Company retirement savings

[nzwasp]

I just started working for Telus and they have some pretty good retirement schemes specifically nearly 6% matching for RRSP (non union) and a employee share plan.

I have spoken to a couple of other employees that dont use these investment vehicles because they dont believe that its "free money" at the end of the day.

What does your company offer and do you take advantage of it?

[Type_S1]

You put 6%, they put 12%. I am getting 200% return on my money...of course I am taking advantage of it! haha

[Tik-Tok]

They match up to 5%. While it isn't "free money" it is considered part of your pay compensation, and you'd be an idiot not to use it. Otherwise you're basically taking a voluntary pay cut, lol.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[colsankey]

Our plan is 1/2 my contribution up to 6% is matched. So 6% gross gets me 9%.

Im starting over in the retirement area so I will be looking at a few other options, but it's a really good start.

As for your co-workers, while it's while techincally not "free money" it doesn't come out of your pocket. It's coming from the company's budget as part of your over-all compensation, so take advanatage of it. Otherwise you're getting paid less than you should be, assuming of course you would be taking some portion of your income to invest.

[G]

Mine does +1%. I buy 7% they give me 8%. I am surprised how many people don't take advantage of this free money.

[nzwasp]

I have a buddy working IT for an oil company and he is making close to 100k and hasnt subscribed to the RRSP / shares / or pension plan because hes too lazy to fill in the paper work - hes worked there for 5 years so far and probably missed out on 50k worth of company contributions/shares/options etc.

Also every tax year he has to pay over 2k worth of tax payments because of his bonus.

[G-ZUS]

Mandatory LAPP here, I believe they match what you put in. If you resign or get fired, you get your contributions back but not the companies.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Mandatory LAPP here, I believe they match what you put in. If you resign or get fired, you get your contributions back but not the companies.

Wtf? Seriously? So in order for you to retain the companies contribution, you have to stay there for life and retire there?

Ours is released after one year (so I now retain all the companies contributions from April 2011 and prior)

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Wtf? Seriously? So in order for you to retain the companies contribution, you have to stay there for life and retire there?

Ours is released after one year (so I now retain all the companies contributions from April 2011 and prior)

The thing I thought about was that the company contributions are using a bit of your space in the RRSP so if they dont give you the matched contributions then you lose that too.

[benyl]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak


He is right, there is no such thing as a free lunch. However if you are an employee, you might as well take advantage of it because you are already paying for it.

I opted out of my companies benifits in favor of a higher wage. I get no sick days, no stat days, no vacation days, and no insurance or rsp matching. However it does give me a tax advantage, allows me to pay myself dividends instead of wages which gets me out of CPP, also more flexibility with work hours and the ability to work for more than one company without voilating the non-competition clause.

So you are a contractor. haha.

[cet]

We have two at the company I'm at. An employee share ownership program in which the company will match your contributions to 35% over two years. The shares also pay dividends which automatically get re-invested. The second is a retirement savings program where the company will match with a base contribution of 60% and a variable contribution of up to 120%.

Absolutly worth it in my opinion.

[Sugarphreak]

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[Mibz]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Mandatory LAPP here, I believe they match what you put in. If you resign or get fired, you get your contributions back but not the companies. Sucks to be you. I kept the entire thing when I left my last job.

[skandalouz_08]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Mandatory LAPP here, I believe they match what you put in. If you resign or get fired, you get your contributions back but not the companies.

The correct term is "vesting period" and once you bypass that period you should have access to both the employee contributions and the employer contributions to your plan. Seems weird if a company is going to make you stay for more than 2 years and not make their contributions available to you.

Also, to the OP, max out your plan annually, makes the most sense to get the closest to "free" money you can get before the return you should receive on the invested money.

[skandalouz_08]

Originally posted by nzwasp
I have a buddy working IT for an oil company and he is making close to 100k and hasnt subscribed to the RRSP / shares / or pension plan because hes too lazy to fill in the paper work - hes worked there for 5 years so far and probably missed out on 50k worth of company contributions/shares/options etc.

Also every tax year he has to pay over 2k worth of tax payments because of his bonus.

Tell him I'll help him fill in the paperwork and only charge me $1K to do it. It's really simple and missing out on that much money is ridiculous. by the time he retires that could be retirement 3-5 years earlier than expected.

[nzwasp]

Lol yeah my friend and I have tried many times to tell him that we'll help him with it but he just doesnt want to.

and yes im maxing out my stuff.

[KappaSigma]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Mandatory LAPP here, I believe they match what you put in. If you resign or get fired, you get your contributions back but not the companies.

I bet there is a vesting period...

[botox]

Originally posted by nzwasp
Lol yeah my friend and I have tried many times to tell him that we'll help him with it but he just doesnt want to.

and yes im maxing out my stuff.
I don't blame him for not filling it out yet cause there's so many more important things to do in 5 minutes. Like finishing a game of solitaire, mindless surfing, updating facebook on how boring work is, checking your personal email, sitting on the can for an extra few minutes while playing with your phone, etc...

My company does match +2% and I max it out.

[K3RMiTdot]

i recently took advantage of mine at work. mine matches up to 4% so i just did 5%. everyone loves free money.

[Feruk]

Originally posted by nzwasp
I have spoken to a couple of other employees that dont use these investment vehicles because they dont believe that its "free money" at the end of the day.

Your co-workers don't know what they're talking about. Ignore and profit. It is just that... free money. On top of that, if it goes to your RRSP, you'll get even more back in taxes. Double profit! People think it's not free because they have to put it away instead of spending it immediately. Foolish logic.