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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 26 ,2 01 9 | 8 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised family of newspapers is comprised f of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. 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OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM You know the calls - the ones from people purporting to be from the Canada Revenue Agency, a bank or the like. They say they're collecting on a debt and use fraud- ulent caller ID to make their call seem legitimate. Most of us know enough by now to just hang up, but thousands of Canadians have fallen for these scams and been bilked out of millions of dollars over the past few years. Now Ottawa is requiring telecom companies to crack down on so-called caller ID spoofing by implementing new technology designed to head off these fake calls. That sounds like very good news, and it is. But before we applaud too loudly we must ask: why is it taking so long for the telecoms and the government to take effec- tive action against this obvious fraud? The CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecom- munications Commission) has announced that telecom companies must put in place a new tool known by the impressive acronym STIR/SHAKEN. It allows service providers to verify caller ID information for Internet Protocol-based voice calls, and let customers know whether they are legitimate. But there's a sting in the announcement: the compa- nies don't have to do this until the end of next September - almost 10 months from now. Why the delay? No doubt there are technical issues to deal with, but this is hardly a new problem and the search for ways to tackle it has been going on for quite some time. In fact, you can go all the way back to July 2015, some four and a half years ago, to find an announcement by the CRTC that it was holding a public consultation to gather ideas to combat ID spoofing. "Canadians are very frustrated with telemarketers who hide their identity or misappropriate the legitimate numbers of Canadians and businesses," said Jean-Pierre Blais, the agency's chairman at the time. He said the search was on for "new and innovative solutions." Quite a search. By the time the telecom companies have implemented the STIR/SHAKEN system next Sept. 30, it will have taken five years, two months and a couple of weeks to go from consultation to solution. And even then experts caution that it won't be effective against all spoofed calls, including those that come over land lines. The scammers, meanwhile, are highly motivated to figure out imaginative ways to get around whatever defen-figure out imaginative ways to get around whatever defen-f sive systems the CRTC and the telecom companies come up with. Who knows what they may come up with next? The CRTC is right that fake calls are a "major irri- tant" for Canadians, and it deserves credit for taking action to block as many as possible. But it and the telecom companies are going to have to step up their game if they want to stay ahead of the fraudsters who are out to pick our pockets over the phone. WHY THE DELAY ON PHONE FRAUD MEASURES? Guess what many se- niors are doing during re- tirement? Going back to work. There are many rea- sons retirees opt to go back to work. Some are looking for ways to ward off boredom, others want intellectual stimulation or enjoy the social inter- action. Then there are those whose retirement reality is that they haven't saved enough during their working years, and life expectan- cy is increasing. Growing old can be ex- pensive. Particularly in later years, when addi- tional services are re- quired for things people used to do easily on their own. Add to that inflation and anticipated medical costs not covered under our current system. If you are looking for post-retirement income, it would be helpful to find something you enjoy so your work becomes something of a new hob- by. Here are a few op- tions. Trading one boss for another may not be what you envisioned in retire- ment. The good news is we live in a gig economy where temporary, flexi- ble and freelance jobs are commonplace. As an en- trepreneur you become your own boss, giving you control over your wor- kload and perhaps the benefit of working from home. For seniors who have amassed a wealth of knowledge, skills and ex- perience, consulting or mentoring in their field of expertise could be re- warding. If you like to be out and about and enjoy talking to people, consider be- coming an Uber driver or a dog walker. Do you enjoy writing? Blogging or writing for an industry you have a deep knowledge of may be right for you. If your skills are rusty you will need to update them, especially in tech- nology. You will also need to update your LinkedIn and other social media profiles. Earning additional funds to help pay for afunds to help pay for af long and happy retire- ment has many advan- tages. If you are careful to se- lect an activity that is tru- ly of interest, your quali- ty of life could be greatly enhanced. Two questions. Are you retired? Is it time to go back to work? Peter Watson, of Wat- son Investments MBA, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, FCSI offers a weekly financial planning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be con- tacted through www.wat- soninvestments.com WHAT DOES YOUR RETIREMENT LOOK LIKE? GOING BACK TO WORK CAN BE REWARDING, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column EDITORIAL