The irony of pensions and benefits is that employees tend to ignore them until they need them or until their employer changes them. And whether it’s good news or bad news, there are almost always trade-offs. Changing pensions or benefits can be a tough sell to employees. When employers say “change,” employees often hear “change […]
A consultant’s role was historically a passive one, says Martin Leclair, who recently left a role at Toronto-based consulting firm Proteus Performance Management. The consultant’s role centred on the various aspects of developing pension and benefits plans for employers, from choosing fund offerings and implementing target-date options and automatic enrolment to decisions about formularies, step […]
The federal government’s difficulties with its problem-plagued Phoenix pay system are now affecting pension plan members who won’t be receiving their pension and insurance benefits statements this year due to potential inaccuracies with the information. And while much of the attention on Phoenix has focused on employees not getting paid on time, it has also been causing problems for […]
Does your absence management strategy, pension plan or health and wellness program deserve to be recognized? Benefits Canada’s annual Workplace Benefits Awards is now open for nominations. The 2017 program includes three new categories: pension performance, diversity program and drug/benefits plan innovation. Markers for success in the pension performance category include cost containment, increased participation […]
The Ontario government is moving to allow for variable benefits from defined contribution pension plans, according to the 2017 budget tabled yesterday. “I think it’s positive the Ontario government gets that [addressing] decumulation is a rising need for capital accumulation plans,” says Joe Nunes, president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. But he cautions that the proposed solution, […]
As it is in Canada, member engagement is a buzzword for the defined contribution pension plan industry in Australia. But engagement doesn’t go far enough, said John Farrington, executive officer for corporate relationships at the Equip superannuation fund in Australia, during his presentation at Benefits Canada’s 2017 Defined Contribution Plan Summit. “I think engagement is […]
Each year, employees at Britain’s Barclays Bank make decisions about their benefits and pension plan during the enrolment period. To learn more about their plan, staff typically have an information booklet and financial tools, such as a pension calculator, at their disposal. But six years ago, Barclays decided to apply a game-based approach to its […]
Retirement is an important milestone. In the pension industry, we understand that active planning is critical to members meeting their goals and being able to enjoy the lifestyle they want in retirement. We also know the reality is most don’t start planning or even thinking about retirement until it’s literally around the corner. Why? When members […]
Canadian retirees report a higher degree of financial satisfaction, are more confident in their financial decisions and have less anxiety about retirement compared to those who have yet to retire, according to new research by the Vanguard Centre for Investor Research. Its study, which focused on the transition from work to retirement in Canada, the […]
CAA South Central Ontario will share the lessons learned during its transition to a defined contribution pension plans at the 2017 Benefits and Pension Summit in Toronto on April 11-12. The organization transitioned to a defined contribution arrangement in 2013. In the following three years, the organization focused on the defined contribution plan it introduced […]