Play golf, backpack to Peru or/and become a plumber?

This new report (New Frontiers of Research on Retirement) from Statistics Canada looks at some fascinating and vitally important issues.

The report centers on four main themes.

Gender differences in retirement patterns. The behaviour of baby boomer women will greatly influence what retirement in Canada looks like in the future. Women are much more likely than men to see retirement as involving more than just getting a pension or stopping paid work.

Difficult decisions about retirement. The growing number of women with substantial pension benefits is having a major impact on decisions about retirement in Canadian families. For more and more couples, decision-making is becoming much more complex.

Maintaining a standard of living in retirement. Amid growing uncertainty about their future financial security, an increasing number of people do not know when they will retire. Others have simply delayed their retirement.

Complex and flexible retirement paths. With a massive wave of retirement looming among baby boomers, the labour supply from older workers will grow in importance. Many will likely choose to become self-employed, making flexible retirement paths more prevalent.

All of these issues have immense marketing implications that we are only just beginning to understand let alone know how to respond. Getting this report is not a bad starting point.Dick Stroud