Just call up the agent/broker and by the time you're 55, you'll be comfortably jogging on a deserted tropical beach.

It's a great way to sell RRSPs and mutual funds - but is it realistic?

For most Canadians, it clearly isn't.

The majority of Canadians get most of their retirement income from the public pension system - Old Age Security, which pays about $410 a month starting at age 65, and the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan, which pays a maximum of about $750 a month starting at age 65, and only about $525 a month if you start collecting it at age 60.

So if you want to be jogging on that tropical beach at 55, you need another source of income.

One way to supplement your public retirement benefits is to belong to an employment-based or private pension plan. Some of these plans have good early retirement benefits, and in some cases, extra bridging benefits, to allow members to retire as early as 55.

Unfortunately, less than 40% of Canadian workers are members of employment-based pension plans. Most of the workers in pension plans are union members. Over 80% of union members belong to employment-based pension plans.

Most members belong to defined benefit plans, where benefits are defined by a formula, like $30 per month per year of service or 2% of final earnings for each year of service. In defined benefit plans, employers contribute what actuaries calculate will be needed to provide the promised benefits.

About 11% of plan members belong to defined contribution plans, where contributions are fixed, and each member has his or her own account, which accumulates with investment earnings. The accumulated member account is used to buy a pension at retirement. These money purchase plans operate very much like individual savings or RRSPs.

While there has been some movement from defined benefit to defined contribution plans in recent years, defined benefit plans are still much more popular. They share the risks among plan members, and resources can be directed to immediately help older workers, or for things like enhanced early retirement benefits.

While defined contribution plans may make sense for groups of mobile and younger workers, each individual member bears the potential risk of poor investment returns, as well as the random (and significant) effects of interest rates at retirement on the benefit their fund can buy. It is also more difficult to forecast your future benefit at retirement from a defined contribution plan.

Multi-employer plans, like the IAM Labour-Management Plans, are hybrids. They are funded by fixed, negotiated employer contributions, but they promise the members a defined benefit. Any surplus arising from good investment results is used to improve benefits. Multi-employer plans offer an affordable alternative to money-purchase plans or group RRSPs, particularly for small and medium-sized groups, where the administrative costs for a single-employer defined benefit plan are very expensive.

Finally, we get to the other main source of retirement income - personal savings. The best way to save for retirement is in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, where taxes on contributions and earnings are deferred until you withdraw the funds or start receiving benefits.

RRSPs can be a valuable retirement income supplement, even if you belong to a good pension plan, but keep a few things in mind. A few thousand dollars in your RRSP isn't going to get you to that tropical beach. At current annuity rates, to buy yourself a lifetime pension of $1,000 a month starting at age 55 you need close to $200,000 in your RRSP.

And don't expect double-digit investment returns every year. Generally, to get higher investment returns, you need to take greater risks, and if you are investing in mutual funds, you can probably count on 2-3% a year in fees and commissions coming off the top of your fund, whether or not you make any money in that year.

So what can you do to have a decent living in retirement?

First, make sure that the private pension industry and their right-wing political friends don't tear down our public pension system, a solid base of retirement income for everyone.

Second, get a pension in your workplace, and if you have one, make it better.

Third, if you can afford it, put some money into RRSPs, and keep an eye not only on the risk and the rate of return, but also on the fees you are paying.

Finally, if you are in a position to invest in an RRSP, you should carefully consider the benefits of investing through a Labour Sponsored Investment Fund. They not only provide a reasonable return, they also come with additional tax benefits and have the bonus of helping to create jobs for our own members.