OMERS report underscores a growing consensus for retirement planning that extends beyond finances, argues OMERS' Celine Chiovitti
One of Canada’s largest Maple eight funds has unveiled a retirement readiness report, one that underscores a critical need for people to engage in holistic retirement planning.
Findings from OMERS' Retire Ready Impact Report found that retirement is more than finances. While financial security, is indeed important, plan sponsors also need to think about physical well-being, mental health, and social connection and how it relates to retirement.
Celine Chiovitti, OMERS’ chief pension officer, is adamant that the time has come for plan sponsors to take this broader understanding seriously. After all, she asserted the findings speak for themselves as they reveal a serious gap between what Canadians expect from retirement and how prepared they actually are.
“Plan sponsors have a responsibility, not just to their own members, but to all Ontarians to step up and to really help educate and help promote the value of comprehensive retirement planning,” said Chiovitti. “It's good for the individual, it's good for small communities. It's good for Canada as a whole. We're all in this together and we need to really break down any of the stigmas and consider how do we help everybody feel like they are ready for their future financial health?”
“There is a real need for comprehensive retirement planning and to move away from what we think about more traditionally as preparing for retirement,” she added.
OMERS’ Retire Ready Impact Report highlights a notable gap between general retirement satisfaction and the achievement of what retirees consider their “ideal” retirement. While more than 80 per cent of retired Ontarians say they’re happy, only 60 per cent feel they retired on their own terms - with the right timing, health, and financial security.
Meanwhile, just 45 per cent describe themselves as very happy, and 38 per cent report only moderate contentment, revealing that many fall short of their retirement expectations despite a generally positive outlook.
The findings underscore a growing consensus on the need for retirement planning that extends beyond finances. While financial readiness remains a top concern, notably among non-retirees and women, a significant portion of both retired (71 per cent) and non-retired (58 per cent) of individuals believe that planning should also cover physical and mental health, as well as social connection.
Financial readiness also remains a priority, especially for women and those still working, but only about 40 per cent of retirees said they had planned comprehensively across all life domains. Those who did reported better overall health and higher satisfaction. Despite three-quarters of retirees doing some form of planning before leaving the workforce, many later regretted not focusing more on their physical health or financial security.
Yet, disparities persist as women continue to feel less confident and less prepared for retirement, and younger non-retirees under 50 are more worried about financial stability and slower to begin planning. The report also noted that retirees with a pension plan were much better prepared, though many still wish they had paid more attention to both their physical health and financial security prior to retiring.
Chiovitti underscored retirement planning needs a serious update, not just in strategy but in mindset. Gone are the days, she said, when people simply hit a financial number and walked out the door. Today, with many people living into their 90s and beyond, retirement stretches over decades, not years.
That long horizon, she argues, demands deeper planning.
“We need to remove the stigma that comes around aging and this outdated notion of hitting a certain number and you need to be gone. That needs to change within the workplace and beyond,” she said. “Some people will be retired for longer than they were working. Surely, you’re not going to just open up a book every single day. You’re going to want to have a holistic plan.”
For Chiovitti, retirement planning needs to start earlier and be accessible to everyone, regardless of age. She encourages employers to give workers in their 30s, 40s, and 50s the tools to reflect on what retirement could look like, not just whether they can afford it, but how they’ll live it. She also wants to challenge deeply ingrained assumptions about aging and retirement itself.
Beyond the workplace, Chiovitti sees broader social implications. She asserted that when people are financially prepared and supported with the right social programs, they’re less likely to rely on public subsidies. This reduces pressure on government systems and strengthens social infrastructure.
Ultimately, Chiovitti stressed the findings highlight a broader definition of preparedness: one that must include physical health, mental wellness, and sustained social connections, and not just whether someone can afford to retire.
But she also emphasized that lasting happiness in retirement stems from a much more holistic framework. Drawing on international examples, such as research into “blue zones” and the growing reality of a 100-year life, she added that OMERS is now looking at readiness through four key dimensions: financial, physical, mental, and social.
She believes these findings should prompt pension plans and employers alike to act sooner rather than later.
“What it tells us as a pension plan, as a plan sponsor, is we actually need to do some work in that area,” she said, pointing to the need for better tools, education, and systemic reform. Additionally, employers, she added, should view this investment as essential to employee well-being.
“If you have employees who can focus on their day to day because they’re not worried about the future… then you’ve got a happier employee. You've got better retention,” she noted, adding the payoff is not just in workplace morale, but in long-term engagement and performance.
“It’s a bit of that cascading effect,” she said.
