Rosy, you’d better come right over. You too, Rock

Yesterday, Rosy got to stay home to finish yard work, because things were looking up and I was in a cheery mood without his help.

Today is another story.

As soon as I read the headline ‘Number of pension plans in deficit reaches 92%’ (May 1, London Free Press ) I thought, I’d better call Rosy and see if he’s got a minute.

92% is a very high and significant number.

Really, if I’d scored 92% on my final exams at the University of Western Ontario in 1969, I’d be a brain surgeon right now, be scheduled to perform something tricky in 30 minutes and be eating canapes in Paris by mid-afternoon.

But, when 92% is connected to pension deficits - watch out.

No canapes for you!!

I read:

The number of defined benefit pension schemes that are in deficit has doubled over the past five years to stand at 92% of the total, making retirement prospects bleak unless changes are made.

In other words, if you have a pension in Canada, there’s a really, really good chance there are not enough funds in it to cover future pensions, i.e., maybe your pension.

How bad is the deficit? Just a few bucks short? Think again.


["Empty mud nests: Has your money flown the coop?": photo GAH]

Pension funding deficits have risen from $160 billion in 2003 to an estimated $350 billion in 2008 and continue to grow.

Yipes. Where’s the phone? (Rosy’s on speed dial).

"(Our) ability to maintain a financially comfortable and healthy lifestyle is bleak unless the retirement system undergoes a drastic makeover," Rock Lefebvre, Vice-President of Research and Standards at CGA-Canada said.


"Pension plans should not operate in a manner that unduly borrows from future generations to pay the present one."

My thoughts exactly, Rock.

I wonder if Rock could be my friend too. When things get tough, nothing like having a Rock and a Rosy on speed dial.

Live small. Reduce spending. Pay off debt. Save your money.

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