A wise man once sat in the audience and cracked a joke. All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time.
He cracked the same joke again & again, when there was no laughter in the crowd, he smiled and said “When you can't laugh at the same joke again & again, then why do you keep crying over the same thing over and over again.”
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Aging baby boomers may be less of a threat than thought
We’ve heard a lot about our aging population and how the ratio of people over 65 is increasing compared to those between 20 and 64. This is usually associated with extra burdens on our society since older people tend to draw more out of the system than working individuals. However, people under 20 also draw more from the system than they put in, and the percentage of people in this demographic has declined. According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the percentage of the population between 20 and 64 was 55% in 1950, rose to 63% in 2010 and is projected to decline to 54% by 2050. In 1950, 8% of the population was over 65. That rose to 14% in 2010 and is expected to climb to 26% in 2050. The ratio of young people has been dropping off a cliff. In 1950, 38% of Canada was under 20 years old. This declined to 23% in 2010 and is expected to drop more to 21% by 2050. So what’s this mean? After 100 years, there likely won’t be a whole lot of change to the ratio of people defined as working age in Canada (and certainly there will be more working women than there were in 1950). Plus, who knows what the working age will be in 2050. |
Disability Tax Credits – Do you or anyone you know suffer from a disability?
Many Canadians are unaware that the Canadian government offers disability tax benefits and grants for anyone who has a physical or mental disability. Unfortunately collecting these benefits can be complicated and stressful. People with one of nine long-term disabilities can collect as much as $1,100.00 a year and more if they seek retroactive credits. Anyone who has problems with seeing; speaking, hearing, walking, bowel or bladder functions, feeding, dressing or performing mental functions necessary for everyday life may be eligible for the credit. For example, if someone isn't able to walk the length of let's say a football field unassisted they are likely eligible for the credit. Your doctor may think that you need to be in a wheelchair to be eligible for this credit, but that is not the case. Anyone who can't fill out the forms because of bad vision or can't articulate their thoughts will also likely qualify. Anyone who needs life sustaining therapy to support a vital function, such as dialysis, can also apply. To be considered, the impairment must have lasted, or be expected to last for at least 12 months. Doctors. Optometrists, Audiologists, Occupational Therapists, Psychiatrists, Speech Language Pathologists, and other medical professionals can sign the required forms. The doctor only has to sign for one condition in order for you to get the credit. The tax credit has been around since 1988 and estimates are that two million taxpayers may be eligible for it. Since doctors, who are required to sign forms, aren't experts on tax laws and accountants can't make medical diagnoses, the tax credit program can fall through the cracks. For more information about the tax credit and to see if you or anyone you know is eligible, please visit, CRA Disability Website and search for T2201. |
Nursing homes in Canada
Choosing the right nursing home for your loved one is a difficult task, and you will want to obtain as much information as possible before you make a final decision. Reading your province’s evaluation of the home is an important first step, but the reports can be wordy and hard to understand. Organizations that manage nursing home waiting lists, and government representatives who evaluate homes, cannot give their opinions or make recommendations. Going on a tour is highly recommended, and very helpful, however it is hard to determine if the quality of medical and nursing care meets your high standards. Those who know the home best, and can give insight into the multiple facets of the home are the family members of residents themselves. Because these individuals spend so much time in the home and are in constant contact with staff, they, more than anybody, know if: the facility is well kept; the programs and services are suitable and accessible; staff is consistently courteous and respectful; and, most importantly, if the medical and nursing care is outstanding. At Nursing Home Ratings you can read nursing homes’ average ratings on a series of questions, and read comments and opinions of the home. Read about, and compare, all the homes you are considering so that you can be confident about your decision. |
Financing Your Retirement
One of the “funnies” my friend forwarded to me the other day by email was a website that can forecast my life expectancy if I plug in the relevant details. I figured why not?
I uploaded the requested data and the answer was 101.5 years! Well, I am in my early seventies in pretty good shape and look after myself, my mom died at 96, statistics claim centenarians are becoming one of the fastest growing demographics and medicines are keeping us alive even longer. There is a reasonable chance that my demise at the age of 101.5 is not a joke. There is only one problem:
I will have far outlived my retirement funds! When I retired 10 years ago, like most people, I calculated the cost of living on the basis of 60-70 percent pre-retirement income, a foundation still used today. I did all my due diligence with a budget and with the mortgage paid off, and no other debts, I thought that my wife and I were well within the comfort zone of income coming in from investments and pensions.
It wasn’t too long before reality surfaced - nothing drastic, just “things” that were never given a heading in the old budget. More to the point, it was the realization that while our income was more or less fixed, our needs were increasing.
What are your missing items? If you are about to retire, and counting your chickens, listen up! If you are well into retirement, you can just nod and say, “Yup, he’s got that right!”
BIG TICKET ITEMS
If you’ve decided to stay in your house, budget for that new roof or other major maintenance. If you’ve downsized and moved to a townhouse or condo, strata fees will increase regularly and there are regular assessments. For those who haven’t switched to riding a bike or a scooter, you’ll eventually need to replace your car. Allocate funds for these items unless future depletion of capital is not a problem.
FAMILY
God bless them, those kids and grandkids - the more the merrier. With their significant others, how many birthday and Christmas gifts need to be purchased? What about grads and weddings or other special occasions? Put aside a chunk of money for these expenses. Oh, and let’s not even talk about the potential cost of helping out children coming home after a marriage break up, job loss or other financial disaster - the kind of events that could trash any budget.
HEALTH
If you were lucky to keep your extended health insurance from employment, great! If not, you pay the premiums, which increase with age and health problems.
If you pay the freight as you go along, just some simple blood pressure meds, vitamins and supplements, eyeglasses and perhaps a hearing aid, physio and dental may run into thousands. As you age, these costs keep going up! And have you considered critical illness insurance?
TRAVEL
That was on the top of the list for your retirement activities, right? Before you go anywhere, you had better have travel insurance and hope to be healthy, because on top of the age-based increases in premiums, the extras for various health problems are significant. Then you need to allow for the ever-increasing cost of all travel-related functions and hope that in 10 years’ time you can afford to travel further than Calgary!
INVESTMENTS
Even with the best financial advisor managing your funds, another trashing by the markets like a couple of years ago, may put a major damper on your financial future. You’ll need all the help you can get unless you are a financial wizard or independently wealthy, in which case, none of the above would bother you. Happy retirement!
Article by, By George Zador, Reprinted with permission from Senior Living Magazine
I uploaded the requested data and the answer was 101.5 years! Well, I am in my early seventies in pretty good shape and look after myself, my mom died at 96, statistics claim centenarians are becoming one of the fastest growing demographics and medicines are keeping us alive even longer. There is a reasonable chance that my demise at the age of 101.5 is not a joke. There is only one problem:
I will have far outlived my retirement funds! When I retired 10 years ago, like most people, I calculated the cost of living on the basis of 60-70 percent pre-retirement income, a foundation still used today. I did all my due diligence with a budget and with the mortgage paid off, and no other debts, I thought that my wife and I were well within the comfort zone of income coming in from investments and pensions.
It wasn’t too long before reality surfaced - nothing drastic, just “things” that were never given a heading in the old budget. More to the point, it was the realization that while our income was more or less fixed, our needs were increasing.
What are your missing items? If you are about to retire, and counting your chickens, listen up! If you are well into retirement, you can just nod and say, “Yup, he’s got that right!”
BIG TICKET ITEMS
If you’ve decided to stay in your house, budget for that new roof or other major maintenance. If you’ve downsized and moved to a townhouse or condo, strata fees will increase regularly and there are regular assessments. For those who haven’t switched to riding a bike or a scooter, you’ll eventually need to replace your car. Allocate funds for these items unless future depletion of capital is not a problem.
FAMILY
God bless them, those kids and grandkids - the more the merrier. With their significant others, how many birthday and Christmas gifts need to be purchased? What about grads and weddings or other special occasions? Put aside a chunk of money for these expenses. Oh, and let’s not even talk about the potential cost of helping out children coming home after a marriage break up, job loss or other financial disaster - the kind of events that could trash any budget.
HEALTH
If you were lucky to keep your extended health insurance from employment, great! If not, you pay the premiums, which increase with age and health problems.
If you pay the freight as you go along, just some simple blood pressure meds, vitamins and supplements, eyeglasses and perhaps a hearing aid, physio and dental may run into thousands. As you age, these costs keep going up! And have you considered critical illness insurance?
TRAVEL
That was on the top of the list for your retirement activities, right? Before you go anywhere, you had better have travel insurance and hope to be healthy, because on top of the age-based increases in premiums, the extras for various health problems are significant. Then you need to allow for the ever-increasing cost of all travel-related functions and hope that in 10 years’ time you can afford to travel further than Calgary!
INVESTMENTS
Even with the best financial advisor managing your funds, another trashing by the markets like a couple of years ago, may put a major damper on your financial future. You’ll need all the help you can get unless you are a financial wizard or independently wealthy, in which case, none of the above would bother you. Happy retirement!
Article by, By George Zador, Reprinted with permission from Senior Living Magazine
(Re-) Defining Retirement...and the Changing Nature of Work
I'm now of the age where looming retirement, in its traditional sense, can be measured with the fingers of two hands. It means the 'R-Word' can now be mentioned and discussed in polite mixed conversation without the subject being quickly changed.
I attended a seminar recently on the changing workplace. Much of it focused on the shift in demographics as large numbers of Boomers (born 1946-1964) reach the traditional retirement age, and there aren't enough Generation Xers (born 1965-1981) to replace them in the workplace. And don’t mention 'Gen Y' (1982-1996): they haven't even reached their thirties when their Boomer parents are contemplating retirement!
But the seminar also got us (mostly Boomers) thinking about the changing nature of work in order to cope with the diminishing numbers of worker-bees. In the coming years, retirement, as it is traditionally defined, and as our parents faced it, will change so much, it will become very difficult to define. Governments use the term to decide when you can begin receiving a state pension.
We've already seen some changes in Canada with the scrapping of the mandatory retirement age. Retiring at 65 was first introduced in Germany in 1880: that was fine when we were only expected to live until we were 58. But now that we’re routinely living until our mid-eighties, it seems cruel and unusual punishment to make someone stop work at 65, give them a pittance of a state pension, and still expect them to live another 20-plus, perhaps difficult, years. Many of the rules, deadlines and figures regarding CPP and OAS will change – will have to change – in light of the changing workforce. I predict in my lifetime government will be forced to provide some serious incentives to encourage seniors not to retire.
Already we are seeing senior staff being laid off on a Friday, and returning on the Monday, but as a contractor. ‘Contractualization’ of jobs can be beneficial for all parties if it is done properly. In the years ahead, expect to see a lot more contractors replacing more costly employees in the workplace.
Stories of big companies hiring cheaper part-time staff (rather than full-timers with benefits) are well known. But in the future, because of changing demographics, the decision whether to be full-time or part-time will shift from the employer to the employee. Employers will have to be a lot more flexible with their staff because there will be so few youngsters to go around. This will allow many workers – particularly mature workers – to choose the hours they work, where they work from, and when they will ‘retire’. And ‘getting the work done’ will become the workplace mantra of the future – the ‘where’ and ‘how long’ will be far less relevant than the outcome.
Flexi-time was a great concept in the seventies, however the focus was on hours put in rather than productivity got out. But if it only takes 23 hours a week to get one’s job done, why pay someone to be at work for 40 hours per week? Some companies are already using the ‘results-only work environment’ (ROWE) model, which allows staff to take off whenever they want, provided they get the work done.
And ‘getting the work done’ will become the workplace mantra of the future – the ‘where’ and ‘how long’ will be far less relevant than the outcome. Changing demographics, better technologies and workplace efficiencies are going to transform the way we work, as well as when we retire.
I used to joke that retirement for me was a four-day weekend. Ha! Do you want to hear something even funnier? It starts “If I retire....”
Article by Alex Handyside, CPCA,
I attended a seminar recently on the changing workplace. Much of it focused on the shift in demographics as large numbers of Boomers (born 1946-1964) reach the traditional retirement age, and there aren't enough Generation Xers (born 1965-1981) to replace them in the workplace. And don’t mention 'Gen Y' (1982-1996): they haven't even reached their thirties when their Boomer parents are contemplating retirement!
But the seminar also got us (mostly Boomers) thinking about the changing nature of work in order to cope with the diminishing numbers of worker-bees. In the coming years, retirement, as it is traditionally defined, and as our parents faced it, will change so much, it will become very difficult to define. Governments use the term to decide when you can begin receiving a state pension.
We've already seen some changes in Canada with the scrapping of the mandatory retirement age. Retiring at 65 was first introduced in Germany in 1880: that was fine when we were only expected to live until we were 58. But now that we’re routinely living until our mid-eighties, it seems cruel and unusual punishment to make someone stop work at 65, give them a pittance of a state pension, and still expect them to live another 20-plus, perhaps difficult, years. Many of the rules, deadlines and figures regarding CPP and OAS will change – will have to change – in light of the changing workforce. I predict in my lifetime government will be forced to provide some serious incentives to encourage seniors not to retire.
Already we are seeing senior staff being laid off on a Friday, and returning on the Monday, but as a contractor. ‘Contractualization’ of jobs can be beneficial for all parties if it is done properly. In the years ahead, expect to see a lot more contractors replacing more costly employees in the workplace.
Stories of big companies hiring cheaper part-time staff (rather than full-timers with benefits) are well known. But in the future, because of changing demographics, the decision whether to be full-time or part-time will shift from the employer to the employee. Employers will have to be a lot more flexible with their staff because there will be so few youngsters to go around. This will allow many workers – particularly mature workers – to choose the hours they work, where they work from, and when they will ‘retire’. And ‘getting the work done’ will become the workplace mantra of the future – the ‘where’ and ‘how long’ will be far less relevant than the outcome.
Flexi-time was a great concept in the seventies, however the focus was on hours put in rather than productivity got out. But if it only takes 23 hours a week to get one’s job done, why pay someone to be at work for 40 hours per week? Some companies are already using the ‘results-only work environment’ (ROWE) model, which allows staff to take off whenever they want, provided they get the work done.
And ‘getting the work done’ will become the workplace mantra of the future – the ‘where’ and ‘how long’ will be far less relevant than the outcome. Changing demographics, better technologies and workplace efficiencies are going to transform the way we work, as well as when we retire.
I used to joke that retirement for me was a four-day weekend. Ha! Do you want to hear something even funnier? It starts “If I retire....”
Article by Alex Handyside, CPCA,
Survey: Retirement May Be Becoming Thing of the Past
According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder and PrimeCB.com, 57% of workers age 60 and over said they would look for a new job after retiring from their current company. The survey, which included more than 800 U.S. workers age 60 and older and more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals, also found that 11% said they don’t think they’ll ever be able to retire.
From the employer side of the job market, CareerBuilder reports that 43% of employers plan to hire workers age 50 plus this year, while 41% said they hired workers age 50 plus in 2011. Overall, 75% of the employers surveyed would consider an application from an overqualified worker who is 50 plus, with 59% of them saying mature candidates bring a wealth of knowledge to an organization and can mentor others.
From the employer side of the job market, CareerBuilder reports that 43% of employers plan to hire workers age 50 plus this year, while 41% said they hired workers age 50 plus in 2011. Overall, 75% of the employers surveyed would consider an application from an overqualified worker who is 50 plus, with 59% of them saying mature candidates bring a wealth of knowledge to an organization and can mentor others.
“Whether mature workers are motivated by financial concerns or simply enjoy going to work every day, we’re seeing more people move away from the traditional definition of retirement and seek ‘rehirement,’” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. “At the same time, employers are seeing the value these mature workers can bring to an organization, from their intellectual capital to their mentoring and training capabilities. In a highly competitive job market, mature workers can use these skills to their advantage.”
Canada: Older Workers Dominating Gains in Labor Market
According to "Older Workers Stampede Into The Labour Market," a special report published by TD Economics, older workers have dominated the gains in the Canadian labor market in recent years. Among other things, the report finds that Canadians aged 60 years and over have accounted for about one-third of all net job gains since the economic recovery began in July 2009, even though they only account for 8% of the total labor force. Some of these gains can be attributable to the fact that many older Canadians are delaying retirement and staying in the workforce longer.
[T]his is not simply a story of those in the 60-65 age range, but also of those older than 70. Employment for these individuals has surged by 55,000 positions since then (a 37% gain). Even more surprising is that almost 100,000 net jobs were added in the 60+ age group at the depth of the recession. By comparison, their younger counterparts (ages 59 and under) recorded well over 500,000 net losses over the same period.TD Economics also suggests that some of the growing preference for older workers reflects their tendency to favor less rigid work arrangements, since it is estimated that upwards of one-third of all work arrangements are now "non-standard"--including part-time and temporary work, and self-employment.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
WHAT IS TIME
"Time is life. It is irreversible and irreplaceable. To waste your time is to waste your life, but to master your time is to master your life and make the most of it."
Alan Lakein
"Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."
M. Scott Peck
Alan Lakein
"Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."
M. Scott Peck
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