At the Public Employees Pension Plan in Saskatchewan, a key focus is on treating plan members like customers to help improve their outcomes.
“If we can give them a good customer experience, it’s going to help everything down the road,” said John Hallett, assistant director of pension programs at the Public Employees Benefits Agency, during Benefits Canada’s 2016 DC Plan Summit in Montreal.
A key focus, he said, is on taking a holistic approach to retirement and helping members understand it’s just one of many parts of their retirement assets.
Hallett noted hosting workshops is a big part of how the plan engages with members. Financial planners who are on staff deliver the workshops. They began with a program called Retire With Ease, a full-day workshop for people approaching retirement. “These have been really well received,” he said.
After hosting workshops, the plan conducts surveys to see what participants thought. “One of the comments we kept getting back was, ‘This was great. Where were you 30 years ago?’” said Hallett.
In response, the organization created a program for younger members called Kickstart Your Financial Future. The program goes beyond pensions to focus on debt, paying off student loans, buying a home and other financial issues. The idea was to make it more relevant to younger members and get them in the habit of planning ahead.
Besides workshops, a popular source of engagement is one-on-one consultations. “Generally speaking, people who have gone to the retirement planning session then want to have a one-on-one afterwards,” said Hallett.
Hallett said the plan’s retired members are an area of increased focus as well. It provides drawdown guidance so people can see how long their money will last, depending on the rate of withdrawal.
The plan also customized a retirement planning tool that tells members how much their savings will last if they continue at their current rate of withdrawal.