The $100,000 Decision: Your CPP/QPP and Other Key Choices to Transform Your Retirement

“This book is a must-read for workers approaching retirement. It explains in plain English why for most people delaying the start date of CPP/QPP benefits is the key financial decision needed to facilitate the highest possible standard of living throughout one's period of retirement.” — David Dodge, former Governor of the Bank of Canada

“Having spent much of my career working on retirement security in both the public and private sectors, I know how hard it can be to navigate a complicated system and make good personal decisions. This book makes it easier: Grounded in a lifetime of research, it offers clear, practical, step-by-step advice to help Canadians get the most from CPP/QPP and OAS.” — Bill Morneau, former Minister of Finance of Canada

“Financial schemes that promise an easy $100,000 payoff should generally be avoided. Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald’s book The $100,000 Decision offers a credible exception to that rule for many CPP/QPP participants. Buying her book to learn how and why would likely be the best investment decision they will ever make.” — Keith P. Ambachtsheer, Director Emeritus of the International Centre for Pension Management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

“Retirement might feel like a far-off, foreign world — but it is never too soon to understand how you want to live this final third of your life. The $100,000 Decision provides a disciplined approach to analyzing one of the most consequential decisions: how best to fund your retirement between lifetime income and decumulating savings. A must-read for those of us looking for peace of mind in retirement.” — Jim Leech, CM, OOnt, CD, former CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

“This excellent book should be required reading for every Canadian thinking about retirement. In easy-to-read prose, Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald explains how waiting until age 70 to claim CPP benefits pays off with a larger, risk-free, inflation-indexed lifetime pension. She has done the math and run the simulations, and for most people, delaying their claim clearly is the winning retirement income strategy, both financially and for long-term peace of mind. She also systematically demolishes the misconceptions, biases, and confused thinking that underlie why most retiring Canadians don’t do this — and unnecessarily have a poorer and more stressful old age as a result.” — Lars Osberg, McCulloch Professor of Economics, Dalhousie University

“Read this book for a more secure retirement, both financially and emotionally. Count me among the people following Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald’s advice on when to start CPP/QPP.” — Rob Carrick, former Globe and Mail personal finance columnist

“Finally, a book of wisdom on one of the most important lifelines in our later years — the Canada Pension Plan. With expert analysis, facts, and humour, Dr. Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald eliminates the eternal confusion on why and when to take the public pension, offering clarity that can eliminate decades of regret.” — Moira Welsh, Toronto Star journalist and author of The Astonishing Lives of Older Women and Happily Ever Older

“An impressive, thoroughly researched, and well-written resource for any Canadian concerned with their financial security in retirement.” — Jean-Claude Ménard, Chief Actuary of Canada from 1999–2019

“We spend a lifetime being told to save for retirement, then pay remarkably little attention to how we make that money last for the rest of our lives. The $100,000 Decision shows that one of the best answers for the majority of Canadians has been sitting there all along, in a public pension most Canadians already have but too few of us fully understand.” — John Stapleton, Social Policy, Ageing and Well-being Policy Fellow at the National Institute on Ageing, and Principal at Open Policy Ontario

“Timely. Easy to read. Potentially life-changing. Few books deliver all three. Canada is entering a new era, with more seniors than ever before. If your golden years are on the horizon, this book is packed with news you can use. Read it before you need it.” — Armine Yalnizyan, economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers

“I have been encouraging Bonnie-Jeanne to write this book for over a decade, and Canadians can finally benefit from her procrastination. Her message is more valuable now than ever. Whether the number is $100,000, half that, or perhaps double, it behoves everyone approaching their ‘decumulation moment’ to think carefully about when to ask for their money back from CPP or QPP. Procrastination can pay off!” — Moshe Milevsky, Professor of Finance, Schulich School of Business, York University

“As a geriatrician, I see every day what financial insecurity does to threaten the health and well-being of my older patients. This book tackles one of the most consequential and overlooked retirement decisions, and it does so with rigour, clarity, and genuine compassion. Every Canadian approaching retirement should read it to ensure they can yield their best possible longevity dividend.” — Dr. Samir Sinha, geriatrician and clinician scientist, Sinai Health and the University Health Network