How has the retirement landscape changed over time and what can we expect in the future?
Not surprisingly, people are living longer and, in many cases, are staying in the workforce longer than in the past. But they’re not taking their pensions at a later age, something that, when combined with other factors, can affect their retirements, said Denis Latulippe, professor and director at Laval University’s school of actuarial science.
“We commonly refer to the average age at which people retire from the labour market as the retirement age,” Latulippe told Benefits Canada’s 2016 DC Plan Summit in Montreal in February. “There’s more and more distinction that has to be made between the age where people retire from the labour market and the age where they ask for their pensions.”
One thing that has remained relatively stable is the age at which people start collecting pensions such as the Canada Pension Plan.
“What we’ve seen over the last 15 years is that the average age at which people ask for their pension has been very stable,” he said. Going back to 2000, the average age for collecting pensions was very close to when people would withdraw from the labour market. Now, however, there’s a gap.
Latulippe also spoke about the fact that pension age isn’t increasing but longevity is. “We’ve reached a point where the number of years spent in retirement is fairly high compared to the number of years spent in employment. For pensions, it’s a totally different reality.”
Latulippe also spoke about the rise of gradual retirement, as well as the various products and players that have a role in retirement outcomes.
“We shouldn’t try to guess what will be the retirement age in the future,” he said. “What we should have in mind, I think, is that the retirement process will be less and less standard in the future.”