The Pension Investment Association of Canada will concentrate its legislative advocacy efforts on funding reform in 2024, including for an overhaul of long-term, minimum funding regulations for federally regulated defined benefit pension plans, said David Lawson, the PIAC’s new chair. In an emailed statement to Benefits Canada, he said as DB plan sponsors continue to face […]
More than half (51 per cent) of U.S. workers say they’d like to see fully paid health-care premiums as a financial benefit from their company, according to a new survey by CNBC and SurveyMonkey. It found nearly two-fifths of respondents said they’d also like to see 401(k) matching (37 per cent) as well as health […]
3M will freeze its U.S. defined benefit pension plans for non-union U.S. employees, effective Dec. 31, 2028, and move plan members to a 401(k) plan structure. Eligible employees will continue to accrue benefits under the pension plans until the freeze date, according to a press release, which noted this decision applies to both 3M and 3M Health Care. Former […]
While there’s more work to be done before lifetime pension pools are widely implemented in North America, employers are increasingly aware of concepts such as variable payment life annuities, says Barbara Sanders, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University. “It seems that it’s being discussed fairly often. When in industry meetings, it’s certainly a very […]
The government of Nova Scotia is introducing a new benefits and pension package for roughly 3,000 early childhood educators and support staff. All employees will be enrolled in the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology’s DBplus pension plan. The province will fund employers to provide pension contributions retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024. The province will […]
A recent development in the U.K. pension market to give British workers a ‘pot for life’ could reduce the quality of retirement plans that are already in place and create administrative challenges, says Adam Bexson, senior corporate pension consultant at Verlingue Ltd. Currently, plan members are automatically enrolled into a retirement plan chosen by their employer, […]
After closing its defined benefit pension plan nearly two decades ago and replacing it with a less riskier defined contribution plan, International Business Machines Corp. is launching a new retirement benefit account that allows its U.S. employees to have the best of both worlds. Last week, the company ceased its 401(k) matching and one per […]
A survey on the retirement readiness of Canadian workers and a looming retirement crisis was the most-read pension story on BenefitsCanada.com this year. Here are the 10 most popular pension news stories of 2023: 1. Survey finds 44% of Canadian pre-retirees have less than $5,000 in savings 2. Ford, Unifor agreement includes significant DC pension improvements, transition to […]
The Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators is establishing a committee to help implement its total cost reporting plan. The plan aims to increase investor and policy-holders’ awareness of the ongoing costs of owning investment funds and individual segregated fund contracts. The committee, which is comprised of joint forum members and industry representatives, will provide […]
An article on how employers can support employees with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. How employers can help employees with ADHD be engaged, productive 2. FSRA’s proposed rule could increase fairness in division of pension benefits during marriage […]