CHAPTER 106

2025-11-19

How should one live after retirement? In my case, it must be explained in stages before the story makes sense.

After the 44 days of bleeding inside my skull in early February 2017, I was fortunately saved in time. A hole was drilled in my skull to release the blood, and my life was spared. But from that point on, due to post-traumatic brain injury complications, I was eventually confirmed to have lost 60% of my work capacity and was assessed as a person with a disability, making me eligible to claim the private disability insurance provided by my social-service employer.

If the injury had been work-related, I would have needed to report it to the Workers’ Compensation Board, which would be a completely different matter.

While I was hospitalized after surgery, after years of overwork, I felt unable to keep going and had a sudden desire to rest. I told my wife, and she relied on sheer determination to take charge of planning and applying on my behalf.

This type of workplace disability insurance is not mandatory. I was fortunate to have chosen to contribute every month through payroll deduction, so that I could claim it when the incident occurred. The application was approved three months later. The insurance company told me that they could support me and asked me to apply immediately for the federal disability pension, which is about 30% of my salary.

Eight months later, the government approved the application, retroactive to the date the insurance company had approved my claim. The government refunded the portion of payments that the insurance company had advanced on its behalf—no wonder they were so eager to push me. My total income was maintained at 60% of my former salary, jointly paid by the insurance company and the government, until the end of the month in which I turned 65.

Those approved for the disability pension can claim the Disability Tax Credit, which reduces the amount of tax owed. Mine was valid for seven years, and I would need to reapply once it expired.

At age 64, one can apply early for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement. If approved, they begin from the first month after one’s 65th birthday.

The pension amount depends on years and hours worked in Canada, while the living supplement is a fixed amount. At the same time, the tax authority will assess whether I qualify for income-support benefits for low-income individuals.

I had thought that from age 57 to 65, I was “resting but not retired,” still technically an employee of the social-service agency. But things changed.

A little over a month after turning 64, I went to the pharmacy for medication and discovered that my social-service employer had stopped providing workplace insurance as of January 2024, meaning I had to pay for my prescriptions myself. It was later confirmed that the agency had terminated my employment status, something I regret not having been informed about.

Therefore, as of January 1, 2024, I was technically and truly retired. My retirement life should properly be counted from that point. Before that, I had merely been on extended medical leave, not retired. This is a fact—and the illness was serious: a brain injury and acute depression.

A few months after my wife passed away, the insurance company refunded my years of contributions. Since Canadian labour laws have no fixed statutory retirement age, when exactly was my employment actually terminated? What consequences does that carry? Because I did not want further complications, I chose not to investigate or seek clarification—allowing myself a bit more peace.