Western Standard - Nadine Wellwood on the formation of an Alberta pension plan #ableg #albertapensionplan

00:00:00.000 this is something that Albertans are going to have to push to make sure that we actually do

00:00:04.180 have an agenda, a referendum. And we are going to be the ones responsible for educating people

00:00:10.680 to make informed decisions. And I think right now there's a lot of distrust of the government,

00:00:15.000 which is obviously an obstacle that we have to overcome. And Justin Trudeau helps every which

00:00:20.220 way he can to make that more obvious to Albertans that obviously the government at home here,

00:00:26.740 if you trust it or don't trust Daniel Smith and the UCP, is somewhat irrelevant. I think it's an

00:00:32.520 obvious fact that we cannot rely on the federal government and a centralized government in Ottawa

00:00:38.620 to act in our best interest. So much easier to influence a government here at home.

00:00:44.000 And then the other big obstacle I'm seeing is this false sense of security, where people just don't

00:00:48.680 have the correct data and the correct information around the Canada pension plan. And so again,

00:00:53.820 if we want to make this happen, then it's we, the people, it's Albertans that are going to have

00:00:58.920 to make sure that it does happen. Well, and that's part of what's up. Like one of the quick

00:01:04.980 things that happened when the discussion came up was suddenly the Canada pension plan was trumpeted by

00:01:10.300 defenders as being one of the best pension plans on earth. And we'd be insane to leave that plan.

00:01:14.900 And why would we dare leave such a plan? But when you look at it, working an entire lifetime and

00:01:21.160 contributing into it right now, the average payout is less than $800 a month. I'm sorry,

00:01:26.260 but that doesn't sound like I have to have a good plan to me.

00:01:29.520 Yeah. Well, the average individual who benefits from the Canada pension plan receives on average

00:01:35.100 $758. And that's after 40 years of contributing. If you take a look at what that individual had,

00:01:42.580 they contributed that money on their own. And then the flexibility, let's say in their own

00:01:47.080 retirement savings plan, would have given them a lot more money with a lot more flexibility,

00:01:52.300 money that they could have then left to their spouse or to their children should they die before

00:01:59.820 having received the pension plan or afterwards. So the Canada pension plan, according to the Mercer

00:02:05.900 report, which is a CFA, Chartered Financial Analyst report, only ranks 12, which is not bad,

00:02:11.100 but it's not the best. Even when you look at the returns, I mean, the returns are not reflective

00:02:18.100 of what people receive. So, and here's two numbers that I'd really like to leave with people if we do

00:02:24.900 nothing else today is that one, there's $1.14 trillion of unfunded liabilities with the Canada

00:02:31.460 pension plan. Nobody talks about that. It was hidden in the chief actuary report at the very,

00:02:38.320 very end under acknowledgements. Well, I think that deserves a little bit more of attention than

00:02:43.240 just an acknowledgement. And then the other fact that I really want to bring to people's attention

00:02:47.360 is that come 2026, so just two years away, the chief actuary reports on this as well,

00:02:54.400 that the expenditures for the Canada pension plan will exceed the benefits or the contributions. So

00:03:02.700 not only do we have 1.14 trillion already, which has grown from 884 in 2019, and it's continuing to

00:03:11.100 grow, it is actually going to just exponentially explode when the actual expenditures for the first

00:03:19.180 time exceed the contributions that are coming in. Because what people don't realize is the Canada

00:03:24.040 pension plan, the base is a pay as you go. So it's the people that are contributing today that are paying

00:03:30.260 for the retirees. The retirees that think it's my money, your money was spent long ago. It is the

00:03:37.360 people who are working today that are giving you your pension. You can become a Western Standard

00:03:42.100 member for just $10 a month or $99 a year for unlimited access.

Western Standard - February 23, 2024