In 2020, more than 6.2 million Canadians put aside a total of $50.1 billion for their retirement by making contributions to their registered retirement savings plan, according to new data from Statistics Canada. Compared with a year earlier, contributions increased 13 per cent in 2020, while the number of contributors increased 4.9 per cent. In current dollars, the median RRSP contribution […]
In the fall of 2021, 39-year-old Krista Lehman quit her job as a program assistant at a Vancouver post-secondary institution to take a mental-health break and pursue other career options. When it came to her defined benefit pension plan, her employer’s human resources department provided her with a package that offered her the choice of […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling on Prince Edward Island’s pension regulator to amend the Employment Standards Act to facilitate auto-enrolment and auto-escalation features in workplace pension and savings plans. The current legislation includes language that would prohibit pension plan administrators from introducing automatic features in workplace plans, including capital accumulation plans such […]
In 2020, LifeLabs Inc. embarked on a year-long journey to redesign its group registered retirement savings plan and deferred profit-sharing plan to make them less cumbersome, easier to administer and to boost engagement among employees. Under the original plans, which were in place for more than 10 years and linked to employees’ years of service, […]
Three-quarters (75 per cent) of defined contribution plan sponsors cite reviewing fees as the most important step they took to improve their fiduciary position in 2021, according to a new survey by U.S. investment consulting firm Callan. This was followed by examining the plan’s investment policy statement (63 per cent) and investment structure (61 per cent) […]
Canada’s pension plans are weathering the coronavirus pandemic, with many plans currently in their best financial shape in several years. The early days of the pandemic painted a bleak picture for institutional investors. Between Feb. 19 and March 23, 2020, the S&P/TSX composite index dropped by 37 per cent — the latter date marking the index’s lowest point […]
More than a third (36 per cent) of Canadians aged 18 to 25 have already begun planning and saving for retirement, according to a survey by online real estate investment marketplace Fundscraper Capital Inc. “It’s well documented that generation Z and younger millennials have had it much harder than previous generations when it comes to career […]
Nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainties brought on by the Omicron variant, markets held up in the last three months of 2021 with capital accumulation plan member outcomes continuing to improve. According to Eckler Ltd.’s latest CAP income tracker, a typical male plan member retiring at age 65 at the end of […]
While Canadians continue to use registered retirement savings plans for retirement planning, knowledge about RRSPs has declined over the past five years, according to a new survey by BMO Global Asset Management. It found 56 per cent of respondents know how much they can contribute to the account, a six per cent decrease since 2016. […]
Higher investment fees in capital accumulation plans can potentially set an individual’s retirement date back by four years, according to Mercer’s latest retirement readiness barometer. The analysis found a person paying the median retail fee (1.9 per cent) would be retirement ready at age 70. On the other hand, someone paying the median fee available […]