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The guy just wanted to enjoy his retirement with his dog.
You know those LinkedIn posts where people turn some mundane or annoying everyday experience into this epic life lesson? This is one of those. And it’s hilarious. Now stay with me. So I'm getting reacquainted with the John Wick Chapters. I know I’m early the 4th Chapter doesn’t drop until 2023. But I may have gotten a little excited because the trailer recently dropped. This guy? He’s the GOAT. But what makes Johnathan stand out in his field of work? Its certainly not a 4am wake up. His alarm is set for a more reasonable 6:00am. The thing I always appreciated about John wick the most is that the guy always double taps. As I'm watching, appreciating his double tap efficiency what I realize is he also does not hesitate. Then because I'm analyzing it now, he's also great at planning and anticipation. Because I love a good movies series binge, I immediately began to watch John Wick Chapter 2 I noticed that they start out similarly with John being described as a man of focus, commitment and sheer effing will. Okay what does this have to do with being an industry go-to and maybe even great client experiences? Everything. We can learn a lot from our pal John. Let’s “unpack” this. When John is in the field, he’s able to anticipate a person’s next move. In any field of work this is key to a great experience. Answering a question in an email? Anticipate what next steps your answer will create – is it a return question? Is it finding a document? Maybe it’s booking a meeting? What further task, activity or inquiry needs to happen? Anticipating this and tackling out of the gate creates a better, more thoughtful experience. This is where the planning comes in. John carefully plans and prepares for his jobs. Let’s think about the impossible task he’s given in Chapter 2 (spoiler alert it’s to assassinate a difficult to reach target). He prepares by reviewing blueprints and there’s a “fun” scene where he’s getting his bullet proof suit made and he’s gathering is weapons. Then we see him strategically stashing said weapons in key locations. He does this because he took the time to anticipate what actions will happen as a result of his actions. Akin to preparing for an important meeting, you take the time to learn about who is in the meeting and what they care about. You carefully prepare your messaging and practice what you want to say. You test your technology to ensure it runs smoothly and you spend time anticipating what actions will happen as a result of this meeting. What questions, objections, excitement, next steps will need to be addressed? Next up no hesitation. Now in John’s line of work, not hesitating means he stays alive because unlike every bad guy in the history of movies, John does not hesitate even for a second to pull the trigger. This aligns with the description of his as focused and committed. We all know that procrastinations creates in consistency. No hesitation means “paying yourself first”, “taking the bit out of the elephant” or whatever cliché slogan you want to use. It’s doing the work that’s most important with no hesitation. Staying focused on the one important task. Last we have the double tap. I view the double tap as a throughout completion of the work and a strong follow up to ensure a job well done. Simple. What do you think? Does John Wick really have the secret to success? The 2022 Drug Data Trends & National Benchmarks report by TELUS Health is a fan favorite filled with useful data. This year's report can be found here
TELUS shares that the growth rates for 2021 and 2020 occurred despite notable declines in the number of insureds who submitted claims during the first two years of the pandemic. So besides drug costs continuing to rise and should continue to be a focused area to reduce claim cost... My Top 5 takeaways are:
It’s worth noting that Not all carriers followed suit to mimic the government’s switching policy in order to avoid taking on the full cost of originator biologics for plan members who choose not to switch and instead turn to their private plan for coverage. In addition to paying the full cost of a plan member’s claim, it also opens the Employer/Plan Sponsor to COB risk. Last week I talked about the connection between the quality of a benefit plan and an employee’s satisfaction in their job and braggable benefits. You’ll recall my braggable benefits formula is
Braggable Benefits = Personalized + User Experience + Digital + Communication The key here is communication. Communicating the benefit program is one of the most impactful things employers can do. Why? Well 83% of employees believe that their employer pays a fixed cost to the insurance company, no matter how much or how little the benefit plan is used. This means that some employees may use benefits that they don’t need because they think there are no consequences in doing so. Plus 58% pf employees are just unaware of their benefit entitlement. This means, employees who may need care, aren’t getting it because they don’t know they can. This could lead to turnover (due To a lack of perceived care form their employer) absenteeism, disability, higher long term drug costs or worse case scenario, an unclaimed claim for a benefit like CI. Communicating the benefit plan doesn’t have to be a big task. Here are some tips to get you going. Start by communicating a summary of what you have in the benefit plan. There’s lots of nitty gritty programs like health risk assessment, and iCBT built into plans. If you’re not sure what perks your insurers have included ask your advisor or your Group Account Executive. Next, Communicate what’s free in Canada
Everyone has a lot of communication coming at them all day, every day. So keep your short and sweet. When you communicate is small but frequent bursts, your message is more likely to be received. Also try communicating in different ways, in person employee meetings, email, posters, mail, webinar, intranet and so on. What is a short communication? This post isn’t. In person, it could be a short as quickly mentioning a service. In writing it means keeping message length equal to no more than one mobile screen. When people have to scroll to read the while message, they move on without reading. Last, when possible bucket communications into structured buckets. For example
That’s it! What communication tips do you have? 58% of employees are unaware of their benefits entitlement. That means that not only do employees not know what benefits they have, when or how to use them, but they also don’t know how much their employer pays for them. So what? I talk about braggable benefits a lot. In the sense of employee’s bragging to other about their awesome benefit plan. But employers can and should be bragging about their benefits to current and new employees. It’s story time. Once upon a time, in the province of Alberta, an advisor shared this story with me. One of their clients had an employee leave to go to a competitor for an extra $2 / hour. Same work, we’ll call it a similar commute, just more money in their pocket. But after a week in the new job, this employee asked tier employer for their old job back. Why? Working conditions were fine, the people were fine, management was fine. This employee was making more money. So why, after a week would they ask their previous employer for their old job? It was the benefit plan. Specifically, the cost share in the benefits plan. You see the new employer was paying for half of the plan, where as this employee’s previous employer was paying for 100% of the plan (I’m sure with the exception of disability premiums). And that, was worth way more than the extra $2 per hour. The group benefit program is an important part of the total compensation package, and employers should be bragging to current and future employees about not only the benefits they provide, but also how much they contribute to the cost. This small feature can be the difference between an employee staying or going, coming on or choosing another employer. Need extra proof in the pudding? I have some delicious pudding for you care of McKinsey & Company. Their study found that after work flexibility the top reason why people accepted their current job was an adequate total compensation package. That of course includes benefits. And for those who left, a lack of support for employee health and well-being followed by inadequate total compensation are #5 and 6 on the list. What’s the best way for employers to brag about their benefit plan?   The chicken and the egg, which came first?
It’s kind of like that with employee job satisfaction and a quality benefit program. You see year over year, the Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey has found that employees who have a benefit program that meets their needs or view their benefit program as quality or have a workplace wellness culture, or a workplace that supports mental health, are more likely to be satisfied with their job. In 2020 the survey found that 87% of people who viewed the quality of the plan as excellent/very good were also satisfied with their job. In 2021 the stat dropped a big, likely due to healthcare needs changing due to COVID and the initial shock of working from home and managing the family. In 2022 you’ll see that number bounce back with the survey drops this fall. I love this statistic. It makes the case for great benefits, or braggable benefits as I like to call them. Braggable Benefits = Personalized + User Experience + Digital + Communication The backbone of braggable benefits is communication. When employees know what benefits they have, when and how to use them they are more likely to be satisfied with their plan. But at the same time, I have been thinking … Does the quality of the benefit program make people satisfied, since they feel seen and cared for, or are the satisfied people simply wearing rose-coloured glasses and less likely to complain? Dose the plan meet their needs because they don’t need the plan? Perhaps those who are stressed and in poor health unable to navigate their benefits due to a lack of bandwidth. Maybe one does not lead to the other and instead they are intertwined like an infinity symbol. The guest posts continue on the savings and retirement theme. But this time with a twist. Tuck in, this is a longer read.
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” ― Henry Ford. We need to start talking about inflation, pensions, and Bitcoin. Inflation erodes the capital value of savings and diminishes the burden of debt obligations. It also inflates the nominal value of assets held by lenders as collateral, making them appear to be worth more. So inflation simultaneously makes debts less significant, and balance sheets appear to be healthier. Governments are the largest borrowers in the world. They are therefore the largest beneficiaries of inflation, as the real value of their debt is diminished at the expense of the purchasing power of their currency. Tax revenues go up and government debt becomes a smaller percentage of government revenue raised from taxes. This is an old playbook, and it's the reason why government issued fiat currencies almost always eventually collapse. There is a built in incentive for governments to dilute their currency to reduce their cost of borrowing, and one area that people need to start thinking about how this applies to is pensions. Government debt is growing from both deficit spending and interest- it's just a matter of at what rate, while it may ebb and flow inflation is unlikely to go away. So understanding this, means accepting that the money supply is very likely to continue to expand and dilute over time. It also means if you are counting on a pension payout, be it Defined Benefit, or Defined Contribution Benefit, IPP, PPP, or RRSP plan - the real world value of those benefits you receive at time of collection is likely to be inflated away. Understanding this fundamental problem, we have to start examining how prolonged currency inflation forces us consider new ideas for growing and preserving the value of our hard earned money. It is why we have seen large pensions get more creative with their investments, and more aggressive in their asset mixes. It is also why Bitcoin is unique as an asset that can and should be incorporated into pensions and retirement planning. 21,000,000 /♾️ The permanently fixed supply of Bitcoin, capped at 21 million- might not strike universally today as a gold standard characteristic of an asset to hinge part of your planned retirement on. Consider the above problem that government money, essentially must continually expand - to meet the needs of new projects, and to degrade the value of the amount already borrowed. There will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin. That means if we are considering the title chart comparing the supply of Bitcoin to the balance sheet of the US Federal Reserve, that graph can essentially diverge infinitely. Bitcoin exists as a verifiably hard asset, in a financial universe built on planned infinite expansion. Now consider that Bitcoin is an asset that anyone in the world with a cellphone can buy, and that every government in the world has a debt problem. As the supply curves diverge further and further, Bitcoin will become an infinitely improving caliber of asset to be held for the preservation of value. Volatility - Horizon is a crucial component of investing for retirement, and Bitcoin critics will point to its short term volatility as a reason why it can not be counted on as a vehicle for retirement planning. Bitcoin is volatile today and year to date it is down almost 40% in price. If you are planning to retire in the next 6 months, you might not want to go all in. I am not suggesting Bitcoin is the silver bullet, merely that pension committees and self-directed plan members alike need to start thinking about having an allocation to Bitcoin because of the inherent need governments have to print money to keep the current system going. The question of long-term concern about volatility can be looked at a few ways. To keep the length of this manageable I am just going to examine one. Bitcoin today is roughly a $600,000,000 USD asset. The global market cap of gold is somewhere between 12-15 trillion USD. Stocks, real estate, and cash are in the hundreds of trillions. Your long-term view of the volatility concern in my opinion should be this- How big do you think Bitcoin as an asset can get? I say this for a few reasons but most importantly it stands to reason that the larger it becomes, the harder the needle becomes to move violently down. When we arrive at a point where 12 trillion USD have found their way to Bitcoin, it stands to reason that producing a 3 trillion USD outflow needed to crash the price would take a degree of collective panic orders of magnitude higher than the mere billions of dollars required to do it today. The bigger assets get, the less volatile they tend to be. Keep in mind, the total global money supply has to continually expand, at varying speeds. Even if Bitcoin for some reason stops gaining new users today - the asset would likely still grow over time even if it only continued to capture on a percentage basis the same amount of available money that it is today, but it is growing in new users. The Bitcoin network is adding users faster than the internet did in the late 90s. So think about that and ask yourself - Bitcoin is the fastest asset to reach 1 trillion USD ever. Is it more likely that over time Bitcoin will cease to exist or continue to grow, as a superior deflationary asset in an inherently inflationary world? Returns - There are two ways to look at this in my opinion. One is, how can we expect Bitcoin to appreciate in price compared to other investments over time? The other is to invert that question and consider how will other assets compete with Bitcoins ability to endlessly appreciate in price? As the money supply continues to expand over time the value gap between the value of government currency with an unlimited supply and Bitcoin with a permanently fixed supply will only become more dramatic. The other assets that would typically comprise a pension fund will also struggle to maintain pace with Bitcoins appreciation due to scarcity. Stocks, real estate, and bonds - are all instruments priced in fiat currency today. They all should have soft potential price maximums. Referring to the previous section, a bet on say the stock market versus Bitcoin over the long term, is a bet on equities ability to continue to grow by hundreds of trillions of dollars, compared to Bitcoins ability to grow from it's current size to 5 trillion, and then 10, and beyond. Bitcoins theoretical market cap will be reached when it has consumed every single unit of fiat currency. The question should be, what sectors or asset classes will be poised to outperform Bitcoin, when they are all paid for and priced in the money which is simultaneously leaking value and they already compose huge chunks of the global asset market? Risk Hedge - today Bitcoin trades in high correlation with the stock market. This is a conversation about long horizon time planning. The same argument about reduced volatility over time, should lead to an at least corollary argument that Bitcoin will eventually also decouple from tech stocks. 5 Countries & Governments currently own Bitcoin, it's future likely is to be held by many more. https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/treasuries/ In this case the best way to think about it is, how do we view the long-term performance potential of the stock market, against the inflationary pressure created by necessitated money printing. My guess is that over time traditional assets will be a riskier bet, than a single transparent network that has a permanently fixed number of units. Again we are looking at this from the lens of long-term assets to build your portfolio for retirement around. Which would you rather place a 20 year bet on today? The fastest growing, most viral technology in human history - which is built on planned scarcity? Or an increasingly risky mix of equities required merely to outrun prolonged inflation? What are some possible paths to incorporating Bitcoin into a pension strategy? Holding BTC inside a pension. It's happening already. The Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund (HFRRF) announced in 2021 that it was investing $25 million in bitcoin, the first time a U.S. pension fund invested in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is digital property. The idea of property being digital is new a concept to wrap your head around, but physical property has long been a stable of pension funds. The basic concept of holding BTC in a pension is not as absurd as you might think. As an alternative in Canada you might be have the ability to allocate or self direct pension funds into a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund like Purpose Bitcoin ETC - trading as BTCC. Bitcoin ETFs hold Bitcoin as the only underlying asset, and so while you don't get the benefits of participating in owning actual Bitcoin going this route, you will from a retirement planning perspective enjoy the long-term price appreciation of the scarcest asset in the world. In the absence of either of those options holding Bitcoin outside of your pension, as a tool to offset the long-term inflation risk to your benefits. Bitcoin as a parallel investment for those counting on pensions, offers insurance against the erosion of the real world value of pension benefits. Custody of actual Bitcoin scares many but is always preferable to an investment in a product where Bitcoin is the underlying asset. This will be more and more evident over time. Digital assets are a new idea today but this attitude will pass. Possessing and storing your own Bitcoin is more secure, keeps them more liquid, and prevents any possibility of seizure or confiscation. Bitcoin is a novel, and maturing financial instrument. We need to start thinking about how to incorporate it into the existing framework of retirement planning. I believe it is the apex predator of inflationary monetary policies, which pensions and pensioners are especially vulnerable to. About the guest author - Scott started in the insurance industry in 2008, holding various sales leadership roles with Canada Life before becoming an advisor in 2016. In 2022 he made the decision to transition to the world of Bitcoin and in his current role with Bitcoin Well he is using his experience in traditional financial services sales to help Canadians and Canadian Companies make informed Bitcoin purchases. Scott is a Bitcoin enthusiast and a graduate of Wharton Business Schools Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets. s.dedels@bitcoinwell.com Note from The GAB - this website is not giving advice. When incorporating cyrpto (or doing any investing outside of an RRSP or TFSA) into your retirement plan, please consider the taxable nature of any gains made in this volatile marketplace. Never invest more than you're willing to lose. 6/4/2022 GUEST POST! 3 significant forces that will reshape the talent landscape in Canada for yearsRead Now A Business Development Bank of Canada Study – Future-Proof Your Business – identified three significant forces that will reshape the talent landscape in Canada for years to come:
Demographic complexity makes it much more challenging to assist employees in obtaining knowledge and information to help them better understand their current financial situation and gain peace of mind. In today’s changing financial landscape, managing a workplace financial program – whether the purpose is for retirement or savings – is an important responsibility. It is also undoubtedly difficult to devote the time to with many conflicting priorities vying for attention. Organizations are faced with ongoing volatility, mounting uncertainty and inflationary costs, not to mention the time it takes to manage their programs properly. Combine this with the lingering concerns from the pandemic and its overall impact on the emotional and financial health of their organization, their employees, and their HR teams, it is becoming clear that the compensation picture is becoming more difficult to manage. With an eye towards the future, here are 3 trends that are we seeing progressive employers explore with respect to their group retirement plan designs. 1. Flexibility, Flexibility, Flexibility Similar to health benefits, employees are looking for flexibility to address various financial needs. These needs may fall outside the immediate scope of retirement but will ultimately play into one’s ability to save over the long term:
2. Women in the workplace The impact that the pandemic has had on women in the workforce is well documented. According to Sun Life’s 2021 Designed for Savings Report, the average account balance for men exceeds women across all industry sectors. The lower savings levels are due to lower on average earnings* and some systemic plan design features. Plan Design Considerations: Review eligibility rules and leave policies with a female lens Many retirement programs still have a 12-month waiting period to join the plan. Women also take parental leave more often at which point their ability to save is put on pause. A mother with two children who has had to make 2 job changes over her career to balance the family, could easily have 3 or 4 less years of workplace savings than her male counterpart due to rules that have been in place for generations 3. Designing communication strategies that focuses on the needs of people The standard “one size fits all” communication approach doesn’t really work for employers with today’s multi-generational and multi-cultural workforce. Organizations that approach their communication strategy using demographic data and cultural realities have a greater chance of ensuring employees have opportunities to improve their financial mental health which can become a competitive advantage: Plan Design Consideration: Design a communication strategy around the four generations in the workforce and those newer to Canada
What are you doing to address these forces and what trends are you seeing? Thanks to Paul Webber for this guest post! Paul leads the Group Savings and Retirement practice at Green Benefits Group where he brings over 30 years of experience as both a plan sponsor and a consultant. So he knows a thing or two about retirement and savings trends! If you want to chat more with Paul about this or other things, you can find him on LinkedIn and via the classics: phone 416-565-6955 email p.webber@greenbenefitsgroup.ca Gotta cite those stats *In 2018, females aged 25 to 54 earned $0.87 for every dollar earned by men on an hourly basis according to The gender wage gap in Canada: 1998 to 2018. Statistics Canada, October 2019. Back in 2017 the waiting period for EI was shortened from two weeks to one week. There was no change to the claim duration.
What did this mean for short and long term disability benefit plans? For short, employers participating in the ei reduction program just needed to make sure their waiting period was still in line. For LTD it meant plans with a 120 day waiting period would have a week long gap between ei ending and Ltd beginning. Many employers did not reduce the waiting period to realign with EI and employees still have a gap week with no income. And we still commonly quote 120 day waiting periods. This does shift some cost to the employee. Today Bill C-30 is proposing more changes to EI that will impact the Disability benefit. This time the claim duration is being impacted. The plan is to increase the duration for sickness benefits from 15 weeks to 26 weeks. There is currently NO go date for this update. And the government has not shared how this will affect the ei reduction program. What should you do? This is a good time to start planning so you’re ready when the changes do (if ever) go into effect. Will you want to update your disability plans to align with EI? What is the impact to individuals from a claiming and cost perspective? Will long term disability plans begin to separate sickness and injury? What scenarios need to be thought through with this possible change? 10 Free Mental Health Resources for Canadians. What are they for? Where to find them? How to use it?
May 2-9 is mental health week. Get your tool kit here. Now into the list – 10+ free mental health resources for Canadians 1. Wellness Together provides mental health and substance use support for people in Canada and Canadians abroad . It’s a 24/7 free virtual resource run by the Government of Canada. In this site you can search for written resources, talk with a councilor over the phone, or create an account to access courses, apps and more. 2. Anxiety Canada – is a registered non-profit organization, created to create awareness about anxiety and support access to proven resources and treatments. They have free online, self-help tools to help manage anxiety. You can use anexiety Canada’s free CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) app MindShift, to a group therapy program that can be claimed in your benefits program, or use their step by step online course for anxiety management. 3. Bounceback is a free skill-building designed to help adults and youth 15+ manage low mood, mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress or worry. Delivered online or over the phone with a coach, you will get access to tools that will support you on your path to mental wellness. 4. PocketWell app – by the Federal Government program Wellness Together Canada. Track your mood and well-being and access mental health & substance use support from professional counsellors. All services are free, offered virtually or over the phone. you'll be able to use research-based tools to measure and track your well-being, including a Self-Assessment developed by psychologists. The Mood Meter will also let you keep a log of how you’re doing through quick daily check-ins. ONE-TO-ONE SUPPORT From the app, you'll also be able to connect with trained counsellors & crisis responders who can talk to you about what you're going through and help you through intense situations. Send a text message or call one of WTC's phone counselling lines any time of day or night to get support, available anywhere within Canada. 5. Crisis Services Canada /Talk Suicide Canada– Need help? Connect with a person at the Canada Suicide Prevention Services. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, the Canada Suicide Prevention Service is available 24/7/365 for voice and 4pm to 12am EST for text. Call 1.833.456.4566 Text 45645 6. Kids Help Phone offers e-mental health services are available 24/7 across Canada. This means that we’re here for kids, teens and young adults from coast to coast to coast. They offer mental health tips and info. Crisis support and counselling over the phone or online. Call 1.800.668.6868 Text 686868 7. Workplace Strategies for Mental Health – This one is a bit different. They provide strategies, approaches and workshops for organizations and people leaders, along with practical resources for employees on topics including emotional intelligence, dealing with a stressful boss, resolving conflict and more. Everyone can benefit from the tools on this site. CMHA National – the Canadian Mental Health Association has local chapters that can help you. The CMHA can help you find resources and your local chapter will have local resources. 8. Heads Up Guys – health strategies for managing and preventing depression – for Men. They also have a therapist directory. 9. The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) – the first of its kind in the world, is a set of voluntary guidelines, tools and resources intended to guide organizations in promoting mental health and preventing psychological harm at work. 10. SmilingMind is a free meditation app and a not for profit.. I’m sure there are others, this is the one I happen to use. Province specific: BC – A hub of mental health resources – free, low cost and more for residents of BC. A more robust list than what I have made! Togetherall a safe, online community where people support each other anonymously to improve mental health and wellbeing. Millions of people across Canada have free access through organizations, colleges and universities. Togetherall is free to all Alberta and Nova Scotia residents aged 16+ Good2Talk provides free, confidential support service for post-secondary students on NS and ON Other: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Programs like those offered by MindBeacon, Anxiety Canada and AbilityiCBT can be claimed through the psychology benefit in the group benefit plan. |
