BY THE NUMBERS

Re Canada Pension Plan Premiums Are Not A Ta x(Sept. 27): Canada Pension Plan premiums are savings. It may seem that increases to contributions by employees and businesses are hard to bear, but CPP remains a modest program compared with many national pension plans.

For instance, employee and employer contributions to U.S. Social Security are 6.2 per cent each on employee earnings up to US$147,000, with maximum monthly benefits of US$3,345. CPP is much smaller than Social Security, even with ongoing CPP expansion.

Over time, higher CPP benefits will provide more retirement income for seniors. Very few employees have access to generous defined benefit pensions (other than public-service workers) and with the inability of many Canadians to set aside money for retirement, additional CPP benefits will be crucial for many in the future.

Tony Hooper Toronto

I can only conclude that those who state that Canada Pension Plan premiums are not a tax have never employed anyone or been self-employed.

Douglas Andrews Regina