Tackling the challenges of benefits provision for employees over age 65
by Kim Siddall
Increasing longevity, better health and the elimination of mandatory retirement means many Canadians are delaying their retirement past age 65, presenting employers with both advantages and challenges for managing benefits for this unexpected segment of their workforce.
Statistics Canada’s last census indicated that one in four Canadian seniors were still working in some capacity past the traditional age of retirement, whether driven by choice or economic necessity. This finding was echoed by Sun Life’s last Unretirement index last year, which pointed to a growing number of Canadians who fully expect to still be working full time at age 66. In fact, 2015 marked the first year in the seven years of the study that more respondents expected to be working full time at 66 than those who expected to be fully retired. Read more 
Boomer + Sandwich Generation + Club Sandwich + Boomerang = Financial Instability
The Sandwich Generation was a term coined by Dorothy Miller in 1981 to describe adult children who were “sandwiched” between their aging parents and their own maturing children. There is even a term for those of us who are in our 50’s or 60’s with elderly parents, adult children and grandchildren – the Club Sandwich. More recently, the Boomerang Generation (the estimated 29% of adults ranging in ages 25 to 34, who live with their parents), are adding to the financial pressures as Boomers head into retirement. It is estimated that by 2026, 1 in 5 Canadians will be older than 65. This means fewer adults to both fund and provide for elder care. Today, it is likely that the average married couple will have more living parents than they do children.
What are the challenges? Read more
Q3 Portfolio Commentary
Relatively speaking… – The third quarter wasn’t supposed to go this way. July opened with stocks still reeling from Britain’s wholly unexpected decision to part ways with the EU and the feeling was widespread that this episode would mark a definitive tipping point in the market’s path. As it happened, though, equity benchmarks defied expectations, with the S&P 500 and TSX gaining about 4% and 5%, respectively, over the three month interval.
Click here to read more: dm-portfolio-commentary-q3-16
DM Monthly Newsletter – Oct 2016
IN Q3, PREY BECAME PREDATOR – It’s not uncommon for Canadian companies to be swallowed up by their larger, often foreign, peers. Names such as Alcan, Inco, and Rona have met such a fate in recent years and in DM portfolios, we’ve lost great firms like St. Lawrence Cement, Teranet, and Shoppers Drug Mart to acquisition. Though the hefty premiums that these deals usually carry are a nice bonus in the short term, we often find ourselves lamenting the loss of a difficult to replace cash flow producer once the dust has settled.
In the third quarter, however, the shoe was on the other foot in our Canadian equity mandates, as several of our positions announced significant purchases.
Click here to read more: dm-monthly-report-oct-16
