Catching up on this @MarketWatch article on how retirement income planning needs to change in 2021, and to this commentary from @davidmblanchett on the value of delaying Social Security (CPP and OAS in ) benefits: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-retirement-planning-needs-to-change-in-the-new-year-2020-12-28?mod=mw_latestnews

Delaying CPP increases the amount you get *not only* by the "actuarial adjustment" factor which ups the age-65 amount by 0.7% per month / 8.2% per year, but *also* by increases in the "Year's Maximum Pensionable Benefit," or the amount of wages covered by CPP contributions

That's because your CPP benefit amount, when calculated, takes all of your past earnings—which might have started a few decades ago—and updates them to current values using the YMPE. A bit more from me on this here: https://www.moneysense.ca/columns/ask-moneysense/how-to-understand-your-cpp-statement-of-contributions-for-future-retirement-benefits/

You may have noticed that the YMPE jumped by almost 5% this year (from $58,700 in 2020 to $61,600 in 2021), when official inflation, or CPI – the value used to adjust your CPP benefit once you take it – hovered around 1%. https://www.morneaushepell.com/ca-en/insights/ympe-and-tax-limits-jump-nearly-five-cent-2021

The YMPE is based on "average industrial wages" (= non-farm wages), which rose in 2020 as the pandemic took out a lot of lower-wage employment. The result: a much higher year-over-year in the YMPE than normal, and thus an increase in the "bonus" from waiting to claim CPP, too

Delaying OAS doesn't provide the same bonus, as 1. the actuarial adjustment from delaying is lower than for CPP (0.6% per month increase from waiting, compared to 0.7% for CPP), and 2. the benefit is only adjusted over time by inflation (not wages) –

but @davidmblanchett's logic still applies: relative to current interest rates, delaying is still a great option

See also @davidmblanchett's further commentary (in the same article) on the value of annuities as retirement income in a low-rate environment:

While annuity payouts decrease (slowly) as interest rates fall, at advanced ages (say, 75+) the impact of mortality credits means life annuities pay out at considerably higher rates than products with similar guarantees, for a retiree seeking income

And for a retiree who uses non-registered funds to purchase an income annuity, again at advanced ages the taxable income can be considerably lower than the monthly payment – preserving government benefits and making more funds available to spend and meet day-to-day needs

Last April, I predicted (in @moneysense) that the pandemic will change the way we think about retirement by "increasing the allure of guaranteed income," including via annuities: https://www.moneysense.ca/save/retirement/planning-for-retirement-after-covid-19/

While, as always, time will tell whether any of those predictions hold water, I'm glad to see the discussion about the value of guaranteed income, including strategies for delaying CPP and OAS, gaining prominence for retirement income planning