Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
- June 19, 2017
- Posted by: sd_admin
- Category: Retirement Planning
The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) provides a monthly retirement pension to contributors. The contributions you make are recorded from the time you are 18 until you begin receiving your CPP pension. Generally, the contributions over this entire period determine the amount of benefits you will receive. It also depends on the age when you start getting your CPP or QPP retirement pension.
Age affect your monthly payment
The standard age for beginning to receive your CPP retirement pension is the month after your 65th birthday. However, you can take a reduced pension as early as age 60 or begin receiving an increased pension after age 65.
The amount of your pension will depend on how much and for how long you have contributed to the CPP and on your age when you want your pension to start. If you take it before age 65, your pension will be reduced, by up to 36% at age 60. If you take it after age 65, your pension may be larger, by up to 42% at age 70.
Taking your pension before age 65
If you take the CPP retirement pension early, it is reduced by 0.6% for each month you receive it before age 65 (7.2% per year). This means that by 2016, an individual who starts receiving their CPP retirement pension at the age of 60 will receive 36% less than if they had taken it at 65.
Taking your pension after age 65
If you take your pension late, your monthly payment amount will increase by 0.7% for each month after age 65 that you delay receiving it up to age 70 (8.4% per year).
This means that, an individual who starts receiving their retirement pension at the age of 70 will receive 42% more than if they had taken it at 65.
Canada Pension Plan payment amounts
If the cost of living goes up, so does the amount of your CPP benefits. Your monthly benefits are adjusted every year in January based on the Consumer Price Index. The maximum amount at age 65 for a CPP retirement pension is $1,114.17 per month/ $13,370.04 per year (as of 2017).
The CPP also provides Disability and Survivors benefits. CPP benefits do not start automatically, you must apply for them, along with death benefit of $25,000, which is a one-time payment, not a monthly payment.