Every day in the media we are bombarded with story after story about pension reform. The vast majority are from officials, mainly politicians and business leaders, beating the same drum – targeting Defined Benefit pensions as a terrible thing; the favourite bogyman that may be responsible for the demise of life as we know it.
At ARIA, we know that doth protest too much. And we also know that the other side of the story is not told nearly as often. And we know that contrary to the never-ending drone of those who for self-serving purposes would have us believe otherwise, it’s actually the loss of Defined Benefit pensions that will lead to a reduced standard of living for many in their latter years.
That’s not just an assumption – the proof is already there, in places where decisions to abandon Defined Benefit plans made years ago, have come home to roost.
We are doing what we can to try to add balance to the Defined Benefit vs Defined Contribution debate, and in so doing hopefully providing you with facts you can use.
Today, we have a product you may find particularly helpful. One of our members, IBEW Local 37 in New Brunswick, has produced a pocket booklet that tells the other side of the debate. It effectively makes the argument that governments or companies that are replacing Defined Benefit Pension Plans with Defined Contribution Saving Plans are making a serious mistake for which we will pay dearly down the road.
IBEW 37 is making this booklet available to whoever would like it. It is provided here as a pdf, but they are encouraging any organization that wants to take ownership of it, and add their own name or logo to it, to simply get in touch and they will help make that happen.
Meantime – here it is to download.
• ARIA provides a forum for an informed discussion on retirement income adequacy, and other related issues, including pension and retirement coverage, and defined benefit pension plans.
