'People need to have savings at the top of their mind in these turbulent times'
While most clients start thinking about Registered Retirement Savings Plans early in the new year, just before the contribution deadline, credit unions are putting pension awareness on advisors’ radar now to encourage them to do more concerted retirement planning ahead of time.
“We are trying to raise awareness of retirement planning,” Muhammad Syed, financial relationship manager at Your Neighbourhood Credit Union (YNCU), told Wealth Professional, when it recently announced its Pension Awareness Day. “We’re in turbulent times, so we want to make sure that everybody is prepared for the future.”
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The Canadian Credit Union Association is promoting the idea through all of its credit unions because it’s concerned about how people are planning for retirement, especially now that costs are rising and so many don’t have pension plans. Syed said they’re particularly concerned about those who are self-employed or earning income from less traditional sources.
“This is definitely not the time when people are usually thinking about this, but we’re raising awareness to ensure that people still have savings at the top of their mind and will start planning for life after work,” he said. “We want to make sure that everyone is thinking of all of their options, especially with RRSPs and self-directed plans. These are a great vehicle for people to save for their retirements.”
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The Kitchener, Ontario-based YNCU used the awareness day to launch its fall campaign to get people thinking about their RRSPS well in advance of the traditional late February deadline.
“We want to ensure that people are getting good financial and tax advice,” said Syed, “and that they have a good financial plan and healthy portfolio going into the new year.”
