March to May is our big season to meet with clients and perform our annual comprehensive DC plan review (most of our clients also do investment reviews more frequently). Among other things, we sit down with the plan recordkeeper and determine the communication and education strategy to address the various issues raised in our review […]
Early in the year, a client asked us “What would be the best DC plan?” My first reaction was that the “best” plan would vary from one employer to the next, depending on the organization’s specific objectives. These objectives really should determine how your plan works, and ultimately, be used to measure the plan’s success. […]
Up to now, the CAP industry has largely focused on the accumulation phase of retirement planning. Understandably so, as defined contribution (DC) type arrangements in Canada have by and large not reached maturity. But as DC plans gain in size, the average CAP account gets larger and baby-boomer cohorts near retirement, an increasing number of […]
Year 2008 was bad enough if you were a capital accumulation plan (CAP) member saving towards retirement. If you were already retired and living off RRIF or LIF-generated income, it was possibly the scariest period of your life. Fortunately, a lot of efforts are currently being put towards solving the “decumulation” challenges of defined contribution […]
Target date funds (TDFs) bring many benefits to defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors and members. They are not perfect, however, as some realized during the recent market turmoil. But the dynamic Canadian DC record keeper market does offer another approach apt to solve many of TDFs’ shortfalls. Trouble at sea A few years back I […]
The past year has seen many new ideas foster around how to improve defined contribution (DC)-type retirement savings arrangements, many involving governments playing a much more active role. The Alberta-B.C. (ABC) plan is probably the one concept that has attracted the most attention. Is Canada ready for such (potentially) drastic changes? What needs fixing The […]
These unprecedented times have many organizations looking at various ways to reduce their operating costs. Are there any potential savings related to DC (defined contribution) arrangements? To be honest, apart from the obvious reduction of employer contributions, there aren’t many. Going drastic The biggest potential savings by far lie in reducing or eliminating employer contributions. […]
Year 2008 certainly has been a challenging one financially, and those capital accumulation plan (CAP) members who had not realized what it meant to them yet are doing so now, as they are receiving their year-end statements. These turbulent times represent a unique opportunity to communicate with CAP members, as rarely will they be open […]
In the recent, financially challenging weeks, it seems like everyone has become an expert at communicating with capital accumulation plan (CAP) members. As a plan sponsor, you should know that you may ultimately be held responsible for all communications going to your members. So you need to keep a keen eye on everything going to […]
About a year ago, as financial markets were down—or so we thought at the time—I was writing on the importance of proactively communicating with and educating employees on how to invest and keep a long-term view (if you feel your employees are nervous, I urge you to go back to that column). This year, however, […]