Pension troubles in store for retired workers as plans across Canada face deficits

[marmar]

Kenyon Wallace
Toronto Star


When Ellen Sargent took a job as a purchaser with the City of Saint John in New Brunswick 26 years ago, she didn’t expect that living below the poverty line when she retired would become a possibility.

Like most municipal employees across Canada, Sargent was promised an indexed pension by the city as part of the terms of her contract — a pension that both she and the city would contribute to over the course of her employment.

But now the 55-year-old widowed retiree is facing the prospect of having to subsist on her $25,000 annual pension without it increasing to meet the rising cost of living.

That’s because the City of Saint John is struggling with a $165 million funding shortfall in its pension plan, and is attempting to make a number of contentious changes, including suspending pension indexing, to close the gap. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1112303--pension-troubles-in-store-for-retired-workers-as-plans-across-canada-face-deficits?bn=1

[DCBob]

1. Retiring at 55??

I cant believe people can still do that in this economic environment.