“Pension relief for corporations? Yes, but not without protecting the pensioners! Past week’s papers were filled with articles on why Ottawa should be considering “pension relief” for corporations with underfunded pension plans. But most commentators missed the real story.  This is not about the impact on companies which are contractually responsible for the pensions; it […]

What’s wrong with private sector defined benefit pension plans? Everything? …Problems and Solutions (Originally posted October 27, 2008 re-hosted March 5, 2012) A series of actions/circumstances, any one of which could be individually damaging to the welfare of pensioners, when taken together could threaten to destroy the retirement of millions of Canadians. The problems are […]

Under-funded pension plans A few weeks ago in “Is your (defined benefit) company pension safe? I discussed some gauges that you may find useful in assessing the true state of the funded status of your DB pension plan like: difference between solvency and going concern basis, and actuarial assumptions like discount rates, salary increases, mortality […]

Canada Supplementary Pension Plan (CSPP)-Highlights and discussion of Keith Ambachtsheer’s proposal in recent C. D. Howe paper Keith Ambachtsheer tabled a pension model sponsored by the C.D. Howe Institute which may potentially turn a new page in Canada’s pension system. You can read the proposal in its entirety at “The Canada Supplementary Pension Plan (CSPP): […]

Is your (defined benefit) company pension safe? Is your Defined Pension (DB) Plan Adequately Funded? Pension Plan Valuation: Art, science or magic? …and, the answers are: No, Maybe, Not science! Problem Statement A number of readers have approached me to see if I can help them get a sense of how secure is their company […]

Pension/Retirement Plan Reform One of the interesting topics at the CFA conference that I recently attended was the topic of required pension changes to be implemented urgently with the accelerated unraveling of the defined benefit (DB) plans, the misapplication of the defined contribution (DC) plans and the often mentioned inadequately funded Social Security liabilities. At […]

Changes Needed for Pensions-Make Your Voices Heard Changes are brewing in the how companies have to account for pension liabilities (affecting shareholder equity) and how long they will have to make up the shortfall (ten versus five years). Requiring explicit balance sheet recognition for the pension liability may encourage companies to reduce the liability by […]

Pension Research Council Papers on Decumulation and Robust DC Pension Plans The Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research at UPen’s Wharton provides access to readers interested in pension to current research papers from high calibre sources. They have just posted 15 new research papers. I found a couple of these papers particularly interesting, one […]

Impressions of the Whitehorse Pension Conference In a Nutshell There were no recommendations and no actions coming out of the meeting. Another conference planned for May 2010. Despite the data presented and the optimistic assumptions used to generate it, the conclusion of the Mintz report is that (mostly) all is well with Canada’s pension system. […]