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 […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust has launched People for Pensions, an online campaign encouraging its plan members to become informed about defined benefit pension plans and how they support the economy. People have shifted from having a mindset of pension envy to one where they yearn for financial security but don’t necessarily see the value of […]
Younger Canadians are at risk of shouldering any future deficit in the expanded Canada Pension Plan if it experiences shortfalls in investment returns, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. The institute’s report references calculations by Canada’s chief actuary, published in October 2016, that predicted the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board must earn an […]
Many publicly traded companies give employees the opportunity to own shares in the company they work for. Traditionally, that happens through an employee share plan where employees directly purchase their company’s stock, as provided to employees at Starbucks Corp. and WestJet Airlines Ltd., for example. Ownership is beneficial to both the employer and the employee for […]
More employers should be considering offering group decumulation options to employees, the Association of Canadian Pension Management argues in a new report. While individual options such as annuities, life income funds and registered retirement income funds allow members to maximize their investment choice and enjoy a good amount of flexibility in retirement, they often come […]
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 […]