Archive for the 'Retirement' Category

Canadians Need to Prepare for Elderly Care

Lina Ko August 9th, 2010

According to the Montreal Gazette and the Vancouver Sun, nearly a quarter of a million Canadians die every year, most of them elderly, as a result of chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer’s. Within a decade, that number will jump by nearly 100,000 a year to an estimated 330,000.

The Canadian health and social-service network might have to get prepared. In a recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and advisory firm, Canada ranked only ninth among 40 countries on the Quality of Death Index, a new ranking of how well countries care for citizens at the end of their lives.

The strain this lack of preparedness puts on family members at one end of the patient-care spectrum and medical professionals on the other could become quite serious in Canada.

Apart from the hospitals, much of the care given to the terminally ill in Canada is provided by the dying person’s family or friends. In 2007, nearly a quarter of Canadians said they had cared for a seriously ill family member or close friend in the past 12 months. Many of these caregivers had to stop working and use personal savings to survive.

As the enormous baby-boom population moves into retirement and beyond, this is a state of affairs that needs to be changed. Both the public and private sectors should look into ways to improve the life of the elderly at home, not just dying, but simply maintaining their independence.
 
I gave an interview to Profit Magazine last week on how to market to senior citizens and caregivers. While I do not claim to be a seniors marketing expert, my understanding of the boomer population led me to tell the publication that entrepreneurs, who can customize their homecare services to meet the needs of boomers who are taking care of  their aging parents, will succeed.

Big Apple Aims to Be More Age-Friendly

Lina Ko July 21st, 2010

Having just returned from a long weekend in New York City, it’s hard to imagine that the Big Apple is the ideal place for senior citizens. I was, therefore, surprised to read from The New York Times that the city has given pedestrians more time to cross at more than 400 intersections in an effort to make streets safer for older residents. The city has also sent yellow school buses filled with elderly people on dozens of grocery store runs over the past seven months. New York City has also allowed artists to use space and supplies in 10 senior centres in exchange for giving art lessons. On top of that, it is about to create two aging-improvement districts, parts of the city that will become safer and more accessible for older residents.

New York is a very dynamic city – full of life, energy and choices. But living in the city can also be a hassle. It is good to know that city planners are thinking of better ways to make New York a kinder and gentler place to grow old. With the boomer generation starting to reach retirement age, the city’s plans are also based on economic merits of improving the lives of the elderly. According to the Times, other cities like Cleveland and Portland, Oregon, have also taken steps to become more age-friendly.

In 20 years, New York’s shares of schoolchildren and older people will be about the same – 15 percent each – a sharp change from 1950, when schoolchildren  outnumbered older residents by more than two to one. By 2030, the number of New Yorkers aged 65 and over – a result of the baby boomers, diminished fertility and increasing longevity – will reach 1.35 million, up 44 percent from 2000. About a third of the American population is over 50, and they control half of the country’s discretionary spending, according to the American Association of Retired People (AARP), one of the most powerful special interest groups in the U.S.

Apart from the decline of crime for close to two decades and the addition of more parkland, the city is now looking to enhance life in New York in more modest, but meaningful, ways. City planners also realize that when they are talking about age-friendly, they are not only looking at wealthy boomers, but also the less privileged, frail and old people. Slowing the pace of life is challenging in New York where even crossing the road can be tough. But the city is trying. According to transportation experts, while most adults average four feet per second when crossing the street, older residents manage only three. So traffic light signals have been retimed at intersections like Broadway and 72nd Street, where pedestrians now have 29 seconds to cross, four more than before.

With an aging population around the world, other big cities such as London, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Toronto should probably be looking into the same measures to keep the economic power at home.

No Retirement for Dual-Caregiver Boomers

Lina Ko May 3rd, 2010

According to the Vancouver Sun, a part of the baby-boomer demographic – the sandwich generation – who has to care for their elderly parents and still have children staying at home, cannot afford to retire yet.

A recent survey by Investors Group indicated that 69 percent of Canadians aged 43 to 63 have at least one living parent or parent-in-law, and about one-third of this group are providing care for them. Duties range from financial support to everyday activities such as household chores, providing companionship and transportation to appointments. Also roughly a third of these caregivers are parents, and in many cases, their eldercare responsibilities cost a portion of their incomes – some up to $6,000 per year.

To add to the pressure of taking care of elderly parents experiencing ill health plus their own young children still depending on them for financial support, these baby boomers are still working full-time jobs. This led to a recent Senate of Canada committee to recommend allowing these caregivers to take breaks from work similar to child-care leaves.

For those who have adult children at home, the boomer parents should establish an understanding with their kids of what their responsibilities are. They should be enlisted to help taking care of their ailing grandparents. Support from social services to help with eldercare will also relieve the ‘sandwich generation.’ Delegating duties to friends and family members and finding a nursing home is important so caregivers can have time for themselves.

According to Susan Eng, Vice-President of Advocacy for CARP, an advocacy group for older Canadians, there needs to be some form of workplace protection, so caregivers don’t lose their jobs while looking after a loved one.

Until there is more support available, who says that boomers are retiring en masse?

Seniors Learning A New Trade

Lina Ko March 29th, 2010

An aging population is not only a North American issue – it’s the same in Europe and Asia. According to The Financial Post, a British 71-year-old senior is about three-quarters of the way through his second apprenticeship as a retail supervisor. His first, when he was 15, was as a carpenter and joiner. This British man lives near Oxford, England. Europe’s policymakers hope workers his age and younger can serve as models for the citizens of an aging society.
 
In Paris, a 63-year-old, leading-edge boomer, has been a technician with Air France-KLM since 1978. She had just turned 60 when she was served notice of compulsory retirement. She has taken her fight for work to court.
 
This year, Europe hits a demographic milestone as the number of people aged 60 to 65 will start to exceed the 15- to 20-year-olds who traditionally replaced them in the labour force. Demographers have long predicted that it will be very difficult to generate overall growth. Europe is the world’s fastest-aging major region. Economists say the only thing the continent can do is to adapt drastically to avoid a future of decline and generational strife.
 
Similarly, a demographic cliche about China is that it will get old before it gets rich. China’s rise is driven by a population boom that preceded Mao’s one-child policy, but that has also created a major labour-force gap that’s only a few years away. Leading demographers also predict that China will be in deep trouble in 15 to 25 years. China, too, will have to encourage older workers to continue working.
 
Part of the problem in getting older workers to stay in the workforce might stem from different perceptions of age. In some industries, ‘it’s too old to work at 40′ can still resonate, but most politicians think about the elderly when they talk about ‘old’ people. The European Commission has targeted  50 percent employment rate for older workers by 2010, up from 45 percent in 2007. The participation of older workers has increased in recent years, particularly in part-time jobs for men.

To keep their economies going, countries around the world, including Canada, will have to adapt and change.

Rebranding Recreation Clubs

Lina Ko February 19th, 2010

Following the playground for adults in London in my last post, here’s an idea for Canada as well.

According to the Calgary Herald, the marketing of the Greater Forest Lawn Senior Citizens Society as the Greater Forest Lawn 55-Plus Society indicates a whole new attitude. The official name of the Calgary club with the mention of Senior Citizens no longer reflects the vibrant and active lifestyle of many of its members. The word ‘senior’ scares a lot of people because some lucky baby boomers are starting to retire and they still want to play. Club activities range from card games and tai chi to ballroom dancing and floor curling. To further diversify the entertainment, the Society is working on establishing a computer course. For members wanting to get away from it all, the Society also puts on bus trips to fun destinations such as Las Vegas, New York City and others.

According to the Society’s administrator, a lot of people have misunderstandings that places like this are like a seniors’ residence. True enough, seniors’ residences have recreational activities too. The differentiation is in the marketing and the branding – try set up a recreation club catering to boomers who want to stay active and have fun and market it that way. The results will be different and the misconceptions will be addressed.

Boomers Want to Continue in the Spotlight

Lina Ko January 14th, 2010

It’s ironical that as boomers age, freedom at this life stage almost becomes as important as the freedom we enjoyed when we were teenagers. According to the National Post, there’s an inner hippie in all boomers that is saying – Break out. Flee suburbia. More colour, more texture, more of what I like. Who’s going to judge me anyway?

Few aging boomers aspire to stiff and patrician. Quiet is like being dead and that’s what boomers avoid by running towards vibrant youthful images. That explains why trendy buildings nowadays have lots of boomers who don’t want to be relegated to a senior’s ghetto. Retailers used to assume that it’s futile to market furniture to 50- and 60-year-olds.  However, after all those years of putting the children first, parents now buy that formerly too expensive leather sofa.

Whether hippie once, or not, boomers as a generation were the centre of attention in their youth. Rather than run away to where retirees are supposed to hide out until they die, more boomers want to continue in the spotlight and at the centre of the action. For these, it’s a loft condominium downtown, not a cabin in the mountains.

I’ve always been an urban, big-city kind of person. This applies to my residence as well as my choice of vacation destination. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never enjoyed any ‘in unison with nature’ moments although Canada has lots to offer in this category.  Don’t get me wrong, nor do I enjoy big crowds either. I get my energy by keeping younger company. Whether they are my multi-generation colleagues; or my younger neighbours in my condominium; or the arts- and theatre-loving New Yorkers and Londoners, I’m constantly re-energized by those around me. And I’m sure there are many other boomers like me who refuse to move into luxurious condominiums with hidden panic buttons; who continue to work in a profession that constantly requires new and innovative thinking; and who love to experience what big, urban cities can offer us in terms of diversity, energy and passion.

Sandwich Generation Feeling Squeezed

Lina Ko January 7th, 2010

According to a poll released this week by The Investors Group, Canadian boomers are stressed by the dual responsibility of taking care of both their own children as well as their aging parents. In some cases, providing extended financial support may jeopardize their own retirements.

Ten percent of boomers with children also provide support to aging parents, with 42 percent stressed by the dual role. The same report indicated that boomers are not whining about it. Two-thirds feel they are merely repaying their parents for the upbringing they enjoyed themselves as children. However, they are less keen to give money to their adult children. In fact, 25 per cent are bothered by the need to provide financial assistance. Six in 10 boomer parents provide an average of $3,675 a year to their grown kids.

This could jeopardize their own retirements if providing such assistance runs longer than expected. According to retirement planning experts, the sandwich phase may be temporary, but boomers should make it as temporary as they can. This should not be a full-time, long-term solution for grown children. On the other hand, waiting for inheritance is not a good strategy for boomers either. People are living longer and spending more. Based on this recent poll, the wealth transfer is going in the opposite direction. Whether it’s taking care of their aging parents or paying a steep price for parenthood, boomers should involve their financial advisors when gauging the impact of these duties on their future retirement.

Not All Doom and Gloom for Canada On World Stage

Lina Ko August 31st, 2009

According to the Globe and Mail, the demographic challenge facing developed nations is expected to dwarf the cost of recent financial stimulus.
 
Demographics have become one of the most worrisome challenges on the global stage. The dismal demographic scenario is that the number of older people will grow faster than younger ones everywhere in the world. This, in turn, is putting enormous pressure on governments, already stretching their fiscal capacity to the limit to cope with  the fallout from the global financial crisis and ensuing economic sluimp. United Nations estimates show that birth rates have fallen below replacement levels in more than 70 countries, including most of the developed world, at a time when larger numbers of people are living well into old age.
 
The International Monetary Fund warned in a recent report that governments must contrive clear exit strategies from their massive stimulus packages because the exorbitant costs of supporting ageing societies are breathing down their necks.
 
In Canada, Finance Department officials are already crunching numbers to figure out how soon the big bills associated with ageing will hit, and how much time Ottawa has to spend to get spending and revenues back in balance.
 
Canada’s ratio of ageing costs compared to crisis spending is probably considered one of the highest in the world by the IMF partly because the crisis costs have not been huge, compared with those of other countries. But it’s also because the cost of ageing is expected to rise rapidly.
 
The added costs to health care, Old Age Security, government pensions and other age-sensitive spending will amount to about $1.5 trillion in today’s dollars – a burden that will mostly be borne by the provinces, particularly in Eastern Canada.
 
But compared with the likes of rapidly ageing Japan, Russia and a handful of Western European countries such as Italy, Canada is in relatively good shape.
 
Canada has the lowest net government debt-to-GDP ratio among the leading industrial countries and more favourable demographics than most, thanks partly to a large immigrant population. Another plus for Canada is that since the mid-1990s, a growing number of people past the age of 55 have been staying in the work force,  The participation rate for this age group has risen 12 percentage points to a record 35 per cent, a trend that may help the Canada Pension Plan stay above water.
 
It’s not all doom and gloom for Canada on the world stage!

Worker Deficit in Industry Sectors

Lina Ko August 6th, 2009

According to the National Post, sectors such as construction and mining are on the cusp of huge worker deficits and with the greying of Canada’s population, it’s just a matter of time before the problem spreads. Roughly 30 percent of the recent job losses have been in the construction sector during the global recession. Yet, this country’s Construction Sector Council said it will need 317,000 skilled workers between now and 2017. Of that number, 168,000 workers would be needed to replace retiring baby boomers.

The mining sector has said it will need 70,000 new workers over the next decade to meet projected growth needs. It is expected that 40 percent of the industry’s workforce will retire by 2014.

Studies abound about the impact of Canada’s ageing population. Yet, despite all the warnings, it appears Canadian employers haven’t done much to prepare. In a survey conducted by the Conference Board of Canada, more than three-quarters of organizations, or 77 percent, said the greying of the Canadian labour pool will be an issue for them. But the survey also indicated that just six percent are making efforts to hold on to mature workers.

The C.D. Howe Institute said higher compensation is likely to emerge once the economy recovers and more boomers start retiring. Policymakers are also aware of the coming population crunch. In May, the federal government announced changes to the Canadian Pension Plan that would encourage older workers to keep working until age 70 by paying out richer benefits.

According to a leading employment placement firm,  companies in the future are likely to focus much of their time on developing strategies that keep existing workers with the organization for longer periods. That likely requires tailoring work packages that allow more flexible work schedules and enhanced benefits that appeal to older workers. Some companies are trying not to cut jobs too much in this downturn because if the economy picks up again, they won’t have the workers and won’t be able to get them back.

As the population ages, the positions to remain hard to fill as the population ages are skilled trades, sales representatives, engineers, technicians, secretaries and administrative assistants, teachers, drivers, accounting and finance staff, labourers and nurses. Now is the time for employers to make long-term plans to keep their boomer employees.

No More Retirement?

Lina Ko July 6th, 2009

According to The Economist, when Otto von Bismarck introduced the first pension for workers over 70 in 1889, the life expectancy of a Prussian was 45.

Now retirement is for everyone, and often as long as whole lives once were. In Canada, the official pension age is 65, but the average Canadian retires at 61 even though there’s no more mandatory retirement age for many provinces. A retired Canadian at 61 can then expect to live for another 20 years. Average spending on public pensions across the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development is now the equivalent of more than seven per cent of gross domestic product. In some countries, the current figure could double by 2050, to say nothing of the cost of private pensions and extra spending on health and long-term care.

Whether we like it or not, we’re going back to the pre-Bismarckian world, where work had no formal stopping point. Life expectancy has been rising by two or three years for every 10 that pass, despite repeated forecasts that it was about to reach its limit. This imminent greying of society is compounded by two other demographic shifts. In most developed countries, women no longer have enough babies to keep up the numbers; and the huge baby boomer generation has begun to retire. In 1950 the OECD countries had seven people aged 20 years to 64 years for every one of 65 years and older. Now it is four to one – and on course to be two to one by 2050. That will upset the pay-as-you-go state pension schemes that provide the bulk of retirement income in developed countries. It has also been a worry in Canada that the ageing population will drain the CPP system.

So individuals, companies and governments in developed countries will have to adapt. Many employers remain prejudiced against older workers, but people past retirement age would not necessarily carry on the same jobs as before. In Japan, where pensions are scarce and lots of people are still working into their late 60s and even 70s, big companies like Hitachi have found ways of re-employing staff after retirement – but in a different capacity and, significantly, at lower pay.

Retailers in Britain and the U.S. have started hiring pensioners because their customers find them friendlier and more helpful. And skills shortages are already creating opportunities: in the past year or two, the lack of German engineers has caused companies to bring back older workers. Once labour forces start declining in about 2020, employers will no longer have much choice.

As for the older workers themselves, many of them seem keen enough to carry on beyond retirement. Many baby boomers say they never want to bow out altogether, though they would often prefer to put in shorter hours. Some are even willing to accept that pay can go down as well as up if they want to go on working. Two years ago when I blogged about allowing boomers to double-dip, one Millennial wrote me an angry response. But whether we like it or not, individuals, Corporate Canada and the government will all have to adapt for change.

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