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Longevity Lifestyle Design Improves Experience

Plan sponsors and advisors can improve the plan member experience through longevity lifestyle design and improve business outcomes, says Simon Chan, a principal at Adapt with Intent Consulting. Taking this approach can reduce presenteeism, improve health claims, raise employer brand, and retain knowledge by identifying opportunities to structure work for a retiring plan member to proactively retain their knowledge and use them as coaches and mentors, he told the?41st Annual ISCEBS Employee Benefits Symposium session ‘The Future of Retirement: How Plan Sponsors and Advisors Can Improve the Plan Member Experience Through Longevity Lifestyle Design.’ In the presentation with Mike Duran, an author and consultant with Victory Lap Retirement, he said major societal trends are reshaping retirement. These include greater longevity, shifting demographics, erosion of retirement plans, and disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic. For plan sponsors, the aging population is retiring creating a knowledge loss at a time of talent and labour shortages. They need to change from full stop retirement based on financial aspects to a longevity lifestyles by design approach based on achieving financial independence. Duran said retirees have fundamental needs that need to be satisfied. However, not all retirees have the same needs and interests. The core principles for happy retirement include health, financial independence, spirituality, and having a purpose that gets them out of bed. A longevity by design approach for retirees starts with figuring out who they want to be and include setting goals and costing these out, he said.

Canadians Pay For Public Healthcare

A Canadian family of two adults and two children with a household income of an average $156,086 will pay an estimated $15,847 for public healthcare in 2022, says a Fraser Institute study. However, with most of the funding for public healthcare coming from general taxation, most Canadians are unaware of the cost outside of those that are employer-collected or provincial contributions. Even couples without dependent children will pay an estimated $15,229, while single Canadians will pay $4,907 and single parents with one child will pay $5,812. “Canadians pay a substantial amount of money for healthcare through a variety of taxes ? even if we don’t pay directly for medical services,” says Bacchus Barua, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of ‘The Price of Public Health Care Insurance, 2022.’ The study reveals since 1997 while household income has grown by 116 per cent, the cost of public healthcare has risen 210 per cent. “Understanding how much Canadians actually pay for healthcare and how much that amount has increased over time, is an important first step for taxpayers to assess the value and performance of the healthcare system and whether it’s financially sustainable,” says Barua.

For details on these stories, visit www.bpmmagazine.com

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