海角社区官网

A 2024 survey of 2,000 Canadians from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan found that almost half of unretired adults had saved nothing for retirement in the last year, with 36 per cent of women aged 55 to 64 having no savings at all compared to 22 per cent of men. Another 2024 survey of 1,500 Ontarians from OMERS pension plan found that women (both retired and non-retired) were less confident about and prepared for retirement. Thirty-four per cent of non-retired women had started planning compared to 44 per cent of men.

Despite聽the systemic challenges women continue to face, experts say there are ways to get ahead and plan for a prosperous retirement.

The聽retirement gender gap

Janine Rogan, CPA, founder and CEO of The Wealth Building Academy and author of 鈥淭he Pink Tax: Dismantling a Financial System Designed to Keep Women Broke,鈥� says women often aren’t introduced to financial education as early as men. She points out that up until 61 years ago, women couldn’t have their own bank accounts without a husband鈥檚 signature.

The pink tax is another reason why women have less retirement savings. 鈥淭here’s a lot of things that women end up paying more for when it comes to just existing in the world, and that leaves them with less money to save and invest,鈥� Rogan says.

Then there鈥檚 the gender wage gap. Rogan says this can start as early as childhood, with discrepancies between the allowances given to boys and girls. She points out that contributions to retirement savings plans and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) are based on income. Even if your company is contributing the same three per cent to men and women, women will have less in their retirement contributions if men are being paid more. 鈥淭his obviously compounds over time,鈥� Rogan says, which can lead to a gender gap in pensions as well.

Women are more likely to take time off work to take care of children and aging parents, says Bianca Tomenson, certified financial planner and director of financial planning and insurance solutions at Castlemark Wealth Management. 鈥淭hat can reduce their lifetime earnings, their pension contributions and opportunities for promotion.鈥�

A lot of women will turn to part-time work so they still have time to care for children,聽which also impacts their earnings and ability to contribute to CPP.

Women also live longer than men on average,聽(83 versus 79, according to Statistics Canada), which means planning for an additional four to five years of retirement.

Intersectionality plays a huge role when it comes to women saving for retirement; Rogan points out that members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, women of colour and women with聽disabilities earn even less. 鈥淭here are days where I wake up and I’m overwhelmed and frustrated with the systems in place,鈥� Rogan says. 鈥淭hose definitely need advocacy work and we can all work toward those things.鈥�

Start saving early

In her early 30s, Lively began putting $25 a week into an RRSP. 鈥淭hat would be the number one thing I would suggest to anybody: Start early and set up automatic contributions in whatever amount you can afford,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat created a nice nest egg.鈥澛�

If your employer will match your RRSP contributions, that鈥檚 a great place to start. 鈥淵ou want to max out that employer contribution so that you’re basically getting free money,鈥� Rogan says. (Just remember that the RRSPs are tax-deferred, so you鈥檒l have to pay tax on that money eventually; the hope is that you are in a lower tax bracket in retirement.)

If Rogan had her way, the tax-free savings account would be called the tax-free investing account. 鈥淭here is an incredible tax advantage to building wealth that way,鈥� she says. If you opened a TFSA back in 2009 when they were introduced, 鈥測ou could contribute (up to) $102,000 as of 2025. If you invest that at eight per cent over 30 to 35 years, you’re looking at a seven-figure portfolio, even if you never contribute another dollar.鈥� Rogan advises not touching the money in your TFSA until retirement. 鈥淚f you turn it into a million-dollar portfolio and you pull money out, you’re never taxed on that income again,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat helps you in the sense that it’s not going to drive you into a higher tax bracket for the money you’re pulling out of your RRSP.鈥�

Find helpful resources and work with a holistic financial adviser

To learn more and establish her retirement goals, Lively read 鈥淭he Wealthy Barber鈥� and followed author David Chilton on Instagram. She also has a number of books written by personal finance expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade, including a copy of 鈥淣ever Too Late: Take Control of Your Retirement and Your Future.鈥�

It鈥檚 important for women to do what they can to build their knowledge and educate themselves, Tomenson says. 鈥淜nowledge builds confidence.鈥� She points out that some employers offer helpful financial literacy programs.

Rogan teaches a course geared toward women that provides education on how to build a six-figure stock portfolio so they can fund their retirement. She encourages women to learn to invest on their own, 鈥渂ecause when we do that, we take the control back.鈥� Just getting started with $25 a month can add up over time, she says.

Working with a financial adviser who has a holistic approach can help you get a good idea of what you鈥檒l need to get by聽in retirement. They can show you how the numbers stack up and how many more years you鈥檒l need to work to get the retirement you want.

鈥淥ne size doesn’t fit all it when it comes to being happy in retirement. The money is not the only factor,鈥� says Susan Latremoille, co-founder and partner at Next Chapter Lifestyle Advisors. 鈥淢ake sure you work with a professional that is focused on your well-being and not just how much money you have.鈥� Knowing your goals, whether you plan to buy a cottage or donate more money to charity, should be part of the discussion.

When choosing a financial adviser, be sure to find out how they get paid up front. 鈥淚t’s really important to understand how that person is being compensated and how that impacts the information they’re going to give you,鈥� Rogan says. 鈥淚f they’re being compensated by selling you a mutual fund that鈥檚 going to charge two and a half per cent in fees, that’s going to cost you a ton of money over the long term.鈥�

Feeling behind? Don鈥檛 panic

The government of Canada鈥檚 website has tools to show you what kind of CPP and OAS benefits you can expect, Rogan says, adding that if you qualify for the maximum benefits, you could be looking at around $25,000 a year in income. So, if you need $75,000, you just need to build a portfolio that will allow you to take out $50,000 a year. 鈥淲e can kind of work the math backwards to figure out what size of investment portfolio we need to do that,鈥� Rogan says.

After spending 14 years raising her children full-time, Lively went to teacher鈥檚 college and worked for another 20 years. About five years before she retired, she used a pension calculator to look ahead and see what she would need to live comfortably.聽

鈥淚 think that there’s a lot of shame around not having taken action sooner,鈥� Rogan says about women who feel behind in saving for retirement. 鈥淵ou made the best decision you could with the information you had at the time, and when you know better, you do better.鈥�

Don鈥檛 get down on yourself, just get started

Rogan suggests coming up with a money mantra: a phrase you can say to yourself to stay grounded when you鈥檙e stressed about finances. 鈥淚f you’re overwhelmed with what’s going on in the market, you might tell yourself, 鈥業 always have the opportunity to earn more money.鈥� 鈥�

After figuring out how much money she would need to have the same income she earned while working, Lively decided to work part-time as a substitute teacher for 50 days a year. She鈥檚 trying to get more comfortable with spending her retirement savings, but her mother is 101 years old, so she鈥檚 planning for a long life. These days, Lively spends a lot of time travelling. She鈥檚 thinking of going back to school and might even do a house exchange with someone in another country. 鈥淚’m having a great time.鈥�