How will retiring early and working part time impact my CPP payments?

Retiring early and shifting to part-time work raises a fair question about the Canada Pension Plan: do fewer or smaller contribution years dent what you eventually collect, and does it make sense to start early. This piece follows a couple planning to winter in Panama as they weigh whether the wife should begin CPP at 60. The thinking covers how the timing of starting affects the size of the benefit, since CPP can begin anytime between 60 and 70 and grows the longer you wait, and how lower-earning years interact with the way the pension is calculated. It is relevant to anyone easing out of full-time work earlier than usual, where the start-now-or-wait decision depends on health, other income, cash-flow needs, and how the rest of the retirement picture fits together rather than on a single rule.