BradfordToday and InnisfilToday welcome letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is about being under financial stress in your retirement years.
I wish to direct this letter to Bradford citizens but, most importantly, those who are thinking of those "golden years" or still being employed because of theirs or our country's financial situation.
A recent letter I read (titled, 'I am living on financial fumes') by a Bradford citizen nearing the age of 65 expresses the way our financial situation is affecting everyone. I understand what was being addressed, as I am a retiree for the past three years after being employed in the mining sector for 40 years.
Months before my original retirement date, I asked my financial planner if I was good to leave the employment scene, and he said: "No worries, markets are good, investments are good, and life should be good as well."
Then something happened (COVID-19) and things started to take a nose dive. Even though COVID has been behind us for the last few years, everything from vehicles, groceries, travelling and basically just living has been very stressful (maybe not for the upper-upper class but surely for the lower middle class and the lower-lower class).
As a retiree, I often wonder if I will have enough funds to enjoy the time I have left on this earth or will I be limited in doing the things that I thought of while being employed?
My thought of returning back to the workforce is far from near the top of my want-to-do list, and besides, who hires people in their early or late 60s?
Maybe Canada is becoming like the United States, where people work well into their 70s and their dreams of "golden years" are not a dream but possibly a nightmare!
Gary Kader
Timmins
