Jul 14, 2026
Maria, 53, has had a career in education for more than 20 years and has built a pension she describes as solid — but tight — for two people. She’s spent 12 years building her life with her husband, 50-year-old André, who works as a subcontractor with little income to put toward their retirement savings.
Together, the couple has a net worth of nearly US$497,000 (C$706,000). But André’s share of that nest egg is just US$16,000 (C$22,700) — a gap that's taking an emotional toll no spreadsheet can capture.
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“I feel shame,” André told financial expert Ramit Sethi on his podcast, I Will Teach You to Be Rich. “I know that most of the money that is there, it comes from her. I don’t feel that I’m contributing enough.”
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Maria earns US$126,000 (C$179,000) a year, while André earns US$61,000 (C$86,600) working as an HVAC technician, studying for his licence on the side. Maria plans to retire in eight years, at 61. If nothing changes, one question has stuck with her — the same one she asked Sethi: “Am I going to spend all of that time alone?”
While this story takes place south of the border, it is equally relevant here in Canada.
‘Work harder’ isn’t the answer — it’s about teamwork
It would be easy to frame this as a simple income problem, but Sethi pushed back on that. When Maria described wanting André to make more money and have a plan, Sethi identified a point of tension: If André has to earn more, he probably has to work more. But he’s already working six days a week, coming home physically exhausted from crawling under houses replacing ductwork.
“He can’t work any more than he is,” Maria acknowledged.
The deeper issue, Sethi argued, was that this couple — who have combined their finances and are legally married — are still operating financially as individuals rather than a team. Before combining accounts, Maria’s fixed costs made up 48% of her income; André’s made up 85%. She was covering trips to Brazil, insurance, car expenses and savings, while the two maintained a confusing hybrid of joint and separate accounts.
That kind of financial secrecy is common on this side of the border, too. In an April 2026 survey of Canadian households, a Wealthsimple study found 14% of couples admitted to financial infidelity: hiding a purchase, account or debt from a partner — and another 1 in 5 admitted to downplaying a purchase to avoid an awkward conversation.
“When you get married,” Sethi explained, “you can’t just do it your own way. You have to talk to each other. You have to compromise.”
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André’s immigrant experience shapes the math
André’s situation leaves little room for personal choices. Building financial stability as a recent immigrant is systemically harder than it looks from the outside, and Sethi acknowledged that. Without permanent status, André spent years working as a subcontractor, covering his own gas, insurance and supplies while being underpaid on reimbursements, which left him with little room to push back. He received his green card in September 2025.
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“This is one of the many ways that companies screw over people who don’t have a lot of power in the labour force,” Sethi said.
Canadian data shows a similar pattern. A 2026 Statistics Canada analysis found recent immigrant families held C$27,000 less in RRSP assets than Canadian-born families in 2023 — a gap that’s barely narrowed since 2016. Among longer-established immigrant families, the shortfall in Registered Pension Plan (RPP) savings was C$65,400 in 2023, down from C$109,700 in 2016.
The real math is better than they feared
One of the episode’s most powerful moments came when Sethi ran the actual numbers. Maria’s pension is projected to cover roughly 50% of her current US$10,500 (~C$14,900) monthly gross salary in retirement. If André increases his retirement contributions by US$2,000 (~C$2,800) a month after getting his HVAC licence and a better-paying job, the couple would have approximately US$1.53 million (~C$2.17 million) by the time Maria turns 61. Combined with her pension and government benefits, that works out to around US$135,000 (~C$191,700) a year in retirement income.
“None of these have to involve André working till he’s 80,” Maria noted.
What changed
In a follow-up, Maria reported the two had worked out the logistics of moving funds into shared accounts, allowing André to start directing 10% of each paycheque into retirement. He also took the initiative on something small but symbolic — booking their tickets to Brazil, his first trip back in 12 years.
Instead of a bigger paycheque or a perfectly balanced budget, the turning point for Maria and André was reframing the whole question. As Sethi put it: “It’s not a competition. It’s a team going the same direction.”
What this means for Canadian couples
Maria and André’s story shows up in Canadian households too. A few Canadian-specific numbers are worth knowing before assuming a government pension, or a single partner’s savings, will be enough to cover all expenses in retirement.
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The average Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payment for new beneficiaries starting at 65 is C$877.01 a month, well below the maximum of C$1,508. Spouses can also share their CPP retirement pensions with each other, which can lower a household’s overall tax bill.
Old Age Security (OAS), the other main government retirement benefit, tops out at C$751.90 a month for those aged 65 to 74.
A common rule of thumb is that retirees need about 70% of their pre-retirement income to maintain their standard of living, meaning CPP and OAS alone typically aren’t enough for most households.
That’s where a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) comes in. For 2026, the RRSP dollar limit is C$33,810, or 18% of the previous year’s earned income, whichever is lower; the TFSA limit is C$7,000. Couples with a large income disparity, like Maria and André, can also use a spousal RRSP, where the higher-earning partner contributes using their own room but the lower-earning partner owns the account — a strategy that can help split retirement income more evenly later on.
None of that changes the emotional side of what Sethi described. But for Canadian couples where one partner is contributing less toward retirement, it helps to know that the right tools — CPP sharing, spousal RRSPs, regular money check-ins — can close the gap before it becomes a source of shame.
— with files from Melanie Huddart
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With a writing and editing career spanning over 15 years, Emma creates and refines content across a broad spectrum of industries, including personal finance, lifestyle, travel, health & wellness, real estate, beauty & fitness and B2B/SaaS/tech.
