Retirement at 65? Here's what you think
Trudeau says next week's federal spending plan will reverse eligibility for Old Age Security to 65 from 67
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed in an interview Thursday that next week's federal spending plan will reverse the eligibility for Old Age Security to 65 from 67.
The move cancels Stephen Harper's plan to phase in a two-year increase in the retirement age. The Conservative plan was not set to kick in until 2023.
- Justin Trudeau says OAS eligibility age to return to 65 in 1st Liberal budget
- Old Age Security changes confirmed in budget
This still leaves the question about what the ideal age for retirement is. We posed that to you: Do you think you will be able to retire at 65? If not then, when? Do you agree with Trudeau's decision?
You weighed in below via CBC Forum, our experiment at encouraging a different kind of discussion on our website. Here are some of the best comments.
Please note that user names are not necessarily the names of commenters. Some comments have been altered to correct spelling and to conform to CBC style. Click on the user name to see the comment in the blog format.
Several thought they would never be able to retire.
- "I think we need to do a better job for our working class. Financially I don't think I will ever be able to retire. Retirement should not be based solely on age but maybe a combo of age and years of service (work) instead. I am 53 but have been working since 14 nonstop, so 38 years already, and I could not even think about retirement." — kingspoker530
- "Not a chance. Freedom 75." — Richard
Others talked about how they retired at a younger age and gave some tips.
- "We paid off our mortgage at 40 and retired at 57. There is no secret: start saving while in your early 20s and choose to live a frugal lifestyle." — Michael
There was some talk about what today's retirees mean for millennials.
- "Not a chance. I'll likely be renting forever due to insane housing prices, and since I'm a millennial, I'll have to pay for all the deficit spending and gold-plated pensions of the public sector, two items that people are seriously underestimating in terms of future fiscal pain." — Riley Finn
- "Retirement should be 70 or 75. Millennials are not cash cows for the boomers." — Calgarian
Some even offered up some philosophical advice.
- "It depends on individuals and their personal needs. You don't want to die working, you're not going to live forever, might as well have some free life, before you are gone." — kaliaguram