Nice guy. Early eighties. Professional. Tall, healthy-looking. D was still with it. And he was looking for a job.
“Geez, D, I’m hardly the guy to ask. Haven’t worked officially since I was fifty-five and, to be honest, mostly faked it until then. Probably never worked a real day in my life ‘cept for building a house.”
“Well, I still have what it takes. Not full-time, of course. But a day or two a week. Need to keep busy.”
“Thought of golf? The garden? Building ships in bottles? Post-eighties is getting on, man. I should know, I am post-seventy and I’m practically beyond getting on!”
“No. Hate golf. And my wife is in the garden. Never been much into sailing. But I walk every day. A few miles, actually. I’m pretty fit.”
“Well, I’ll keep my eyes open but, you know, I live on a remote island and even with both eyes open, I rarely see anyone. But, forgive me for asking . . . you’ve been a successful professional all your life. Long time. Productive time. I mean, do you really need the money?”
“Well, yes. Yes, I do. A few marriages, ya know. And they came with extra kids. Some are still with me. And I’m still supporting a few.”
I immediately jumped to the image of the wife being in the garden . . . but he seemed sane. Then I thought . . .“hmm . . . maybe all three wives are in the garden . . .”
All that is really just a segue to my main topic. I’m getting into health care these days. No, I don’t mean drinking less wine or exercising more. I am NOT crazy! I mean volunteering in the community to help create a better health clinic. And, with that work, comes some information about the folks out here. The bit that I am focused on is the stats on our local demographic. Seems 46% of the local population is over sixty-five. Practically half the people out here are old!
And that has ramifications for health care. Worse, our ‘cohort’ is poor, having less income than the average BC’er by far. And we drink and smoke, too. Seems I’m living in a poor section of the wilderness with a lot of old people with bad habits. No wonder fit 80 plus year-olds are looking for work; they’re the labour pool!
If anyone asks, I guess I’ll just refer them to him, but I kinda feel obliged to check out his garden first. Just how does his garden grow? Maybe I’ll go check while he is on one of his long walks.
Our Off the Grid Home 
Lots of folks living much longer. Keeping active is key. Living to one hundred is more common than ever. An eighty year old looking for work is inspirational.
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Yes it is. Gotta hand it to him. And it’s not like his contemporaries are sitting on their butts…..people out here are very active. But, sill, its a bit surprising. Octegenarians aren’t usually looking for work-work. Usually it’s volunteer work. Sometimes artisanal -cum-hobby work. Oh well….i found it interesting.
Minor note: last blog titled QUICKIES got 700 hits each of two days instead of the usual 100. MET AN OLD GUY got one comment…..fewer than 100 readers.
That, more than anythjng, indicates topics of interest.
Guess I’ll work more sex and body parts into the titles…….
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Was it the naughty title?
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Absolutely. Lead with genitals is the new media mantra. Nipples in a pinch……
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Trolling for hash tags.
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Just did some research on applying for my CPP and Social Security. I read somewhere recently that you need to apply by 70 or you start losing benefits. That would be annoying after waiting so long. Still working a bit at grant writing so am paying in, but maybe it’s time to let them pay out a bit. – Margy
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Absolutely. Justin spends more on each vacation than you’ll likely ever collect. A cop in a police car giving you a ticket for not wearing your seatbelt costs the taxpayer around $250k per year. Doctors writing prescriptions and making referrals cost us $500k a year. You’ll get a grand a month. Maybe $1500. Most of it will go to food, gas and wine….most of that goes back to the government. Sign up, M. Take it. It was yours before they took it.
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Blame the Cons they made the current pension rules. But by waiting til 70, your pension will be more per month.
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A friend of mine just filed for CPP and OAS at 67
He recieves more pension pay than filing at 65.
CPP pension ramps up the longer you wait until age 70…then the payments stay the same.
No advantage after 70.
Most financial “experts” ( if there is such a thing) recommend drawing your pension before 65 and reinvesting the money into TFSA’s , RRSP’s etc. for the
The govt CPP guidelines state,
“Taking your pension after age 65
If you take your pension late, your monthly payment amount will increase by 0.7% for each month after age 65 that you delay receiving it up to age 70 (8.4% per year).
This means that, an individual who starts receiving their retirement pension at the age of 70 will receive 42% more than if they had taken it at 65.”
That being said.
If you wait……
You could drop dead before 70 and your estate gets nothing…….. Risk vs Reward
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I don’t know it its optimism or pessimism but I took each as soon as I could. Optimistic because I still had plans and life to live, pessimistic because I wasn’t so sure about them. Lo and behold! I was one of the last at 65 and now they are at 67. No time like the present.
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Trudeau the Younger bumped it back down to 65 but I’m thinking with the way his govt is spending Billions we dont have ……a return to 67 is looking more likely with each passing year…….
Probably just as I turn 65……
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Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Pension (OAP) both begin at age 65. The best collection strategy is not to wait.
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LIFE begins at 65! The best strategy is not to let a moment waste. I thought we were talking about three maids in a garden and a virile male. Then to drift on to a tale of pensions? Must be the smoke.
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I was implying that the three wives may have been interred in the garden. Not seeded. He had an English accent, after all.
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I was going to offer you my persona for ‘the old guy’, but not if he’s an alleged murderer. I had a completely different vision of ‘me’ and three maidens.
Oh well, back to dreaming.
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