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Financial Post, Wednesday February 16th, 2000 P. E6

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Retiring Boomers set to detonate .

a demographic 'time bomb'

By OLEV EDUR

According to a report just released by the Association of Canadian Pension Management (APCM), the Baby Boom generation will begin retiring in about 10 years' time, and as a result the ratio of workers to pensioners is expected to fall from [the current] 4:1 to 2:1 over the next 30 years.
As a result, tax revenues from all sources may have to rise about 30% in real, after-inflation terms, in order to adequately fund our health care and retirement systems.

· Among other things, ACPM also recommended that the federal government:

(a) reduce disincentives for Canadians to save for retirement

(b) encourage individuals to take more responsibility for their own financial future.

· If current social policy and tax rules are at odds with the best arrangement, then individuals must he willing to make their views known to employers as well as to the provincial and federal governments.

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Financial Post, Wednesday February 16th, 2000 P. E6

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Retiring Boomers set to detonate .

a demographic 'time bomb'

By OLEV EDUR

A demographic 'time bomb" leading to a 30% increase in already high income taxes, and giving rise to an intergenerational "age war" - that's the Association of Canadian Pension Management's grim prognosis for our retirement income system. - -ACPM's 1,000 members oversee 80% of Canadian pension assets.

The basic problem, according to an ACPM report released last month, is that, starting in 10 years, the demographic Baby Boom bulge will begin retiring, straining our retirement and health care systems to the breaking point.

'These programs could become unstuck as the ratio of workers to pensioners falls from [the current] 4:1 to 2:1 over the next 30 years", the report noted. Canada's public spending on pensions and health care could rise from 13% if GDP in 1995 to 23% in 2030 a