By Dian Cohen
I was horrified the other day when I read that cryptocurrencies are finding their way into RRSPs and other retirement savings plans. My ideas about saving and dealing with money come straight out of antiquity – I’m the child of people making their way during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Oatmeal for breakfast and saving money were staples. The things I know about cryptocurrency – that it’s digital, unregulated and volatile – is enough for me to say it doesn’t belong in an RRSP.
I wonder if any of my advice about money management is valid for people younger than me. After all, 80 years lie between the Boomers and Gen Alpha – the circumstances of our lives have been very different, and so are our attitudes about money. Advice is like a tree falling in the woods – if nobody hears it, does it make a noise?
I’m pretty sure it’s been okay for Boomers – age 58-76. Post-war optimism and a rapidly growing economy shaped them and, although I’m older, I benefitted from that rapid economic growth too. Unhappily, boomers are growing increasingly concerned about affording their retirement years – on average, they’d like to have another couple of hundred thousand saved. More than half say they’ll downsize and 40% say they’ll work continue to work to supplement their retirement income. They know what they’re doing and don’t need much advice.
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If a tree falls in the woods
