The Globe and Mail

Three-quarters of Canadians today have no workplace retirement plan at all. Only a third contribute to an RRSP and only a tiny fraction stash away the maximum amount Ottawa allows under current tax laws, or 18 per cent of earnings up to $21,000 annually.

But, there's hope.

Even people who don't get around to saving and investing until later in life needn't feel deprived in their golden years, says Malcolm Hamilton, an actuary at Mercer Human Resource Consulting and an expert on Canadian retirement saving.

“As I tell anybody under the age of 50, you shouldn't be giving up hope. There's almost always some combination of living frugally and saving and investing wisely that can give you a viable retirement income as long as you've got 15 years to work on it,” he says.

Malcolm Hamilton participated in an audio Q&A session with the Globe and Mail. He took questions on everything from planning with an adviser, CPP, OAS and investments. Click on the audio boxes below to hear his answers.

Malcolm Hamilton is a Principal and Worldwide partner of Mercer. He specializes in the design and funding of employee benefit plans in both the private and public sectors, with particular emphasis on registered pension and savings plans, unregistered pension plans, and retirement compensation arrangements. His clients include the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation, the Bank of Montreal and Manulife.

Malcolm Hamilton's advice

1) You said in your Let’s Talk Investing video with Rob Carrick Video: your employer be able to pay your pension?) that you think planning to live on 70 per cent of your income in retirement may be too high. Can you tell us a little bit about why you’ve found this?

2) What do you recommend for someone in their 20s who may be starting to make money for the first time? What should your retirement-planning priorities be?

3) What do you think about using a financial adviser for retirement planning? Does everybody need one?





4) Do you need a written plan?

5) Scott: I am 56 years old and have about $120,000 (total) in my wife’s and my RRSP plans, married have 3 children living at home going to school. I have several questions. What is the formula for figuring out OAS and CPP for myself and my wife when we retire?

6) Scott: What is the standard percentage that is used to calculate an approximate income I will need to maintain my life style at pension time?





7) Scott: I am putting $11,500 yearly into our RRSP plans (Canadian Equity Stocks). When do I, or do I, start look at moving the money into income type investments?

8) Rose: What is there out there for someone with low income? I am retired and get a very small Canada pension and old age pension. My husband is still working but not making very much cause there isn’t much work at his job, he only gets paid for the hours he works. I want to sell the house and go into an apartment but he doesn’t and money wise we would maybe have fifty thousand left to invest if we did that.