For many older Ontarians who spoke with CTV News Toronto this week, the gap between expectation and reality is widening.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/7AMWCMMJ4JFKBAI4UWNMOG3HWQ.jpg\")
photo illustration A person works on a spreadsheet in a photo illustration made in Toronto, on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Sammy Kogan Feeling \u2018stuck in the middle\u2019<\/p>\n
Scott and his wife retired a few years ago. Their combined household income was once about $130,000, but they are now living off less in retirement and finding themselves forced to make sacrifices as the cost of everything goes up. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re kind of like a sandwich, stuck in the middle between the wealthy and the ones below the middle class that are suffering and struggling,\u201d Scott said. <\/p>\n
Scott said that he knew going in that his retirement income would mean that he wouldn\u2019t be able to \u201csplurge\u201d on expensive trips and other luxuries. <\/p>\n
But he said that he has had to make smaller sacrifices as well, particularly at the grocery store. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not making any exceptions. We\u2019re not buying red meat. There are just some products that are prohibitively expensive, and so we\u2019re trying to stay within a moderate budget,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Doug Hoyes<\/a>, a licensed insolvency trustee with Hoyes, Michalos & Associates, agrees that \u201ckeeping your expenses as low as possible\u201d should be a priority in retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cCapital preservation is a priority, but keeping your expenses as low as possible is a priority too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Melissa Allen<\/a>, founding partner of Capital M Ventures notes a trend of retirees cutting expenses and working longer to manage finances.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m seeing drastic cuts to bills and even luxuries… there are retired folks I know who completely cut out indulgences like a bottle of wine a week, because that extra $30 a month makes a huge difference in terms of their budget.\u201d<\/p>\n For Scott, the stakes are both immediate and generational.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, our income in retirement is not keeping up with the cost of living. I\u2019m more concerned about my children and my grandchildren,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat is middle class anymore?\u2026 We\u2019re kind of stuck in the middle between the wealthy and the ones below the middle class that are suffering and struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018You think you\u2019re prepared \u2014 but it slaps you\u2019<\/p>\n That squeeze is even more worrisome for Ontarians still working but worried about what comes next.<\/p>\n Carol Johnson, age 56, earns about $70,000 a year and lives in Hamilton, where she bought a three-bedroom home in 2024 after receiving a $20,000 inheritance from her sister. She works as an administrative assistant for the City of Toronto and is the sole income earner after her husband became ill during the pandemic.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m overwhelmed. I\u2019m budgeting to as close to the cup as I can\u2026 it\u2019s just a lot. It\u2019s really rough, she said.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoving from a renter to home ownership is crazy. You think you are prepared but it slaps you in the finances and the mental health department more than you bargain for.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson says the move from Toronto to Hamilton was driven by necessity, not opportunity \u2014 a pattern reflected in recent data from Environics Analytics<\/a>, which shows more than 35,000 households left the Greater Toronto Area over the past year, with Hamilton among the top destinations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have used a lot of credit cards to kind of cover expenses when we were moving. And now it\u2019s hard to get ahead of those debts,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n To cope, Johnson says she has to make sacrifices.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m cutting corners where I can. I bring my own lunch, hunt for sales, buy only what\u2019s necessary and eat less… We\u2019re really looking at food banks,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/L3YWHOFDSOPPGVC3OFSQXWUDZY.jpg\")
A person walks past the TMX Market Centre in Toronto, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Paige Taylor White A person walks past the TMX Market Centre in Toronto, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Paige Taylor White <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AVRVBUCL5BD3LIOPOD2QUTZJTI.png\")
Carol Johnson Carol Johnson and her husband pictured in a side-by-side composite image (Photo provided by Johnson). <\/p>\n