Canada's seniors don't know how much money they need to retire, and are worried the Canada Pension Plan won't be enough, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was told in Charlottetown Tuesday.

'I do not understand what I am supposed to be signing, what kind of income I'm supposed to have.'— Dianne Corrigan, former nurse

Flaherty was in Charlottetown for the first of three town hall meetings to hear what Canadians have to say about pension reform. More than 100 people turned out at the Delta Hotel for the two-hour session.

If they came to hear what Flaherty had to say, they were disappointed. Flaherty came to Charlottetown to listen, not to speak.

"I took good notes tonight," Flaherty told the crowd at the end of the session.

Jim Flaherty said he was taking a lot of notes. (CBC)

"In the margins I wrote little comments, mainly, 'Good idea.' There are a lot of good ideas here tonight."

More than two dozen people each took their three minutes at the microphone to give Flaherty their opinions on pension reform. A recurring theme was a general lack of understanding over how much money pensioners would need, and where it was going to come from.

"I need help here, and I don't think I'm the only one," said Dianne Corrigan, a former nurse.

"I do not understand what I am supposed to be signing, what kind of income I'm supposed to have. I do think there's an awful lot of seniors on this Island who have no idea at all."

Double benefits, minister told

There was concern expressed over the declining number of people who will have a pension outside of the CPP. In particular, people expressed their fears that the government pension will not be nearly enough for people to survive on.

Currently, CPP is designed to replace 25 per cent of the average working wage, and pays a maximum retirement benefit of $934 a month. Several suggested that amount needs to double.

"With the amount of people each year that's covered by workplace pensions dropping, it was around 40 per cent a few years ago. Now it's about 26 per cent ... this number is going down all the time," said Carl Pursey, president of the P.E.I. Federation of Labour.

"So thank you for having the foresight to look in to see there's going to be a problem down the road ahead and something has to be done about it."

Flaherty said everything mentioned at the meeting will be taken into consideration. He said the reform process will not only take into account the effects on those about to retire, but also how any changes will affect people who will retire in 20 to 30 years.

The other host cities for town halls on pension reform will be Quebec City and Richmond, B.C.