Winter 2012 Householder
Parliament for 2012
Richmond Electoral District
Prior Content
Search
Links
Retirement Income System Town Hall Meeting in Richmond – May 3, 2010
** To facilitate expected demand, the amount of time has been increased. It will no longer start at 7:00pm. It will start from 5:00pm and go on until 8:00pm. **
The official notice from the Ministry of Finance can be accessed here.
====================
On May 3, 2010, there will be a public town hall meeting in Richmond on the issue of Canada’s retirement income system. MP Ted Menzies, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance is scheduled to be in attendance, in addition to MP Alice Wong.
The location will be the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel (7551 Westminster Highway) in the Minoru Room A and B. It will start at 5:00pm and go until 8:00pm.
In the event you are unable to make the town hall meeting, you can send your comments to ris-consultations-srr@fin.gc.ca by April 30, 2010. The Ministry of Finance would like to kindly point out that “A consultation is not a poll. Please do not send multiple or duplicate submissions.”
Background Information
To support a strong retirement income system over the long term, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Finance established a Research Working Group in May 2009, chaired by Parliamentary Secretary Ted Menzies, to expand governments’ understanding of retirement income adequacy issues.
The group’s summary report was presented to Ministers of Finance and Ministers responsible for pensions at their December 2009 meeting in Whitehorse by its research director, Professor Jack Mintz.
While the report confirms the relative strength of Canada’s retirement income system, Ministers tasked senior officials to work collaboratively over the following months to analyze the wide range of ideas that have been put forward by various stakeholders, experts and commentators to further strengthen Canada’s government-supported retirement income system.
The consultations announced today underscore Ministers’ agreement that the collaborative work undertaken by officials should take into account the broader public discussion on retirement income adequacy and pension issues, as well as research and any consultations undertaken by governments.
Canada’s Ministers of Finance will discuss the findings from these consultations and appropriate next steps at their May meeting.
More detailed and exhaustive information can be found by reading this information brief.
Filed under: News
One Response to “Retirement Income System Town Hall Meeting in Richmond – May 3, 2010”
-
Dave Gibbins Says:
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:34 amI’d like to address some key point regarding the retirement system:
Flaherty’s decision to tax income trusts has devastated many retiree’s portfolios, so why should he care now ?The tax rules around minimum withdrawals from RRIF’s are prohibitive when an annuitant reaches the age of 70, jumping to over 7%. Combined with the 45% mark-up on dividend income, the consequence of this is that many seniors who have had the foresight to provide for themselves through aggressive saving and investment over many years will now face clawback of the OAS.
Three suggestions:
1. Rescind the tax on income trusts.
2. Reduce the minimum withdrawals on RRIF’s for age 70 + to somewhat more reasonable levels-back to the “90-age” formula ?
3. Don’t take the 45% gross up of dividends into account when computing “Net Income” for benefits purposes.Thanks for the opportunity to express my opinion.