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Pepper isn’t your average seniors’ residence care worker. That was immediately evident when the diminutive robot arrived at the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in Scarborough, Ont. to lead weekly exercises, call bingo numbers and take visitors’ temperatures during the pandemic.
Less clear was whether staff – and more importantly, the senior centre’s residents – would embrace the mechanical person with large, round eyes and a tablet embedded in its chest. The robotics team at the University of Toronto (U of T) that built Pepper, alongside a fellow robot named Salt, certainly tried their best to design it to fit in.
The robots have facial expressions and can gesture with their arms and head, says Goldie Nejat, Canada research chair in robots for society, who leads the U of T’s Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Laboratory. “They use the same verbal and non-verbal communication we use, and they have some emotional intelligence, so they can detect emotions and respond to them,” Dr. Nejat says.
The notion of robots caring for aging people may sound like science fiction, but the Pepper pilot shows the future is closer than most people realize. “We’re about five years away from seeing robots more commonly used in the home or at [seniors’] residences,” Dr. Nejat adds. Joel Schlesinger reports.
Can this couple in their 50s afford to retire while meeting their spending goals?
When their first Financial Facelift appeared in 2018, Betty and Bob – who had been comfortable financially – had suffered a reversal of fortune. Betty had been downsized from her employer of 25 years. When she eventually found work again, the starting salary in her new job was 40 per cent less than she had been making before, although she hoped it would rise fairly quickly.
Rise it did. In another reversal of fortune, this time for the better, Betty’s salary is up 60 per cent to $175,000 a year plus a substantial bonus. Bob is earning $108,000 a year. The youngest of their three children is in first year university and they are turning their attention again to their goal of early retirement. Bob, who works in education, has a defined benefit pension plan partly indexed to inflation. Betty has a defined contribution pension plan with performance tied to financial markets. They have a mortgage on their southern Ontario house.
Betty will be 52 in a couple of months, while Bob is 57. Their goal is for Bob to retire at 60, and Betty at 59, with an after-tax spending goal of $80,000 a year – lower than the goal in their original Facelift. “What is our financial health?” Betty asks in an e-mail. They want to be in a position to help their children get settled if needed.
Given that Bob plans to retire soon, “What should we prioritize?” she asks. “Paying down the mortgage? Investing? RRSPs?” Should they keep making contributions to their registered retirement savings plans or shift their focus to their tax-free savings accounts? When should they start taking government benefits?
In the Globe’s latest Financial Facelift column, Ian Calvert, a principal and financial planner at HighView Financial Group in Toronto, looks at the couple’s situation.
When you might want to skip making an RRSP contribution
Does it ever make sense to skip a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contribution to use those funds for something else? The answer is yes, according to Tim Cestnick in his latest column for the Globe.
“Now, don’t get me wrong – I think RRSPs are important,” he writes. “But in a given year, there may be other priorities that can make sense instead. In the piece he talks about three of those priorities.
Does it make sense for Canadians in their 60s to make RRSP contributions?
Retirement these days doesn’t always mean leaving the work force without a backward glance. Some retirees shift to part-time work, pick up consulting jobs, or start a business. So, should people in their 60s with earned income still be contributing to a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)?
”More so in the past five years, people are leaving that career job and then doing something else in their 60s prior to full retirement,” Terri Szego, senior investment adviser and senior portfolio manager with Szego Jones Szego Lawrence Wealth Management at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. in Toronto, tells Alison MacAlpine in this Globe Advisor article.
”Whether they should be making [RRSP] contributions … comes down to what their marginal tax rate is at in their 60s, versus what they expect it will be when they’re forced to convert into a [registered retirement income fund (RRIF)] at age 71,” she adds.
In case you missed it
Why loneliness is a serious and growing health issue among seniors
When asked about loneliness, Gregor Sneddon recalls a visit he made to a single senior woman who was blind and lived alone. She relied on volunteers to bring her food and medications. Mr. Sneddon, executive director of the non-profit HelpAge Canada, went into her fridge during his visit and found a jar full of mould.
“And this woman still managed to be cheerful and so grateful to have somebody come to visit her,” says Mr. Sneddon, whose organization’s mandate is to address isolation and loneliness in the mature population. “Just imagine facing the world alone. You have nobody to share a meal with. You have nobody to share your day with, to speak to, to reflect and engage in who you are.
”Knowing that we are needed and that we belong is a primal human need, he says. “Without that, we deteriorate very quickly.”
Census data shows almost one in four Canadians aged 65 and older live alone and about half over the age of 80 report feeling lonely, according to a report from the National Seniors Council. Numerous studies have linked loneliness to health issues including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, mental health struggles, and the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
”It existed before COVID but COVID has certainly had an impact … There has been quite an increase in social isolation,” says Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard, chairperson of the National Seniors Council and research chair in population aging of the Consortium national de formation en santé at the Université de Moncton. Dene Moore reports.
How to know when it’s time for seniors to stop driving
Tony Marshall knows he won’t be driving forever. The 80-year-old Halifax resident often drives to attend a local singing group and likes to meet up with friends. But he’s also aware of his family history of dementia and has noticed that he’s lost some of his sense of direction over the past two years and has become a bit absent-minded.
He can’t just jump in the car and go any more. “I have to plan how to get there,” Mr. Marshall says. He uses his Toyota Corolla’s GPS to map out each route and prevent missing a turn. He says if cognitive issues creep in, he’ll get his wife to drive him or take a cab. I will probably keep driving for two or three more years,” Mr. Marshall says. “I know what to expect. But I can live with it.”
Driving is a lifeline for many retirees – a fundamental part of their lifestyle that allows them to maintain friendships, visit family, remain independent and participate in community activities. Anna Sharratt reports.
Ask Sixty Five
Question: A recent newsletter stated that employment pension, registered retirement income fund (RRIF) withdrawals and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) are eligible for pension-split. However, the Canada Revenue Agency site says CPP or Old age Security (OAS) are not included. Could you please advise the correct position?
We asked Jamie Golombek, managing director, tax and estate planning, at CIBC Private Wealth, to follow up on his response:
In the Jan. 20 newsletter on RRIF withdrawal tax strategies, I stated that one of the determinants of whether one should ever withdraw more than the minimum annual amount from your RRIF is whether you can pension split (e.g. pension, RRIF withdrawals, CPP) with a spouse or partner, which can lower your tax rate on RRIF withdrawals.
To be more precise, pension income splitting is done via your tax return. Any pension income that qualifies for the federal pension income credit qualifies to be split. Specifically, this would include annuity-type payments from a registered pension plan (RPP), regardless of age, and also includes RRIF withdrawals upon reaching age 65. To be able to split your pension income, you and your spouse or partner must make a joint election on your income tax returns. The election is made annually and is optional. CPP benefits can’t be split in this manner.
Instead, CPP pension sharing is not done your return but done in advance at the time of set up. If only one spouse or partner contributed to the CPP, the one CPP pension can be shared and each spouse or partner will receive a portion of the one pension. If both spouses/partners contributed, both CPP pensions can be shared, and each spouse or common-law partner will receive a portion of both pensions. Note that with either method, the combined total amount of the CPP pension(s) that’s received by the spouses or partners stays the same.
Have a question about money or lifestyle topics for seniors, or want to suggest a story idea for the Sixty Five series? Please e-mail us at sixtyfive@globeandmail.com and we will find experts and answer your questions in future newsletters.