RobertThomas
Agree. You want to be able to enjoy your money while you can. The unfortunate Fact is once people reach 75 + the vadt majority are not able to play golf, nor travel much If at all. Its certainly not all but most. unless you are planning on leaving a legacy to children , then spend when you can, just be sure to not run out . Cost of health care and retirement homes eats up so much money for those needing them.
There was an earlier comment about taking commuted value made somewhere. This is something that needs to be examined along with post retirement benefits . In retirement ,nthe general rule is not to make money but preservation of capital. Using Lee's figure, somebody at age 60 with a 2.5 million dollar commuted value does not need to pay people , funds, fund managers etc the 1.5-3% to manage that money. Some will get government benefits and some might have investments outside of their pension. If you spend 50,000 a year from that pension a year You are probaly doing well and at that the 2.5 million lasts 50 years.....not gonna live to 110. The other issue is, while there is generally a spousal clause, if and when the pensioner and their spouse pass on, thats it. So lets say a pesioner and their spouse live to 85. They enjoyed the pension for 25 years, but compared to the commuted value which can be conservatively invested with next to no risk, they have left , by my above example 1.25 million on the table. When you take a commuted pension the money is now able to be passed on to , spouse and children. Add this to the fact that no pension is 100% secure, probably not even our Govt pensions and there is a strong case for considering a commuted value. Again it all depends on health, expected longeavity, kids, debt etc.
I left a government job in 1998 and had a smallish pension accumulated for the 11 years there. I punched the numbers Took the commuted value because i could make that money earn money and compound for the 25 years until i needed it. Different scenario but worked out much better for me.
Anybody with money saved and or a pension is in a good position. A recent report up here revealed that 30% of Canadians had ZERO saved for retirement and another 19% with less than $50,000. Many are also in debt .......Those are absolutely shocking numbers and those people are farked ! govt pensions here are modest at best and require a person work for 39 years at the highest taxable qualifying level ( just over $50k for 2018) in order to get the full govt pension we call CPP. The harsh Reality is the average Canadian receiving government pension is getting $640 a month. There is an Old age security top up of $586 a month that kicks in at 65 too., but still the average Canadian in retirement is only getting just over $1100 a month, thats below the poverty line. With so many having not saved for retirement means a whole whack of impoverished seniors on the horzon. Scary stuff !