Confident and knowledgeable group retirement savings plan members are saving 86 per cent more than those with low confidence and literacy, according to a new survey by Sun Life Financial Inc. The survey, which polled more than 1,900 plan members, found nearly a third (30 per cent) believe they have both confidence and strong financial […]
While workplace savings programs have traditionally focused on retirement, there has been a shift in recent years to facilitate employees’ changing financial priorities and savings journeys. Benefits Canada’s 2025 Employee Savings Survey (formerly known as the CAP Member Survey) found three-quarters (73 per cent) of Canadian employees ranked paying for day-to-day expenses among their top […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling on the Alberta government to modernize its provincial pension legislation and align its laws with other Canadian jurisdictions in terms of funding rules, innovation, administration and reducing red tape. In an open letter to Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner, the ACPM outlined several proposed legislative changes, based […]
While there’s more work to be done, election campaign promises made by Canada’s major federal political parties that address retirement challenges are a step in the right direction, says John McLaren, a group benefits and retirement consultant with Jones DesLauriers. Earlier this month, Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Pollievre pledged to allow working seniors […]
The use of automatic features in U.S. defined contribution pension plans is supporting employee financial well-being and retirement readiness, according to a new report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. It found when a typical DC plan sponsor adopted auto-enrolment with a six per cent default contribution, the retirement savings shortfall among plan members decreased […]
Since 2008, when the U.S. enacted legislation allowing target-date funds as the default, total assets in these funds have grown from around US$150 billion to $3 trillion, according to Glenn Dial, vice-president of retirement thought leadership and research at American Century Investments, during a session sponsored by CIBC Asset Management Inc. at Benefits Canada’s 2025 […]
Two-fifths (41 per cent) of U.S. employees are cashing out their 401(k) plan savings when they leave a job, with 85 per cent draining their entire accounts, according to a new report by the University of British Columbia, Texas State University and the University of Colorado Boulder. The report, which analyzed data from more than […]
At the beginning of April, the OPSEU Pension Trust made a change to a definition in its plan text that will have meaningful implications for plan members with disabled children who need to continue to rely on their parents into adulthood. The organization expanded the definition of a child eligible for survivor benefits to include […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is supporting several of the Alberta government’s proposed legislative and policy updates for private sector pension laws, including the move towards a going-concern plus regime for defined benefit plans and the introduction of automatic features in defined contribution plans. In its response to the consultation draft, the CIA cited the benefits […]
While defined contribution pension plans currently outnumber defined benefit pension plans, this wasn’t always the case, recalls Bita Jenab, a principal at RetirementWorks Services Inc. DC plans began to gain popularity in the mid-1980s, due to a combination of legislative and economic changes, she adds. “This period marks the introduction of pension accounting rules under […]