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account. There is no set amount any member is guaranteed on retirement. Depending onone’s own decisions to make additional contributions, and depending on the performanceof the market, one can do very well or very poorly. It is, in effect, not so much a pension, aswe understand that word, as a retirement savings plan.A defined benefit plan mandates the benefit you receive upon retirement. Contributionrates are what may fluctuate, as the plan’s administrators conduct periodic assessments ofplan health and set contribution rates accordingly to ensure that the plan has enoughassets to meet all of its obligations. Rather than the individual-based accounting system of adefined contribution plan, a defined benefit plan pays according to a set formula based onsalary, years of service, and benefit rate (called ‘the accrual rate’). It means more securebenefits in the form of a monthly pension for life, but also mandatory contributions, paidfor by members themselves.3. What are the contribution rates of the two plans? How much do I have to pay?Under SFU’s current system, members are not required to make contributions to thepension plan. SFU pays 10%, and members may choose to make additional contributions,or may invest independently in RRSPs, or may take no action. The current pension plan inplace does not cost you as an individual anything off your paycheck. If you are concernedabout retirement, you can take additional steps at your own initiative to secure your future.Under the College Pension Plan’s system, members pay a contribution only slightly lessthan the employer. Rates are set by the Board of Trustees at least every every three yearsafter an actuarial assessment, and whatever rates are established are binding on bothemployees and employers. When markets are difficult and numbers of potential retireesswell, required contributions can go up. When the market performs well and a significantsurplus is accumulated, rates can decrease. Those decisions are not made by unions oremployers or members, but only by the Board of Trustees of the plan. Current rates in theCollege Plan are 10.15% from employees and 10.25% from employers. Given the waypension contributions are deducted, members would not see a full 10.15% decrease intake-home dollars, but there most certainly would be an impact. Those who are currentlymaking voluntary pension contributions or paying into RRSPs would off-set the paychequededuction by ending or reducing those other payments, but anyone not making voluntarypayments of any kind would be paying more – almost certainly for greater payoff in thefuture, to be sure – but at an immediate cost.4. I am on a very tight budget, and don’t think I can afford the member contributionsthat are a mandatory part of belonging to the BCCPP. What can be done?2
We understand that joining the BCCPP would mean increased deductions from members’paycheques. However, there are other factors that we hope will mitigate the impact tomembers’ take-home pay.In the coming months, we will no longer have MSP deducted from our paycheques. Therewas also a General Wage Increase and a step award implemented on September 1st, 2018,and there will be further increases in 2019. These factors, combined with the after-taximpact of the contributions falling somewhere closer to 7% rather than 10%, willsignificantly mitigate the cost of the BCCPP contributions for individuals.SFUFA has produced a spreadsheet members can use to see the real impact of thesecontributions in take-home dollars. Generally speaking, once other deductions and comingsalary increases are taken into account, most members will reach or exceed current takehome salary in less than 2 years – the period is shorter for those at lower salaries, longerfor those closer to the top of the scale.5. Under what circumstances would employee contributions to the plan rise, andwhat mechanisms would be in place to limit possible increases?The College Plan Board of Trustees has the power to decide what steps to take in the face ofa funding shortfall (i.e., increase contribution rates, decrease benefit accrual on ago-forward basis, or limit the indexing of benefits to inflation). The Board of Trustees iscomprised of appointees from both the provincial government and union representatives,and requires a supermajority to change contribution rates, etc. This is a mechanism toensure that such decisions are based on the health of the plan, and not on politics. Note thatbenefits can only be changed on a go-forward basis, e.g., if a member works for 10 yearsunder one benefit formula and then the formula is changed and the member works for 10more years, the member’s benefits in retirement will be based on 10 years on the oldformula, and 10 years on the new formula. Note that conditions that would lead toincreased employee contributions (i.e., poor market performance over a sustainedtime-period) would also lead to poor gains in our defined contribution plans.6. What are the benefits of the two plans in post-retirement income?Comparing benefits between the current DC plan and the BCCPP is like comparing applesand oranges, as the former is not only more unpredictable but starts from an assumption ofno member contribution rate. That is, the BCCPP requires that you pay into it, and so it isno surprise that its retirement payouts are better. Nonetheless, all we can compare are thebasic requirements of the two plans; if you are making alternate retirement arrangementsnow, then do consider those in both the assessment of the BCCPP’s costs and do factorthose into the total retirement benefits you might currently expect. If you are not making3
current voluntary contributions to the SFU plan, an RRSP, or another retirement vehicle,then the following will more accurately reflect your prospective retirement reality.In 2012, the average accumulated pension savings of an SFU faculty member between 60and 64 was $245,199.For members 65 years of age or older and still working, the average was $420,630 –significantly higher, and this includes members who had retired but had not yet begun tomake any withdrawals from their accounts.In any event, at no point was the average account of a member approaching or at normalretirement age anything near $500,000.Now, market performance has improved in the years since, so let us presume that amember does achieve a $500,000 savings by the time s/he wishes to retire. Retirementcalculators estimate this would provide an annual benefit of approximately $35,000 for theretirement years. To achieve a retirement income of $50,000 with inflation protection youwould require a balance of some $750,000 in your account.In defined contribution plans, members also bears the risk of outliving their investmentsand spending the final years of life without pension income.Defined benefit plans generally operate on a formula: accrual rate X pensionable earnings Xpensionable service. The formula is not completely straightforward, but in general termsthe college plan’s formula works out to roughly 2% X highest five years of salary X years ofservice in the plan. What does this mean? – Have 35 years of service? Retire with a guaranteed annual income stream of 70% ofhighest average salary.- 30 years of service – 60% of highest average salary.- 25 years of service – 50% of highest average salary.In dollars, that means a Senior Lecturer (without any salary supplement) retiring at top ofscale after 35 years would earn a pension benefit of some $84,000 per year; a full Professor(without any salary supplement) at top of scale would earn about $106,000 a year inpension. And those are guaranteed dollars, and will receive inflation increments in futureyears.This formula provides the total pension benefit for the individual member upon retirement.The BCCPP has a number of options for how this can be taken to provide for variousguarantee periods and/or ensure pension benefits are paid to a spouse until their death.The option chosen will have an impact on the exact monthly value of one’s pensionbenefits. Details of the options available can be found at:https://college.pensionsbc.ca/choose-your-pension-option4
There is also a pension estimator which allows one to calculate the rough difference inincome between the various options, factoring in different guarantee periods andcomparing single vs joint pension options. You can access the estimator by selecting the “Iam considering employment with an employer in the Plan” option at:https://www.pensionsbc.ca/portal/page/portal/general_pension_estimator/cpp_general_estimator/SFU’s current pension scheme has its benefits – it is no cost to the employee, it allows foradditional contributions by those who choose to make them but mandates nothing, it ishighly individualized, it is locally governed, providing substantial control to facultymembers, and, if a balance remains at the end of the member’s life, can be willed tobeneficiaries.A defined benefit plan such as the BC College Pension Plan is less flexible, less autonomous,and costs more to the individual member due to the required contributions. On the otherhand, as one begins to contemplate retirement, a possible annual pension of $30,000 lookspretty paltry compared to a guaranteed benefit of over $90,000 a year (plus inflationincrements). That’s not free money – you pay for it. But you pay earlier, over the course ofyour career, in a large plan that can leverage more investment weight than we can on ourown.Further information on the two plans is available at the following sites:SFU Academic Staff Pension PlanBC College Pension Plan7. What are the disadvantages of the BC College Pension Plan compared with ourcurrent plan?A general disadvantage of the BC College Pension Plan is that it reduces flexibility in anumber of ways. The most immediate example of this is that membership in the BC CollegePension Plan requires contributions from members – currently 10.15% of salary, i.e. youare forced to save for retirement. While this contribution is offset somewhat by tax savingsand salary increases, in the short term this will represent a decrease in take-home pay formembers not currently saving 10.15% of salary for retirement.There is also less flexibility in how you receive income in retirement. With our current DCplan, you might be able to live off the returns of your investments, leaving the principalintact to be left to your estate when you die. With the BCCPP, that is not an option. Whilethere are optional guarantee periods (whereby your estate will continue to receive yourpension for a fixed period after you retire, even if you die sooner) and joint life options5
(where your spouse continues to receive your pension after you die), your estate does notreceive a lump sum if you die after pension commencement in the way it might with ourcurrent DC plan. If you die before your pension starts, there are survivor benefits paid toyour spouse or your designated beneficiary/ estate. Depending on your personalcircumstances, having a lump sum to leave to your estate may be a greater concern thanthe risk of outliving your investments.There is no flexibility in terms of investment choices (e.g., risk tolerance or divestmentfrom fossil fuels, although the BCCPP does implement responsible investing principles, bybeing an active owner and an active participant in financial markets – seehttps://college.pensionsbc.ca/responsible-investing). Furthermore, SFU would not havedirect representation on the board of the BCCPP.Central features of the BCCPP are the pooling of investment risk and longevity risk. Thisrisk pooling is considered an advantage to some, but a disadvantage to others. Poolinginvestment risk means that your retirement benefits won’t be hit as hard by a stock marketcrash, but also means that you won’t benefit as much if the market does really well. TheBCCPP trades off some of your expected income in retirement for reduced volatility anduncertainty in that income. A report commissioned by SFUFA identified scenarios whereour DC plan was expected to yield higher income in retirement than the BCCPP(http://www.sfufa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/actuarial-report-march-15.pdf):generally speaking, situations where members join at a young age (~30) and under higherassumed rates of return.Similarly, pooling longevity risk means that those who live longer will draw more from theplan, whereas those who die sooner will receive less. If you believe that you and yourspouse have shorter than average life expectancies, you might expect that you and yourestate would receive more from the existing DC plan since your pension contributionswould not subsidize the pension benefits of those who lived longer than average.The BCCPP is designed for people who plan to retire at around 65 years of age, and so isless favourable to those who leave the plan substantially before or after that age. Forexample, compared to retirement at 65, someone who retires at 70 will have accumulatedan additional 5 years of service (and so will have a higher pension), but will expect toreceive their pension for 5 years less on average.8. Are benefits indexed to cost of living increases?6
The short answer is yes. The Board of Trustees annually reviews CPI and funding availablewithin the plan. There is a limit set on the maximum increase, but this limit has been abovethe actual increase in CPI since the 1980s, i.e., the indexing effectively matches CPI. Thecurrent cost of living cap is 2.07%. See either of:https://college.pensionsbc.ca/cost-of-living-adjustmentshttps://college.pensionsbc.ca/cost-of-living-adjustments-your-favourite-type-of-cola9. In the calculation of retirement benefits in the College Pension Plan, do the highest5 years of salary include market differentials, and/ or salary supplements associatedwith administrative positions (e.g., Chairs, Deans)?Yes. Note that the formula for calculating retirement benefits is based on the highest 5years of salary, not the last 5 years of salary. Anything considered ‘salary’ by the Universityis included – which can include supplements for a specific term. Payments that are notdeemed salary may not be factored in, but neither will be they be included in assessingcontributions. Only those portions that are factored into benefits are charged contributionsand vice versa.10. If we move to the BCCPP, what happens to the money in my current SFU pensionaccount?Should we join the BCCPP, existing faculty members would have a choice: you could leavethe money currently in the DC plan where it is, and only contribute to the BCCPP on ago-forward basis. This would mean that at retirement, you would draw from both theBCCPP and your existing DC fund. Your second option would be to buy years of service inthe BCCPP with some or all of the contributions currently being held in the SFU DC plan,exchanging dollars for “years of service” under the BCCPP formula. New faculty memberswould automatically join the BCCPP.11. If I choose to convert my existing pension account into “years of service”, whatwill be the cost?The cost of buying back years of service depends on your age and salary. There is, then, nota standard price we can provide, and all issues related to buying previous years mustultimately be addressed if and when SFU applies formally to join the BCCPP. We anticipateno issues with providing for a buy-back option, and which would then involve additionalcalculations to provide precise amounts. No one would be required to make any decisionabout purchasing years of service until after those exact costs are known. To give a generalidea, the College Plan has provided a table of rough estimates, below. The cost of buy backinvolves an estimation of your benefits in retirement, and therefore an estimation of yourbest years of salary based on your current salary. This estimation involves an assumption7
about our salary scale, and so the BCCPP may revise costs of buy back based on our actualsalary scales. The estimates provided will likely be more accurate at older ages.12. I have built up a significant balance in my SFU DC plan. Do I have to transfer thesefunds to the BCCPP?No. Faculty members are under no obligation to transfer money currently in the SFU DCplan into the BCCPP.13. What sources of funds can be used to buy past years of service in the BCCPP?Any money currently in any type of locked-in retirement savings account (RRSP, anotherpension plan, another locked-in retirement account). You can also buy past years of servicewith money not currently locked in to any retirement savings account penalty-free up toyour personal RRSP contribution limit. After that, any non-locked-in funds used would besubject to a penalty.14.What is the maximum number of years of past service that can be bought backunder the BCCPP?The precise terms of any buyback will have to be determined in discussions with the BCCPPafter we decide to join. Generally, though, you can buy back as many years as you haveworked at SFU, but cannot purchase more years than you have been here.15. How are leaves, such as maternity and parental leaves, treated?The BCCPP has provisions for members to buy back years on eligible leave of absence, suchas maternity, parental or adoption leave. Costs are based on salary and duration of leave,and if members make their contributions, the employer will pay its share.8
16. Up to what age can someone can join the BCCPP?Under Canadian law, you can join up to age 71. At that time pension contributions ceaseand you must begin to draw benefits, even if you continue working. This is a legalrequirement, and applies to all plans.17.Is there a minimum number of years someone has to contribute to the BCCPP inorder to draw benefits?No. As soon as you join the BCCPP you are eligible to access the post-retirement benefits.This is known as ‘immediate vesting’.18.How does CPP affect BCCPP? Does it cause the BCCPP pension to be adjusted?The BCCPP is a non superannuated plan, which means you can collect your full CPP as wellas your full BCCPP benefit.19. What’s the tax treatment if the total contribution exceeds the RRSP ceiling?Revenue Canada allows total contributions to DB pension plans to exceed the RRSP ceiling,at their discretion. Employee contributions to a DB plan are fully deductible up to a grosssalary of $188,000 in 2018, to increase in future years.20.I have been at SFU for over 30 years, and plan to retire in 2 or 3 years’ time. Is theBCCPP of much benefit to me?If you are near to retirement, and were hired at SFU prior to 2001, the BCCPP may be ofinterest as an attractive alternative to a traditional annuity purchased through aninsurance company. (As explained later in this document, the purchase of past years ofservice by a person close to retirement is roughly equivalent to purchasing aninflation-indexed annuity paying 8% per annum.) However, there would be no obligationto buy back years of service in the BCCPP and members alternatively could, at theirdiscretion, leave their existing funds in the current SFU DC Plan. In addition to anypurchase of past years of service, you would contribute to the BCCPP for the last few yearsof work prior to retirement, which together would determine the pension you would drawfrom the BCCPP. You would also be able to access their post-retirement benefits, shouldyou choose. The lifetime limit for post-retirement health benefits through the BCCPP iscurrently $150,000 – https://college.pensionsbc.ca/retirement-health-coveragehttps://onlineservices.greenshield.ca/publicbooklets/cpp.pdf – vs $15,000 with ourcurrent retirement benefits for people who joined SFU after 2001https://www.sfu.ca/human-resources/retirees-health-benefit.html9
21. The benefit formula for the BCCPP is based on the average of the best five years’salary. What happens for members who are close to retirement and only intend tobe part of the plan for 2 to 3 years?If you work for less than 5 years before retiring, your pension benefit amount would bebased on the average salary of the number of years you work before retirement. Only yearsyou worked while in the BCCPP will be used to calculate your best average salary. Salarysupplements such as market differentials, retention awards, and any other salarysupplement provided through SFU payroll is considered part of your best average salarycalculation.22. I am a mid-career faculty member who plans to work until at least age 65. Howwill the BCCPP likely affect me?The immediate effect of joining the BCCPP would be that you would have to begin makingretirement contributions to the BCCPP. If you are currently investing ~10% of your incomeinto RRSPs, your existing DC account, or other retirement savings (above the contributionsmade by the university), this change would have little effect on your disposable income, asyou would likely stop making your current contributions and switch to investing in theBCCPP. If you are currently saving less than 10%, the increased contributions to retirementwould mean a decrease in your immediate disposable income.If you are a mid-career member and intend to continue working at SFU for a number ofyears, you may have accumulated substantial savings in your SFU DC plan, and goingforward would also accumulate moderate benefits through the BCCPP. As described above,you could choose to buy years of service with some or all of the funds in your SFU DC plan,or keep this as a separate fund. For instance, imagine that you have worked at SFU for 15years, and intend to continue working here for another 15. If you do not buy years ofservice, you will accumulate 15 years with the BCCPP, and so upon retirement, yourbenefits will be 15 x 2% x average of best 5 years of service = annual pension of 30% of theaverage of your best 5 years, and you would also have the funds from the SFU DC tosupplement your income. Alternatively, you could buy years of service. However, your SFUDC plan funds would not necessarily be sufficient to buy all 15 years of service that you hadactually worked, and may need to be supplemented by savings in other registered plans.23. What options are there for how the pension can be taken under the BCCPP?When deciding how to take your BCCPP benefit, you’ll have 3 options to choose from, aswell as 3 guarantee period options.10
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