Untitled

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 199, 27 September 1909, Page 2

► .STATE ANNUITIES. I The Canadian Government's scheme of ► annuities, according to a description re- [ cently given by Dr. Jamcis »Sauison, chief ► lecturer of the Dominion, provides a t for New Zealand. Briefly ex- ► plained, the plan of the Dominion Go- ► vernment is a plea to the people of ► Canada to put in force the old English ► proverb, "Take care of the pencil ami ► the pounds will take care of them- ► selves." In no sense is it a moncyv making proposition. Its purpose, a> ► Dr. tiam&on explained,, is other for the ► uplifting of the. people; to mstiHnto J thvm the principles of thrift, so thai, ► by contributing in small amounts to- ► wards the purchase of annuities, they , may in their old age be protected from ► want and poverty. He strongly em- | phased the fact that the Governments , annuity plan was not a pension scheme. ► There was no pension business about it. | The Government had decided that such a scheme was dangerous and unnecessary. There "was 110 man in Canada to- , day who could not put away enough to 1 guarantee that in his old age he would be saved the disgrace of going to the poorhouse. The annuity plan wa& a business transaction. It was not made for thu rich, but for the working peopk who owned the country. After enumerating different methods of saviug money, Dr. Samson went on to speak more in detail of the Government's scheme. An annuity, he explained, was an arrangement made with a company or country by which the individual undertook to pay certain sums with bhr> understanding that at a certain time of life he should begin to draw the money out and continue until he died. Should he live as many years as he was expected to live, he would draw out all that was paid; in and interest, less an amount for expenses. In 1 lio Government's plan there were no expanses and interest was compounded at 4 per cent. A person could go in at any age from live to seventy years, Payments could be made weekly, monthly, yearly, m\ in fact, on any system, Vud could t».* handed in at any post oflice or sent direct to the Government by cheque. No annuity was it-sued for less than 50 dollars or for more than 000 dollars a year. The plan was nol intended for rich 'men. The annuity could not he obtained before the age of fifty-five was reached, but any time after that might be named. When the annuity began the payments stopped, and a* certain sum would be paid out every ninety days as long as life lasted. There wa\ a condition that on taking up the plan each person must be a bona fide citizen of Canada. lie could leave the country afterwards and never come back, but he must be living in the Dominion when he began. There was no medical examination, and no way of compelling th.* individual to make payments. Tlip° only thing was that money once sent must remain until the annuity was dn«. Should a man die before his annuity was due all that he had paid i n was given hack to hie wife or children with 3 per cent, interest. Dr. Samson gave examples of the annuity plan. He in stauccd one case in which a youn* ma:i getting married, by paying in ahoia 50 cents weekly to obtain a<u annuity, | at 55 years would; receive 400 dollars a I year, or he could leave the money untouched and at 65 would be entitled U receive COO dollars a year. Protection could! also he obtained for his wife hv insuring the annuity so that it would be payable at the end of a certain period whether he were alive or dead In answer to the question whether such a pJ.an was worth while, Dr. Samson stated that in North America to-dav ninety-five out of every one hundr 1 '! men of sixty years of age had either u work or were dependent, and he added that sfctista showed that ninety-two out of every one hundred men lost all they had between the ages of 40 a ni 55, and had to begin over again.