‘I’m a 62-year-old single, divorced woman living paycheque to paycheque. Should I apply for CPP early?’
I am a single, divorced woman, aged 62. I have a pension from my current job, where I have been working for 28 years. My ex was entitled to part of my pension when we divorced after 20 years of marriage. I have a car payment that will be paid out December, 2026, no Registered Retirement Savings Plan and credit card debt. I am currently living paycheque to paycheque and was thinking of applying for Canada Pension Plan early. My intention is to use my CPP payments to directly pay off my debt and hoping to be debt-free when I retire at 65. Is this a good idea? We asked Howard Kabot, vice-president for Financial Planning Specialists with RBC Wealth Management, to answer this one. When to start taking CPP is perhaps the most common question from readers. According to Statistics Canada, more than 40 per cent of Canadians who are eligible choose to take CPP at age 60 while more than 90 per cent will opt to take it by age 65. There is a lot of additional information required to allow a more co...