The Evolving Wealth of Canadians : Who Is Better Fixed for Retirement? Who is Not?

The real median value of both the assets and net worth of Canadians approaching retirement age doubled from 1999 to 2019. By comparison, real median family incomes in 2019 were 1.2 times their level in 1999 ($62,900 versus $50,400). Therefore, from an earnings/income replacement perspective, the increase in wealth looks particularly helpful for future retirement incomes.However, that help will be tempered by the rising costs of a dollar of annuity income. Plus, there are significant subsets of the population for whom this rosy scenario does not hold. It is particularly disappointing to see that about one-quarter of people aged 45 to 64 have no private retirement assets. It is also disappointing to see that the median RRSP and TFSA wealth accumulations for people who are not participating in workplace pension plans (WPPs) is low. It also appears that wealth accumulation in defined-contribution WPPs is less fulsome than in defined-benefit plans.These realities suggest that a minority of the future elderly may have trouble maintaining their standard of living in retirement. What are the implications for changes to Canada’s retirement income system?