The pension plans at Western are defined contribution plans (also called capital accumulation plans). Both the University and the member make contributions to an account in the member’s name, and the member owns all of the money in the account. It is the responsibility of each member to make decisions on the investments held within their account. When a member leaves Western or retires there are a number of options for the accumulated savings.
The options and decisions to make, both during membership and when it’s time to leave or retire, can be complex. To assist members in understanding and evaluating their responsibilities and options, Human Resource Services offers several education and communication programs. These can help you to plan and monitor progress on your journey towards your retirement goals.
Plan your journey to retirement! Registration is now open for the popular full-day Financial & Pre-Retirement Planning Workshops. Workshops for 2013 are on the following dates:
These workshops are aimed at members aged 45 plus and considering retirement within the next ten years. Led by The Financial Education Institute of Canada, participants will examine the roles of employer-sponsored pensions, government pensions and private savings in retirement income planning.
Additional topics include lifestyle/lifecycle planning, investing in retirement and tax planning. Past participants have found the workshop to be informative, engaging and an important first step in setting a financial and life plan for retirement.
The sessions are open to all members of the Academic and Administrative Staff pension plans. Spouses are welcome and are encouraged to attend with the plan member. If your spouse will be joining you and is also an employee they should register themselves as outlined below; if your spouse is not an employee please register yourself as outline in the instructions below and email cara.bourdeau@uwo.ca to register your spouse.
To register, login to My Human Resources, choose Manage Training Registration, then Enroll in Internal Training Courses. Search by Course Name Retirement or by Course Number RETWFD.
Read detailed registration instructions.
NOTE: attendance at the full-day workshop is permitted only once in your career. Please contact HR if you wish to discuss the timing of your attendance.
The Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to increase your understanding of Western’s retirement plans, see investment trends among your peers, talk about returns, and learn about fees. You’ll have the chance to gather information that will help you make investment decisions and plan your journey to retirement.
Keep an eye on your email to learn about other workshops that will be offered in 2013 by Western Human Resources and the Western Pension team. In November 2012, we presented a three part series on Financial Literacy:
