This brief emerged from a conversation, held in late March 2020, among a number of individuals and organizations who work on issues of household financial security. Employers with financial resources and governments have an opportunity to use the workplace as a significant channel to deliver...

The ACPM Retirement Literacy Program complements the financial literacy education efforts by the federal and provincial governments, and other organizations. The website contains a series of quizzes to help improve your knowledge of pensions and retirement savings plans as well as links to...

This is a study released by Insights on Canadian Society  based on 2016 Census data. Census information on immigration and income is used to better understand the factors associated with low income among senior immigrants. This study examines the factors associated with the low-income rate of...

This report provides results from the 2019 Canadian Financial Capability Survey (CFCS). It offers a first look at what Canadians are doing to take charge of their finances by budgeting, planning and saving for the future, and paying down debt. While the findings show that many Canadians are acting...

This brief identifies policy solutions to help American families build savings to withstand emergencies that threaten their financial...

Women own, on average, only 32 cents for every $1 owned by a man in America. Women of color have even less. Both the gender wage gap and the gender wealth gap need to be taken into account to address threats to women's economic...

This paper assesses the extent to which education level affects how Canadians save and accumulate wealth for retirement. Data from administrative income-tax records and responses from the 1991 and 2006 censuses of Canada show that individuals with more schooling are more likely to contribute to a...

The Fidelity Retirement Survey is focused on how Canadians near, and already in, retirement approach the next stage of their lives. This is the 14th year of the survey.  The results indicate Canadians are retiring earlier than expected. They also show 46% of pre-retirees expect to have some...

This short video from the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board explains the new additional Canada Pension Plan...

The Old Age Security program is the largest statutory program of the Government of Canada, and consists of the Old Age Security pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and the Allowance. The Guaranteed Income Supplement is provided to low-income seniors aged 65 years and over who receive the Old...

The introduction of Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) in 2009 transformed how  Canadians save. One of the main reasons for creating TFSAs was to provide a taxassisted savings instrument for low-income Canadians to enable them to improve their retirement income. Now, 10 years later, many low-income...

Use this tool to estimate how much your registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) will be worth at retirement and how much income it will provide each...

This calculator will help you estimate the value of the investments in your TFSA when you’re ready to withdraw them, and compare this amount to the value of your investments in a non-registered plan to see your overall estimated tax...

This presentation shows the results of a quantitative study undertaken by the Ontario Securities Commission to assess attitudes, behaviour and knowledge among Canadians pertaining to a variety of investment topics. These topics include retirement planning and conversations about...

In this video presentation Johnathan Weisstub from Common Wealth discusses recent improvements in senior Canadians' poverty levels due to benefits such as OAS and GIS, and the challenges that still remain in ensuring retirement security for modest-earning and low-income Canadians.  This...

Since taking office in the fall of 2015, the Liberal government has made important changes to the publicly administered components of Canada’s retirement income system (RIS). It has restored the age of eligibility for benefits under Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement...

This is a webinar presentation recorded with John Stapleton at Prosper Canada on October 4th, 2016. John Stapleton is a Principal of Open Policy, and has worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years in the areas of social assistance policy and operations. In the session John describes the...

The Old Age Security program toolkit – Your complete guide to Canada’s Old Age Security...

Modern financial planning is dominated by one topic: retirement planning. However, in spite of extensive study and wide attention, retirement savings rates remain perplexingly low and remarkably resistant to policy intervention. One approach that does seem to work is employer-based education....

These are the webinar slides from the Center for Financial Security webinar on the role of education in retirement...

In order to monitor the financial and economic status of American consumers, the Federal Reserve Board conducted the third annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking in October and November 2015. This survey provides insights into the well-being of households and consumers, and...

This paper presents new survey data on subjective mortality beliefs for nearly 5,000 respondents, administered by a professional survey panel provider, and it shows that these survey-elicited beliefs contribute to seemingly contradictory savings rate puzzles at opposite ends of the...

This brief examines the financial challenges confronting low-income older adults, with a focus on housing costs. It estimates the share of adults who have inadequate income, reports their income sources, and describes their spending patterns. Data come from the American Community Survey and the...

For financial educators and others who help people with decision-making, there is evidence that providing financial rules of thumb to consumers can work better than more detailed and complex financial education in some situations. To further explore the potential of rules of thumb for financial...

We define precarious employment as having an outsized level of uncertainty, whether in terms of pay, ongoing employment, scheduling, or other dimensions. Types of work associated with precarious employment are typically lower paying, with an income gap of between $11,600 and $18,000 in 2014...