Description: Defined benefit plans have been disappearing from the private sector retirement program landscape. 401k Plans that have taken their place are not designed to provide retiree lifetime income. Individuals seldom work for a single employer and thus have many retirement accounts spread about. This commentary discusses an alternative approach to providing retirement income a voluntary basis in a vehicle that is decoupled from employers.

Description: Presented at Living to 100 Symposium, January 2011. The first part of this paper gives background material on the existing Canadian Income Security system, including both government-sponsored systems and private sector supplements. The second part is the report from the Canadian Institute of Actuaries' Task Force on Government-Facilitated Retirement Income Plans published March 2010, which provided actuarial input to the Canadian pension reform debate.