David Boisclair

Financial literacy and retirement planning in Canada

In this paper, we draw on internationally comparable survey evidence on financial literacy and retirement planning in Canada to investigate how financially literate Canadians are and how financial literacy is linked to retirement planning. We find that 42% of respondents are able to correctly answer three simple questions measuring knowledge of interest compounding, inflation, and risk diversification. This is consistent with evidence from other countries, and Canadians perform relatively well in comparison with Americans but worse than individuals in other countries, such as Germany. Among Canadian respondents, the young and the old, women, minorities, and those with lower educational attainment do worse, a pattern that has been consistently found in other countries as well. Retirement planning is strongly associated with financial literacy; those who responded correctly to all three financial literacy questions are 10 percentage points more likely to have retirement savings.

The economic benefits of reducing cardiovascular disease mortality in Quebec, Canada

Objectives We assess how different scenarios of cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, aimed at meeting targets set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for 2025), may impact healthcare spending in Quebec, Canada over the 2050 horizon. Methods We provide long-term forecasts of healthcare use and costs at the Quebec population level using a novel dynamic microsimulation model. Using both survey and administrative data, we simulate the evolution of the Quebec population’s health status until death, through a series of dynamic transitions that accounts for social and demographic characteristics associated with CVD risk factors. Results A 25% reduction in CVD mortality between 2012 and 2025 achieved through decreased incidence could contain the pace of healthcare cost growth towards 2050 by nearly 7 percentage points for consultations with a physician, and by almost 9 percentage points for hospitalizations. Over the 2012–2050 period, the present value of cost savings is projected to amount to C

Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in Canada

13.1 billion in 2012 dollars. The years of life saved due to improved life expectancy could be worth another C

Analyse de la rentabilité économique des scénarios de réforme du RRQ proposés en 2016

38.2 billion. Addressing CVD mortality directly instead would bring about higher healthcare costs, but would generate more value in terms of years of life saved, at C

Une analyse économique de propositions visant à bonifier la couverture du risque de longévité

69.6 billion. Conclusions Potential savings associated with plausible reductions in CVD, aimed at reaching a World Health Organization target over a 12-year period, are sizeable and may help address challenges associated with an aging population.