by Jim Moore
We seniors don’t get enough respect. We are accused in some quarters of being the generation that has polluted our planet, caused social unrest and wars, enriched ourselves, and made the divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” even greater.
Ok I admit there is some truth to these charges. That said; we are also the generation that has made the most technological and social advancements since the beginning of mankind. Sure , many of us seniors are better off financially than the younger and previous generations, but we are also over the next 10 to 30 years going to enrich the next generation as they will be our beneficiaries.
We seniors are a fast-growing demographic in our country if not the fastest. Frankly, I don’t think society is keeping up with our needs especially as it relates to our health and social needs as we age. I know there are those who disagree.
So allow me to advocate for seniors with respect to three important facets of our lives, namely, banking, telecommunications, and health and social needs.
First with respect to banking. All banking clients get a crummy return on their chequing and/or savings deposits. Similarly GICs. We seniors don’t have as much time as the younger generation to make up for these paltry returns on our deposits. Seniors represent 40-60% of bank profits depending upon the source of this data. The fees that banks charge on sales of mutual funds are outrageous and should be investigated by the appropriate banking authorities.
I would much prefer to buy an exchange traded fund ETF, which has much lower fees but I am out of luck as my bank won’t sell ETFs. Why? It’s because ETF fees are not as lucrative as mutual fund fees. Over time the returns on comparable ETFs and mutual funds for the individual investor are much higher for ETFs. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself.
Most of the six Canadian big banks make a profit of approximately $1 billion every three months. That’s a staggering amount of profit. That profit goes back to the corporation and to the stockholders with the exception of retained earnings to build the bank infrastructure, etc. So that means we seniors contribute 40 to 60% of these huge profits. What do we get in return? We get hot diggity dog that’s what we get.
Telecommunications. So my complaint here is what Canadians pay for Internet, TV and cell phone services. We all know who the big providers are and 99% of us use these providers. Seniors are no exception. If you check data available from the CRTC, in many cases Canadians pay more than the U.S rates for the same service-not always and it depends on the service and geography. Generally we do pay significantly more for broadband and wireless services than European countries. Most seniors live on a fixed income. We don’t always have the latitude to pay these exorbitant fees. How about a serious discussion between the telecommunications regulators and the big three providers with a view to discounting these services for seniors, especially low income seniors?
