As employer-sponsored pension plans and personal retirement savings continue to shrink, the third pillar of Canada’s retirement income troika, the publicly funded Canada Pension Plan, is seeing improvements. Some of the enhancements, which are being gradually phased in from Jan. 1, 2019, borrow from what Australia already has in place for its superannuation system. In […]
Defined contribution plan sponsors have a tough job. “Every day that goes by, DC is getting harder and harder to solve for,” said Lorie Latham, senior defined contribution strategist at T. Rowe Price during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Defined Contribution Investment Forum in Toronto on Sept. 27. Looking to lessons learned in the […]
Canada has risen one spot, to No. 8, on a list of the countries that provide the best retirement security. The annual list, from Natixis Investment Managers, found Canada ranked higher in the finances and material well-being sub-indexes, decreased in quality of life and held steady in health. The report also identified three global risks weighing on […]
With the private sector’s move from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans and rising life expectancies, the issue of retirement decumulation is increasing in importance. Decumulation deals with converting retirement savings into income that must be managed over the rest of the retiree’s lifetime. It can be a challenge for Canadians who don’t have a significant […]
Whether operating in Canada or the United States, defined contribution plan sponsors are facing the same challenges around demographics, plan design and their employees’ retirement readiness. On the demographics front, more baby boomers are retiring and taking their pension balances with them. As DC plans lose members, plan sponsors may see a rise in costs […]
While estimating the longevity of a pension plan’s membership isn’t a new concept, developments in using big data and new tools in predictive modelling could go a long way to making predictions more accurate. “Traditionally, most benefit plans were using standard mortality tables and not really differentiating how much longevity risk they had,” says Manuel […]
As longevity increases around the world, the solution of simply working longer is especially troublesome for workers with physically demanding jobs, according to the latest Aegon retirement readiness survey. “Few countries offer early retirement with benefits for physical workers,” noted the survey. “Accordingly, physical workers must either remain in jobs that may become more taxing for […]
Defined benefit pension plans aren’t just better for Canadian workers, but for the country’s economy in general, according to a new study by the Canadian Public Pension Leadership Council. Statistics Canada data from 2018 showed 37.5 per cent of Canadian workers have some type of pension or retirement savings plan through their workplace, and 25.2 per cent […]
In the fourth industrial revolution, technology is changing at a fast pace with a rolling effect on various industries. It’s also changing how people work, spend their money and save, said Jean-Philippe Provost, senior partner and wealth business leader at Mercer Canada. At the consultancy’s annual retirement outlook event on Thursday, Provost walked through current practices in the Canadian […]
Seven major pension stakeholders are urging the federal government to make longevity risk-pooling arrangements available to Canadians. The group includes the Association of Canadian Pension Management, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, Common Wealth, the National Institute of Aging and the Pension Investment Association […]