Examples of Pension Stories

EXAMPLES OF PENSION STORIES

Pension Story 1

I approached an individual who was enjoying a coffee at a local coffee shop and asked if it would be okay to sit down and discuss her retirement. I told her I was a student from the University of Windsor in my fourth year of my degree. I also advised Evelynn that this was for my university course on Pensions, and that I do not need any specific dollar amounts or personal information. The lady agreed to answer a couple of my questions, so I sat down with Evelynn.

I wanted to get some background information on Evelynn prior to asking her about her pension. Evelynn has 2 children, which have families of their own now. She has 5 grandkids and often spends her days with them. Evelynn also is currently living by herself in an apartment as her husband had past away several years ago.

 I then asked “how did you earn a living? What did you do for work and how many years were you employed?”

She answered “Well, I first started out working at a canning factory near my home town. I did that job for about 3 years, and then left that job to raise my family. We owned a farmhouse in the country and my husband was a farmer. We farmed over 700 Acres of land which always kept us busy. I never returned to my old job.”

I then went on to inquire about her pension. I asked “In your opinion, do you feel like the government is giving you a fair amount to live off of your pension?”

Evelynn chuckled and stated “The government treats us like the welfare people, we (the eldery) barely have enough to survive”. Evelynn went on to discuss her expenses, she pays for her apartment, her car insurance, gas, food, and TV. She said that she does not have internet because she doesn’t use it, but she would like to have it for her grandkids who have iPads.  She went on to say that she has to have her two children help pay for her monthly living expenses because she does not receive enough from her pension. Her oldest son pays for her cell phone bill so that she can have a phone in the event of an emergency.

I questioned “Is it fair to say that the pension you receive is NOT enough to survive on?” to which Evelynn agreed is was not. I also asked her “Have you considered a part-time job at maybe Wal-Mart or somewhere else for a couple days a week to make money?”

She explained “I am too old to be working, I have put in my time and it is the generations to come that should respect that and help the elderly survive”. Evelynn explained that she had already cut down her expenses by moving to a smaller apartment and does not have internet.

I thanked her for her time, and left the coffee shop.

Critical Reflection

1. I took from this interaction that Evelynn is not satisfied with her retirement. It was evident that she didn’t work for a company and she did not save her own money for retirement. The result of this being a poor retirement plan. Just discussing how she doesn’t have enough money to be independent was very troublesome. She needed help from her kids to survive. The government has provided Evelynn with a very basic retirement package.
2. It was challenging to talk to Evelynn about her retirement. It is not a typical conversation but once we began conversing it was much easier. I had my questions on a notepad when we began the interview and stuck to the questions.
3. The fact that she worked her entire adult life and still is struggling to make ends meet. Evelynn said that when her husband was alive, they lived in a house and were living okay. But now that it is just her pension income, it is not enough even with the downsizing to an apartment.
4. Something I still think about from the conversation is when Evelynn said that she is too old to work, and has worked her whole life. This sticks out to me because I certainly would not want to work when I am a grandparent. I don’t think it is fair to have elderly people who can’t make ends meet get a part-time job.
5. Something that I would want to talk about again with other people is their personal retirement savings. Evelynn did not have any savings or a retirement plan. It is clear that she was not concerned with retirement going through her adult life. She is partially responsible for her retirement dilemma. We discussed in class how a pension is different than school and a house. The benefit is so far down the road that it is often overlooked. This is what happened to Evelynn.

Pension Story 2

Approaching individual and laying the ground work

I approached the individual by stating curiosity on retirement and pensions. I told him that I want to discuss this topic for my class report, and for my own interest because I recognize that retirement is a life event that is ahead of me and preparing and obtaining knowledge for it now will only enhance my preparedness for it in the future. Before conducting the interview, I made clear that I may ask some personal questions; however; personal details such as: their name, their employer, the amount of money they made, and how I know them as an individual will not be disclosed within this report. They were comfortable in identifying themselves as a man and with referencing age’s such as how old they were when they retired.