Canadian Personal Finance Blog

So I saw that the Liberal Party of Canada has posted the stuff they are going to debate and discuss at their upcoming convention. I scanned through and thought I saw some interesting points, but one really did kind of hit home for me (you can see the entire document here):

49) Surviving Spouse Pension Benefits
WHEREAS the number of Canadians who are protected by private pensions provided by their employers is decreasing; and

WHEREAS inflation is adversely affecting many pension plans in Canada; and

WHEREAS, on the death of a pensioner, an elderly spouse may not receive a survivor’s pension from pension plans other than the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and such persons often having to move to subsidized housing or worse;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada urge the Government of Canada to establish a commission to study the inadequacy of many private pension plans to provide sufficient pension income for the pensioner and a surviving spouse, and

BE IT RESOLVED that the Liberal Party of Canada urge the Government of Canada to establish a commission to examine a requirement for employers who do not provide employees retirement pensions to match contributions by an employee to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) on a two for one basis.
Senior Liberals Commission

A very interesting point to discuss, and very near to my heart, given my pension just got nuked at my company (well not nuked, but it is now not what I was hoping it was going to be). If you don’t have a pension program, you must match RRSP contributions sounds good to me, on the surface, who knows what the ramifications of this might be to small businesses?

I don’t think much will come of this, but still I think it’s important to read this stuff, and see where the leaders of tomorrow, or the opposition of tomorrow are going to try to push the Canadian Government’s policies, especially in the area of Pensions and Retirement.

Yes, any kind of financial plan for investing and debt reduction is going to be a lifestyle change. Why not follow the father of Einstein Finance ?

How can I say that? How did you get into the situation you are in currently, that you are now creating a plan to get out of? Let’s ask Mr. Einstein what he thinks:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
–Albert Einstein

You cannot expect to change things, by doing the exact same things. Change is necessary and maybe should be embraced when you want good things to happen.

Don’t be afraid of a lifestyle change, it doesn’t have to be something big, it can be something simple. Don’t buy your coffee for a month, and see how much money you save. That really is a lifestyle change.

I know the importance of lifestyle changes to get where you want. I lost 80 lbs. about 3 years ago, and I have managed to keep it off. No it wasn’t easy, no it wasn’t fun, but I also realized, that I couldn’t go back to my old eating habits, if I wanted to keep the weight off. Don’t make me post a picture of me in a swimsuit BEFORE I lost my weight!!!

Remember this is from the man who started Einstein Finance !