Attached is a report by Robert L. Brown and Craig McInnes who tackle the debate about income security in retirement. Shifting Public Sector DB Plans to DC
October 10th, 2014
January 17th, 2014
George & Bell in the News
A recent study commissioned by the Alberta Federation of Labour on Alberta’s public sector pension plans has received some ink in the media in the last week. Here is a link to the press release …
January 13th, 2014
Happy New Year
We are a few days into 2014 and for some people this means reflecting back at the year that was and anticipating the year ahead and beyond. Personally 2013 was a year of change for …
February 18th, 2013
Annuity Purchases for Pension Plans
The current economic environment is particularly challenging for defined benefit pension plans. Many plans have to fund according to the solvency test, using asset market values and long-term bond rates to discount liabilities. The current …
January 28th, 2013
Accounting Matters – Old Age Security
When Old Age Security was changed in the Federal budget last year some people asked me whether the cuts were necessary. That is a difficult question because almost all government spending decisions are choices rather …
January 7th, 2013
The Impact of Aging on Investment Returns
I originally wrote this article in May 2011. I think that it remains relevant today: feel free to disagree (or agree) in the comments below. Suppose you were told that you would live to 120. …
November 13th, 2012
Pension Plan Funding: Relief from Solvency Funding in B.C.
Most Defined Benefit (DB) pension plans in Canada are subject to provincial or federal pension legislation. This results in the requirement to fund the pension plan on a solvency basis: assets and liabilities are valued …
October 4th, 2012
Is There a Pension Crisis After All?
Last week, the Fraser Institute released and then withdrew a study, Canada’s $254 Billion Iceberg: Public-Sector Pension Liabilities, on Canadian public sector pension plans. From the news releases, one can piece together the argument: federal …
August 13th, 2012
The End of Traditional DC Pension Plans? Part 2
In my last blog posting, dated June 29, 2012, I commented on the issues I had with the way Defined Contribution (DC) Pension Plans are currently managed in Canada. In this follow-up post, I speculate …
June 29th, 2012
The End of Traditional DC Pension Plans? Part 1
First off I should thank Jeremy for his exaggerated praise in his last blog and maybe say something nice about him: he has a great family! As the spouse of a journalist, I must confess …