Moderators: Jeremy Evanson, partner, administrative solutions practice; and Michelle Loder, partner, defined contribution solutions, at Morneau Shepell Ltd. Once the new Canada Pension Plan benefits take hold, the income replacement ratio will increase to 33 per cent from 25 per cent, said Loder. “Given this, and in light of the increased premiums that will also […]
Moderators: David Devine, regional vice-president, western region, group retirement services, wealth management; and Christine van Staden, vice-president of national accounts at Great-West Life Most plan sponsors agreed that defined contribution plans traditionally focus on those nearing retirement, said van Staden. “But everyone agreed there is a need to take a step back, rebalance the pendulum […]
Moderators: Mazen Shakeel, vice-president of market development for group retirement services; and Sharon Vanderwerff, regional vice-president, western region, group retirement services, at Sun Life Financial A growing number of people aren’t retiring until their late 60s or early 70s, in many cases because they don’t have the retirement income they need, said Shakeel. “If insufficient […]
Moderators: Sharon Seifried, national vice-president for corporate accounts, group retirement solutions; and Fraser Wiswell, assistant vice-president for group retirement solutions, at Manulife Financial With the decline of retiree benefits, rising drug costs and government funding constraints, plan members may not appreciate what their health-care costs will be in retirement, said Wiswell. “Plan members without benefits […]
In its report on employer pension plans in Canada published earlier this month, Statistics Canada noted the overwhelming majority of plan members are in trusteed arrangements. Of the 6.2 million members of employer-sponsored pension plans, 5.2 million are in arrangements managed by trusteed funds. But when it comes to just the defined contribution side of […]
Now is the time for employers to start looking at the Canada Pension Plan enhancements and their potential affects on workplace pension plans, said lawyer Stephanie Kalinowski during an event in Toronto on Wednesday. “Especially for [defined contribution] plans, in particular, it’s really an opportunity to step back and look at your overall plan design.” […]
A retirement plan can be an effective tool in helping employers attract and retain talent while managing an orderly transition in the workforce. Done properly, it provides obvious benefits to employees, but there are benefits for employers as well. According to data from Willis Towers Watson, the average employer-provided value in a defined contribution plan […]
We often hear that to ensure a reasonable chance of having a good retirement outcome from a defined contribution pension plan, plan members should aim for total contributions of 15 per cent of their income to their retirement savings accounts. But how many Canadians are putting anywhere near that much away? It doesn’t seem likely. […]
Saving enough for retirement is a major challenge for many employees, so when a company’s plan design allows its staff to accumulate 15 per cent of their earnings and they only have to contribute five per cent themselves, it’s no surprise that nearly everyone is eager to jump on board. BASF Canada Inc.’s defined contribution […]
In the course of a merger or acquisition, there are a number of balls to juggle, not the least of which are the changes to employees’ benefits packages. Last month, Benefits Canada looked at one of the more complicated scenarios: how to deal with defined benefit pension plans in the wake of a merger or […]