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Reading Nook

A curated collection of articles from Sage, our quarterly magazine. Discover thoughtful reporting, expert insights and stories on healthy aging, retirement security and the issues that matter across generations. Download the latest issue of Sage or visit Sage60 for fresh online features published between quarterly issues.

The future of defined-benefit pension plans

The future of defined-benefit pension plans is increasingly in peril.   Earlier this year, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Toronto released a report that described a demographic shift we’ve known was coming for some time — there are…

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What better time to consider social prescribing?

Social prescribing is health care’s cure for loneliness and social isolation. What better time to consider it?   In April, when this article was written, the world was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our governments were imposing various measures to…

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Protecting yourself against phone and cyber scams

Consumers need to be vigilant as scammers become increasingly sophisticated in their approaches.   The automated caller said I won $2,550,000 in a sweepstakes, so I promptly hung up. Too late, says Martin Franssen. Your mistake, he says, was answering a…

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COVID-19: Unsung heroes

Barbara Cretzman returned to a job she loved just one year after she retired because she believes in the mandate of the department and knew they could use her help to get the Canada Emergency Response Benefits out to Canadians….

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How Robert Thirsk fulfilled a dream

Robert Thirsk first went to space in 1996. He initially studied medicine, but when he was a resident at a hospital in New Brunswick, he saw a newspaper ad calling for applications for a new astronaut program Canada was starting….

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What is going on with Alberta’s pensions?

What is going on with Alberta’s pensions? That’s a question that was posed to me a couple of times on a recent trip to Alberta. The province’s premier, Jason Kenney, made headlines in late 2019 by moving some public-sector pension plans…

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Deprescribing: Reducing harm and the cost of prescription drugs

While pharmacare is a hot topic these days, there is a less-discussed aspect of prescription drugs that is gaining more and more attention from health-care professionals and patients alike — deprescribing.   Deprescribing defined Deprescribing is defined by the Canadian…

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Where’s the beef?

To have missed all the fuss over plant-based burgers in the last year, you’d pretty much have to have been living between a bun. Newspapers, magazines and newscasts have been loaded up with stories about these new additions to the…

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The essentials of power of attorney

Leslie Gaudette, a volunteer advocacy program officer for the National Association of Federal Retirees, knew from the experience of family members the importance of having powers of attorney for health and finances in place.   It didn’t take long for…

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A determined advocate for seniors

Deb Schulte may be new to cabinet, but she is not a rookie about seniors’ issues, having founded the special interest Liberal seniors’ caucus.   When Deb Schulte was sworn in as Canada’s minister of seniors in November 2019, she…

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Reversing your fortune

Vera and Bob Smith are typical of many retired couples in Canada — they are house rich and cash poor. They live on old age security and CPP payments, supplemented by a small private pension, and income Vera earns part-time….

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Calling it splits

When it comes to divorce, “70 is the new 30,” according to family lawyer Rick Peticca. A recent survey by his Toronto firm Shulman Law, identified the 60-plus age group as the fastest growing segment of its clientele over the…

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