Pension plans are the topic du jour, even outside of HR circles. Funding challenges, retirement income adequacy, intergenerational equity and financial stability are only a few of the issues under discussion and in the media. But all talk and little action may be sounding the death knell for these programs. Unless pension plans can evolve relatively quickly to meet changing needs and circumstances, they face extinction.
DB and DC plans should be more similar, according to Jim Leech, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan president and CEO.
Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants recently agreed to a new hybrid pension plan for new hires. It consists of a slimmed down DB tier, supplemented by a new DC tier. Some observers think this announcement signals a change in direction for pension plans, but that is unlikely to be the case. […]