“I had no idea.” “How can that be?” “Just doesn’t make any sense.” “But even if it keeps you alive?” These are just some of the responses I heard from neighbours and acquaintances a few years ago after a local paper quoted me in a story on cancer drug funding. In the article, I discussed […]
Nearly half (48 per cent) of retired Canadians aged 50 and over stopped working earlier than expected, with 33 per cent doing so because of an unexpected health issue and 22 per cent doing so because they were asked by their employer, according to a new survey by CIBC. The survey also found 38 per […]
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 […]
At a time when 11 million Canadians don’t have a workplace pension plan, it makes good sense for those who do to learn about their pension and how to make the most of it. The trouble is it’s pretty hard to get most people under the age of 50 to take an interest in their […]
You’ve decided to launch a defined contribution pension plan for your employees, but you don’t know where to begin. What’s the answer? How do you decide what’s right for your organization? Let’s take this step by step. Step 1: Purpose The first step is determining the intention and objectives of the retirement program. In other […]
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton went back to the basics of budgeting and planning when it hosted a recent series of financial education sessions for employees. The idea to run the sessions this fall came from reports on the hospital’s employee assistance program, according to Marlene Hall, director of human resources. “Of the work-life services, the second […]
Whether on the rink or in the boardroom, consistency is key to success. “Anyone can get lucky and have a good game,” says Ross Bernstein, a sports writer and a keynote speaker at Benefits Canada‘s 2017 Benefits and Pension Summit in Toronto on April 11-12. “You can even take steroids and have a great season. […]
Let’s face it: no one really wants to spend precious time reading about their pension and benefit plans. Pensions and benefits are boring, and sometimes downright depressing. To make matters worse, the content is often beyond the literacy skills of the plan members we’re trying to reach.
In the world of pensions and benefits, members face two kinds of surprises. There’s the bad kind, such as when they discover they’ve missed a claim submission deadline, or their retirement income isn’t what they thought it would be. And there’s the good kind—which includes things like realizing they’re covered for a medical expense they thought they’d have to pay for, or their retirement income is better than expected.
Communications must evolve to become more than a pretty poster in a lunch room or piece of ad mail to be sent to and largely ignored by plan members.