Understanding and Communicating the Value of Workplace Retirement Plans
A new report from the Pension Centre of Excellence at the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) tackles how to help Canadian workers better understand and appreciate one of the most important components of their long-term financial security: their workplace retirement plans.
As Canada reflects on the conversations sparked during National Pension Awareness Week, Understanding and Communicating the Value of Workplace Retirement Plans examines why workers so often prioritize “cash today” over the deferred compensation provided by workplace pensions and savings plans and what employers and plan sponsors can do to change this.
“Retirement planning requires people to make complex decisions about outcomes that feel distant and uncertain,” said Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, Director of Financial Security Research of the NIA and co-author of the report along with Doug Chandler, Barbara Sanders and Alyssa Hodder. “When behavioural and psychological biases are not accounted for, workers routinely undervalue lifelong income and overlook the full benefits of their workplace retirement plans.”
