My Retirement Plan Is NOT Based on the Canada Pension Plan

Unlike the retirement plans of many Canadians, my retirement plan is not based on the proceeds from the Canada Pension Plan.

There are many reasons — but the main one is that this is just plain dumb.

Sure, the Canada Pension Plan is better than the American Social Security system in that it is a true trust fund where the American Social Security system is not (See Social Security Is a Secure Way )

Lately there has been a lot of debate in Canada about coming up with more retirement pension programs so people are better prepared for retirement.

Sociologists, bankers, and government officials are worried that the majority of Canadians won't have enough in their retirement plan portfolios to retire comfortably in the new retirement.

Some people have suggested expanding the mandatory Canada Pension Plan and others are suggesting a new voluntary retirement plan for the self-employed and for workers without a company pension plan.

This was one of my comments to an article regarding the Canada Pension Plan (CPP):

This was one of my comments to an article about the Canada Pension Plan in the Edmonton Sun:

"No doubt Ted Morton will get a great pension and that is a disgrace.

In fact, the generous pensions that all government workers get is a disgrace.

Plain and simple, the Canadian Pension Plan does not have to be expanded.

The worst part of the Canada Pension Plan is that it is a form of taxation.

If a single person pays $100,000 into the plan and dies at 59, the person's estate only gets a death benefit of $2,500.

Why expand the Canada Pension Plan when it rips people off?

Ultimately, a person should take full responsibility for their retirement and not rely on the government in any way, shape or form. That is what I have done. Any money that comes in is a bonus, coffee money, in other words.

Ernie J. Zelinski
Author of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(over 125,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)

Someone took issue to my comment and made these comment under the name "Don't Listen to Ernie":

Just where did "Ernie" find someone stupid enough to publish his book?

YMPE (the maximum amount of income one has to pay into CPP) for 2011 is going to be 48,300. The current contribution rate is 9.9% split between the employer and employee.

The ONLY that someone can contribute $100,000 is if they worked 42 years. But, oops, CPP only counts 35.

This person is obviously very ignorant.

So I posted this additional comment"

To: "Don't Listen to Ernie"

As a self-employed, I pay both the employers' and the employess' portion into the Canadian Pension Plan.

At 9.8 percent of maximum earnings this is $4,781 per year.

Multiply $4,781 by 35 years and the total is $119,542.

So who is the stupid person?

Regarding my book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free, it is the best-selling retirement book on Amazon.com in a saturated market, beating out name brand retirement books like the AARP Retirement Survival Guide and the Wall Street Journal Complete Retirement Guidebook.

How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free has sold over 130,000 copies for a reason.

Word-of-mouth advertising for this book from satisfied customers is what sells the book and will keep selling it for years to come while most retirement books are lucky to sell 5,000 copies in their lifetime. Many sell only 100 copies in their lifetime - and that is to family and friends.

In other words, results don't lie!

My retirement book rocks — not because I say so — but because the people who buy retirement books say so.

I have earned $550,000 in pre-tax profits from How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free and will earn hundreds of thousands more over the next few years.

Not too bad of a source of retirement income for my retirement plan — wouldn't you say?

I don't know about you, but I sure think that there are sure a lot of ignorant people out there.

Ever wonder about how these people get through life? They sure aren't sensationally creative, are they?

No wonder there are so many government programs and why certain factions feel more retirement planning programs are needed including expansion to the Canada Pension Plan.

Here are a few quotations about retirement and money saving tips to help you achieve your retirement number and prepare for a prosperous retirement:

Make money your devoted servant; otherwise, it will be an overbearing master.
— Italian proverb

"People who don't respect money don't have any."
— J. Paul Getty, Billionaire Oil Tycoon

"He who buys what he does not need steals from himself."
— Anon

"Getting money is like digging with a needle. Spending it is like water soaking into the sand."
— Japanese proverb

"Money will appear when you are doing the right things in your life."
— Michael Phillips

"When it comes to making more money, most people look at the world and see the same opportunity they’ve seen before: typically, a job. Because they don’t awaken their mind and expand their vision, they don’t see other opportunities. Yet opportunities do exist. So how do you change your thinking so you can see them? One way to jolt the brain out of its preconceived category thinking is to bombard it with new experiences."
— Joe Vitale

"He that lives upon hope will die fasting."
— Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth

"We have 14 children, our primary backup for our retirement. The best investment ever."
— Anon, in response to article "Four ways 60-year-olds can save their retirement"

"With money you're a dragon; without it you're a worm."
— Chinese proverb

Ernie Z.