The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is introducing a new online resource for people nearing retirement.
The association launched Retiring Soon? this week after its financial literacy committee noted a gap in the amount of information available to people nearing retirement, says Leslie Byrnes, vice-president of distribution and pensions at the CHLIA.
“One thing we did is take a look at what was out there already, and there’s just a ton of stuff for people who have a long-term retirement planning horizon,” says Byrnes.
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But the same doesn’t necessarily apply to Canadians who are about to retire.
“What we’ve done is identify the questions that people who are about to retire need to be asking . . . and then we’ve curated a lot of information from a lot of different sources and provided links to a government website,” says Byrnes.
The clean landing page includes four sections: workplace, retirement income, senior lifestyle and a preparation checklist. Within each section, various links lead to relevant pages, such as information about Canada Pension Plan benefits or a retirement income calculator.
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The website will help motivate people to “take transitioning into retirement more seriously,” says Shelley Johnston, a registered retirement consultant at the Pension Specialists. “It’s very well done. . . . I wouldn’t hesitate a moment to give this out to pre-retirees.”
But while the site addresses many topics, Johnston notes that it’s only “touching the surface” and users may need to do additional research to address specific questions about retirement.
The association plans to keep the site updated and share it with various stakeholders, according to Byrnes.