National Bank offering VRSPs

National Bank has obtained approval to offer voluntary retirement savings plans (VRSPs) to all employers, employees, individuals and professional associations in Quebec.

“We offer a turnkey investment option, which is based on a life cycle approach. With this option, risk is adjusted as plan members get closer to retirement,” says Steeve Gagné, assistant vice-president, group retirement plans, with National Bank. “However, for those who want to build their own portfolios, we offer five other options, and members can choose from index-linked funds, bond funds and GICs.”

The act respecting voluntary retirement savings plans, which came into effect on July 1, currently extends to companies with 20 or more eligible employees.

Unless they already offer a retirement savings plan to their employees, these companies will have until Dec. 31, 2016, to set up their own VRSP.

Companies with 10 to 19 eligible employees, for their part, will have until Dec. 31, 2017, to do the same, while companies with five to nine eligible employees will have to follow suit by a date to be determined, not before Jan. 1, 2018.

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