Canadian pension plans are once again grappling with low interest rates and falling markets. However, they’ve learned from past experience and are armed with new battle tactics. Pension plans’ standards soared high as they revelled in the market returns of the 1990s. Fully funded, plans did not have to battle the markets. In fact, it […]
Think plan members who live a healthy lifestyle—exercise, eat right, don’t smoke—should pay less for their health benefits plans? Representatives from the sanofi-aventis advisory board presented their thoughts on this issue as well as the results of the sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey 2008 and how plan sponsors should respond at the CPBI Forum 2008 Wednesday in […]
“‘Best benefits’ is not about having the best benefits—as in the most expensive, the highest co-insurance, the richest DB plans,” said Sarah Beech, managing principal, with Hewitt Associates. “Best is really defined as what is the best program that meets both the organization’s and, more importantly, the employees’ needs.” Beech and benefits managers from three […]
When it comes to funding retiree healthcare benefits, will employees be left with only crumbs? Staying with a company 20-plus years until retirement is rare these days. What’s even more rare is a company that still offers retiree health benefits. According to a Watson Wyatt survey of 500 major Canadian employers, fewer than half of […]
By law, employers have a duty to accommodate employees with a disability, whether that disability is physical or mental. Accommodation can include such changes as part-time shifts, job sharing between two employees, eliminating non-essential tasks, providing flexible work arrangements and offering additional time to learn new responsibilities. “Accommodations don’t cost too much,” said Lisa Romano, […]
Several small plan sponsors from across Canada participated in a virtual roundtable to talk about their concerns and challenges in providing their employees with benefits and pensions. Here’s a brief introduction to the participants: • Tom Arnould is chief financial officer of Envisioning + Storytelling, Inc., a marketing firm in Vancouver. • Geoff Bagg is […]
Sponsors of small group plans continue to face the same challenges: cost, competition and capability. Small plan sponsors want to offer the same kinds of benefits options as their larger counterparts. It can be done, to some extent, as more products and services are now available to them. But for the most part, smaller plans […]
Some Kiwis expect to be working past age 65. According to Mercer’s KiwiSaver Sentiment Study, working New Zealanders expect to retire later than working Australians.The study, which polled 508 New Zealanders, revealed that while 39% of them would prefer to retire before age 60, 65% actually don’t expect to stop working until at least 65. […]
Individuals in 401(k) plans can now sue plan administrators for failing to follow an individual’s investment instructions, according to the latest ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.In Justice John Paul Stevens’ written decision, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) “does authorize recovery for fiduciary breaches that impair the value of plan assets in a […]
According to Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College, the number of Americans who aren’t saving enough for retirement has increased because of healthcare costs.The National Retirement Risk Index, released by the CRR, indicated that 61% of workers would be at risk of not being financially prepared to retire. Last July, that index number […]