Freedom... what number?

[robkelk]

Back in the 1980s, London Life ran a series of commercials designed to interest people in retirement planning (and, preferably, London Life's financial planning service). The package was called Freedom 55 – as in, if you did your financial planning, you could retire at age 55.

With changes in the economic climate and the average lifespan, "Freedom 55" isn't possible any more, and in 2010 only 28% of Canadians expected to make "Freedom 66". But it's still one of Canada's most iconic ad campaigns; as an ad slogan, "Freedom 55" is up there with "Just Do It".

So... what's all this about "Freedom 250"?

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, it's an expression of Republican conservatism, donchyaknow? When Otto von Bismarck created the first government-sponsored retirement program, he deliberately set the age of retirement and benefits at 70, when by then-current demographics most potential claimants would already have passed away. The Republicans have embraced an old idea as new, and then extended it.

(This would merely be an amusing joke if it didn't feel quite so real...)