The Pension Puzzle: Your Complete Guide to Government Benefits, RRSPs, and Employer Plans

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

If your eyes glaze over and your mind checks out at the mere thought of
a pension guide, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. This one is
different. It’s actually readable. Furthermore, almost all of it is
understandable. And while no one is going to call it a fun read, for
those who have reached that age where any mention of the R word
(retirement, of course) quickens the pulse rate, Cohen and Fitzgerald
have come up with a real gift: a pension guide that doesn’t require
readers to hold a degree in actuarial science to make it past Chapter 1.


The pension world is an alphabet soup of acronyms. Comfortable with
OAS, CPP, and RRSP? Well, that’s a start, but don’t get
overconfident. The chapters ahead are awash with RPP, STEW. PAR, DPSP,
SERP, IPP, LIRA, and at least a dozen more. The glossary definitely
helps, as does the authors’ one-step-at-a-time style and their
recognition that much of the content is alien matter to most readers.

There’s empathy for the inevitable confusion, and recognition that
the going is not easy. The underlying assumption is that understanding
one’s financial future is important enough to justify the exertion
required to sort through the complexities of government, employer, and
personal plans. The authors have positioned themselves to be the guide
at your side as you suffer through this mind-stretching exercise on the
way to finding out what the future does hold, at least financially.

It’s great that all the information is Canadian, with provincial
differences fully accounted for. It’s wonderful that the authors have
a sense of humour. And it’s reassuring that they really know their
stuff and have researched every wrinkle of a complex topic.