A year
ago, a new retirement savings plan made its appearance on the Québec savings
scene. I tackled the voluntary
retirement savings plan (VRSP) in my blog last year, in my post Parce que tout le monde a droit à une meilleure
retraite (Everyone
deserves a better retirement; French only).
Reminders…
Do you
remember why the VRSP was created? More than two million Québec workers did not
have access to a retirement savings plan at work. Those workers had to be
extremely disciplined to set money aside for retirement, so the arrival of the
VRSP was good news! But employers have an essential role to play in starting
VRSPs off on the right foot.
The goal
of the new savings plan is to allow all Québec workers to start saving early,
for a more comfortable retirement. Your financial security in retirement
depends on smart savings!
Are you an employer?
You
should know that YOU can make a difference for your employees’ retirement by
instituting a VRSP before the deadlines prescribed by law. Why should you offer a VRSP when the
deadline isn’t until December 2016? Okay, okay, in the short term, there’s
no legal reason to get a move on.
But perhaps the
question you should ask yourself is why wait until the last minute and be
forced to make a hasty decision? Eventually, you’ll have to choose a plan
anyway. Finding a plan that fits your business is something that you shouldn’t
take lightly. Even if VRSPs are easy to implement, you will have to choose a financial institution (French only) to work with.
Examples
We were recently informed
in an article (French only) that
the 4 800 members of the Association
des restaurateurs du Québec (ARQ) would offer a VRSP to employers and employees in
the restaurant business. For the ARQ, the implementation of a VRSP will make recruiting
and the holding on to quality employees easier. That’s an initiative that
should be highlighted!Make no mistake, the ARQ is not the only one on board! More than 1 100 other businesses chose to offer a VRSP before the deadlines. To date, more than 6 000 employees put aside a small portion of earnings each payday for their retirement. The savings add up to more than 2 million dollars in assets to date.
All the pertinent information and several tools on voluntary retirement savings plans can be found here. Find out more and pass the word!
