Written by: Karen Hall, Vice President, Financial Education & Employer Services, B.Sc., R.F.P, CFP

When employees know what it means to them.

Let’s consider Jade, perhaps a typical employee in your company. What does that year end pension or Group RRSP investment statement mean to her? If she sees an account balance of $115,000, is it just a number? Or, does she have the knowledge and tools to convert that number into an income stream, and relate it to her future retirement income needs? With that knowledge, Jade’s statement suddenly has meaning.

Where does Jade go to get the tools needed to understand her statement? She’s looking to you, her company, to provide them. If you, the plan sponsor provides this information, great. However, the issue facing most organizations is the information that is supposed to build awareness and understanding is not being accessed by the employees. Or, alternatively, too much information is provided all at once, which may overwhelm employees.

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