of retirement date, check it out. Click here to read the article.

Revamping the pension system with the Total Career Benchmark Model

Lately the financial papers have been talking about the Total Career Benchmark Model, a system or plan devised by Canadian actuary, Tom Walker. I've found this article in the National Post that explains the plan, so I'm linking to it here in case others want to know more about it too. The plan was presented to the Society of Actuaries conference, which brought together experts to design a new retirement system from the ground up.

The attached photo of Tom Walker is by Glenn Lawson for the National Post.