July 24, 2019

In Canada, where I live, the official dawn of “senior citizenry” is generally considered to be the age of 65. Once one turns 65, one may collect one’s government pension if one has a mind to do so.

There have been a lot of arguments, pro and con about collecting your pension at aged 65. Now, the government pension—called CPP, Canada Pension Plan in all the provinces except Quebec (where it is called Quebec Pension Plan), is a plan into which one contributes over the course of their entire working lives. For every dollar I contributed, the government (or, truly, my fellow citizens) kicked in the same. Through the years, there has always been a “maximum contribution” amount, an amount that goes up a little each year. That means anyone making over a specified amount of money reaches a maximum number of dollars they can contribute each year. If you make seventy thousand or a hundred and seventy thousand, your contribution is the same. Paying the maximum amount (currently about 2,900 annually) is called “topping out”, and while I never came close to doing so, my husband did.

Likewise, when it is time to collect, you get a monthly payment which also has a “maximum amount”. I believe that amount now is around 1,200 dollars a month.

I’ll be finding out in the next few weeks what my monthly payout will be, but it won’t be as much as my husband’s. I’m expecting around 700 a month. Now, that’s just pension. There is also this thing called “Old Age Security” which is a separate stipend from the government, and is the same for almost everyone, regardless of their lifetime pension plan contributions. That amount is currently about 600 a month.

I say almost everyone, because for those who didn’t earn very much in their working lives, OAS offers the possibility of a “guaranteed income supplement”.

Now as to the arguments that I mentioned, “pro and con”. You can collect your CPP earlier than age 65—I think you have to be at least 60. If you do, for every year earlier than 65 that you choose to start to collect, your monthly stipend will be reduced. Some folks apply for and receive their CPP as soon as they qualify to do so. Their reasoning? “I’ll never live long enough to collect everything I put into it!”

Then there are the others who don’t want to follow the herd and collect at 65. For every year beyond age 65 that you put off collecting, your stipend increases a little. Everyone must begin to collect at age 70. The reasoning for those putting it off as long as they can? They want to get as big of a monthly check as possible.

I’ll be getting my first checks (CPP and OAS) at the end of the next month after I turn 65, the same as the bulk of the herd. Since I’ve been receiving quarterly royalty payments for the last several years, it will be interesting to have a “paycheck” every month. I’ve had fun telling everyone who will listen, this will be the easiest money I’ve ever earned. All I have to do, is keep breathing.

When I first entered the world of the internet, back in early 2003 as I was recovering from my open-heart surgery, I discovered a free game site called Pogo. They had a bingo game then (just one back in those days) and I happily partook. The “chat room” I visited most often was a room called Spiritual. I met several people there who, for one reason or another, were more or less what would have been considered “shut-ins”. It was a fun way to pass the time, chatting and clicking on the numbers that came up in the bingo game. As you might imagine, we got to know each other, and readily told each other our life stories. I wasn’t published yet, and I was still trying to find my way in the post-work world. I had a long recovery from my surgery. I’d been overweight and a smoker, and not in very good physical condition as I never actually exercised much. I wondered back then if I would ever get my stamina back. It took a couple of years for me to feel like myself.

In that chat room, someone—I don’t recall who—told me to “stay on top of the grass”. That expression tickled me, and I’ve responded to the question, “how are you?” quite often in the years since by saying, “I’m still on top of the grass”.

Now that I’m officially a senior, not much is going to change for me. I’ll continue to do what I have been doing, because I cannot do nothing. So I will indeed keep writing, although admittedly at a slightly slower pace than I have in years past.

I’m also going to stay on top of the grass and keep breathing.

Love,
Morgan
http://www.morganashbury.com
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury