Facts about... Planning for your survivors

Pension
A NEWSLETTER FOR THE
PENSIONERS OF OPTRUST
CONNECTION
SUMMER 2013, Nº 59
SPECIAL PULLOUT SECTION INSIDE >
Facts about...
Planning for your survivors
BUILDING RETIREMENT
SECURITY: REPORT TO
PENSIONERS 2012
No one wants to think about their death, but preparing in advance
for it may help your loved ones. Knowing what information your
family or friends will need and who will receive survivor benefits,
including your OPTrust pension, will help ease some of the burden
during a difficult time. We recommend that you share this
information with your loved ones.
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SPECIAL PULLOUT SECTION
REPORT TO P
ENSIONERS
At OPTrust we are
But you may not have a spouse or your spouse may have waived
the entitlement to survivor benefits. Your survivor benefits are then
paid to eligible children, other beneficiaries or to your estate.
Eligible Spouse
60% of pension
Eligible Children
60% of pension,
if no spouse
Other
Beneficiaries
If no eligible
children
Estate
If no
beneficiaries
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >
In this issue:
3 New trustee: Linda MacKinnon
3 Employee profile: April Robinson
6 Seniors Canada online
resources
4 You asked...
6 Retirement income
calculator
5 OPTrust shortlisted for award
7 Your OPTrust advantage
5 Reminder: Great-West Life
claims for 2012
8 Six reasons to use secure
Online Services
here to serve you.
> With invested assets
of $14.7 billion, the
OPSEU Pension Trust
(OPTrust) manages
one of Canada’s largest
pension funds and
administers the OPSEU
Pension Plan, a
defined benefit plan
with almost 84,000
members and retirees.
WHO RECEIVES SURVIVOR BENEFITS?
Usually, your surviving spouse will receive survivor benefits when
you die. Like your own pension, your spouse’s survivor pension is
reduced to reflect CPP integration on what would have been your
65th birthday.
2012
BUILDING RE
TIREMENT
OUR MANDATE
OPTrust was launched
in 1995 to provide
service and security
to the members and
retirees of the OPSEU
Pension Plan. Our
mandate focuses on
three key objectives:
> Generating the long-ter
m rate of return
on investments needed
to support the
pension promise
> Delivering the finest
service and
communications to
our members and
pensioners
> Ensuring our member
ship has a real voice
in the Plan through
joint trusteeship
SECURITY
IN 2012, OPTR
UST:
> Achieved an investm
ent return of 10.1%,
outperforming both
Plan’s 7.2% compos
the
ite benchmark return
and our 6.5% funding
target for the year
> Implemented the
last of three annual
1% increases in member
and employers’ contribu
s’
tion rates to help manage
the funding
shortfall from investm
ent losses in 2008
> Remained fully funded
with a total surplus
of $34 million, based
on the Plan’s $852 million
in rate stabilization
reserves, which are
sufficient to cover the
current deficit of $818
million
> Continued to receive
high marks from our
members and retirees
for the quality of service
and communications
we provide
> Want to know how your pension
plan is addressing the funding
impact of our 2008 investment
loss? Interested in how OPTrust
is building retirement security for
the long term? Looking for the
latest on OPTrust’s investment
performance?
Just turn to the special pullout
section inside this newsletter to
read the Report to Pensioners 2012.
2 There
Pensioner
profile:
Yasmin
you’ll find
key statistics
on
Damani
the financial performance of the
Pension
Plan and
news on
3 OPSEU
OPTrust
pensions
increase
by
1.9%
in
2013
how we serve you and our 84,000
and retirees.
4 other
Yourmembers
2013 pension
pay
dates
4 Great-West Life’s Toronto
> PLANNING FOR YOUR SURVIVORS, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Eligible spouse — a spouse is defined as someone
of the same or opposite sex, with whom you:
• are married
OR
• are living together in a conjugal relationship,
for at least three years
OR
• in a relationship of some permanence and are
the natural or adoptive parents of a child.
Eligible child — Under the OPSEU Pension
Plan, a child is eligible to receive survivor
benefits if: the child is under the age of
18, or if over 18, is in continuous full-time
attendance at a secondary school or,
immediately following secondary school
is attending a post-secondary institution
to a maximum of five years.
Note: A common-law spouse is eligible only if the member common-law spouse is not still legally
married to another person.
WHAT YOUR SURVIVORS NEED TO KNOW
When you die, a family member or another authorized person should contact us
immediately. We will provide them with assistance during this difficult period.
................................................................................................................................................................................................
CONTACTING
OPTRUST
WE NEED TO
KNOW
• the date of the death
• if there is a surviving spouse or eligible children
• who is handling the estate along with his or her name, address and phone number.
................................................................................................................................................................................................
FORMS
If you have basic life insurance through Great-West Life, there is a $2,000 life insurance
benefit payable to your designated beneficiary.
OPTrust will send the claim form to the person who is handling your estate.
The executor or administrator must then mail the completed form to Great-West Life.
They will then send a cheque to your beneficiary. It takes approximately three weeks
for Great-West Life to send the basic life insurance cheque. If you do not have a named
beneficiary on the policy, the benefit is payable to your estate.
................................................................................................................................................................................................
DOCUMENTS
NEEDED
The most important information we need is banking information for your survivor
(i.e. account number for direct deposit of the payments).
The financial institution can help with this when your survivor is ready to deal with it,
but until this is done, OPTrust can send the pension cheques to your survivor by
regular mail.
................................................................................................................................................................................................
WHEN YOUR ELIGIBLE SPOUSE DIES
If your eligible spouse dies before you, please notify OPTrust so we can adjust our records
accordingly. In this case, there is no change in the pension you are receiving. At the same
time, you should also update your beneficiary information for basic life insurance through
Great-West Life insurance.
For more information about survivor benefits, read OPTrust’s fact sheet Your
Pension Beneficiaries available online at www.optrust.com. ▢
2
Linda MacKinnon was
appointed by OPSEU to
the Board of Trustees in
February 2013 for a
two-year term.
OPSEU appoints Linda
MacKinnon to the Board
MacKinnon is a Senior Law Clerk with the Alcohol and Gaming
Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Before embarking on a second career
with the Ontario Public Service in 2001, she worked for 33 years in
education as a teacher, school principal and Superintendent of
Education – with 14 years in management positions.
During a secondment from the AGCO in 2007, MacKinnon was the
lead panelist on the School Community Safety Advisory Panel that
investigated the shooting death of student Jordan Manners at C.W.
Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
MacKinnon is a strong union activist and has held several roles with
OPSEU and the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF). She is a member of
OPSEU’s Greater Toronto Area Council Executive, and has served as chief
steward for OPSEU Local 565 since 2008 representing employees at the
AGCO. During her teaching career, MacKinnon was a chief negotiator,
local president, provincial treasurer and Provincial Second Vice-President
with the OTF before moving to a senior management position in 1982.
She is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Humane
Society (THS) and Association for the Reform of the Toronto Humane
Society (ART), which led the successful court challenge against the
longstanding incumbent board’s animal welfare practices and fiduciary
care to hold a court-supervised election after the 15-member board were
charged with animal cruelty.
MacKinnon’s community service work includes chairing four United Way
campaigns, and she is currently a labour representative for a United Way
of Greater Toronto Citizen Budget Panel. She has served on the Boards of
the Timmins District Hospital and Kingston General Hospital. ▢
EMPLOYEE PROFILE:
APRIL ROBINSON
PENSION BENEFITS
CONSULTANT AT
OPTRUST
When retirees have
questions about their OPTrust
pensions, April Robinson has
the answers. April is part of
a team of frontline staff in
our Member and Pensioner
Services department
dedicated to providing
prompt, personalized service
with one goal in mind:
building retirement security
for 84,000 members and
retirees.
“Our members count on us to
help them make important
decisions about their
financial futures. So we’re
always looking at ways to
enhance the level of service
we provide and tailor the
information and services we
deliver to the needs of our
members and retirees.” ▢
3
YOU
asked ...
Question: Does the Plan’s funding agreement mean my pension
could be reduced?
Answer: No. Under the framework agreement and Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act, the
pensions paid to current retirees cannot be reduced. This protection also applies to the
deferred pensions of former and divested OPTrust members, and the pensions active
members have earned for their service to date.
For our current retirees, this means there will be no change in your monthly pension
amount, and your pension will continue to be adjusted annually to keep pace with
inflation.
...............................................................
Question: Where can I find out what OPTrust invests in?
Answer: OPTrust lists the Fund’s significant investments of over $100 million on our
public website at www.optrust.com under the Investment section. You can also read more
about OPTrust’s investment performance in our 2012 Annual Report available online,
including case studies of our investments. A summary version is enclosed in this issue.
...............................................................
Question: I plan to move to Florida in the fall. Can my OPTrust
pension be deposited to a U.S. bank account?
Answer: Yes. Your OPTrust pension payment can be deposited to a U.S. bank account.
You can notify OPTrust through your secure Online Services account or by completing a
Personal Information Change Request form. Remember to update your new home mailing
address too.
...............................................................
Question: Can you tell me what my annual pension amount is,
including the inflation adjustment?
Answer: Yes. OPTrust provides pensioners with a Pensioner Information Change
Statement, which is issued every January, and whenever there is a change in your monthly
payment (e.g. inflation adjustment, change in insured benefits premiums, new tax rates,
etc). The statement shows your monthly gross pension, income tax and other deductions
and net pension payment. Pensioners with an Online Services account can check their
statements each month. ▢
4
OPTrust shortlisted for
responsible investment
reporting award
OPTrust is honoured to be the only Canadian pension plan shortlisted for a
new global award to recognize excellence in responsible investment reporting,
the RI Reporting Award for best responsible investment report by a small or
medium-sized pension fund.
As a major Canadian institutional investor, OPTrust is a signatory to the United
Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment and has implemented a
range of specific measures to identify, monitor and mitigate environmental,
social and governance-related issues, as part of our investment activities.
Learn more about OPTrust’s responsible investing at www.optrust.com. ▢
...............................................................
Reminder: Great-West Life
claims for 2012
If you have not submitted your 2012 insured benefits claims to Great-West
Life, you still have time. All claims for the previous year must be received by
Great-West Life on or before December 31, 2013.
You can download the claim forms from Great-West Life’s website at
www.greatwestlife.com and mail the forms to their office. You can also
view and submit your claims online with GroupNet – Great-West Life’s
online service for members.
For tech savvy retirees on the go, Great-West Life offers GroupNet Mobile,
which you can download to your smartphone. With the app, you can use
your mobile device to:
DITCH THE PAPER
AND GO GREEN
Help reduce OPTrust’s
environmental footprint by
opting to receive Pension
Connection and other
communications electronically, rather than in print.
When you log in to your
secure account, you can
change your “communications preferences” to receive
news and information
online only.
Registered users are
increasingly using Online
Services to view their pension
statements, with total
statement views growing to
just over 60,000 during 2012,
up more than 5,000 views
from the previous year.
Fast facts
• more than 13,000 individual
transactions were completed
through Online Services
in 2012
• OPTrust received more
than 8,000 secure messages
through the site last year
• users gave the site an
overall satisfaction score
of 8.6 out of 10. ▢
• submit claims online
• access personalized coverage information about benefits, claims and more
• locate the nearest provider who has access to Provider eClaims through
their built-in GPS mapping tool.
If you have any questions please contact Great-West Life at 1-800-957-9777.
Please do not send your claim to OPTrust, we cannot guarantee it will arrive
before the deadline. ▢
5
Your online resource:
Retirement income calculator
Did you know you can go online and estimate how your OPTrust
pension changes when you start your Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
benefit?
OPTrust’s online retirement income calculator is a retirement
planning tool designed for you to compare a range of possibilities
and estimate your potential retirement income from all sources.
WHILE ONLINE, YOU CAN FIND OUT HOW:
• integration with CPP changes your OPTrust pension at age 65
Seniors
Canada online
resources
Looking for volunteer
opportunities? Want more
information on government
programs for retirees? The
Government of Canada offers a
range of online information for
retirees looking for information
on federal and provincial
programs and services,
including:
• CPP and OAS benefits
• publications
• volunteer opportunities
• health and wellness
• seniors’ networks.
To find out more, visit the
Seniors Canada website at
www.seniors.gc.ca. ▢
• taking CPP early will affect your total retirement income, before
and after age 65
• OAS payments at age 65 could add to your total retirement
income.
The calculator will help you estimate your retirement income
when deciding whether to take CPP early or at age 65.
To use the retirement income calculator, you will need to enter
the current date as your “Projected Retirement Date.” ▢
...............................................................
Retiree profiles:
Share your story
What are you doing in retirement? Do you have retirement advice
for other pensioners? We want to learn more about how your
OPTrust pension fits in to your overall retirement.
Send an e-mail to [email protected], and your story
may be featured in a future issue of Pension Connection. ▢
...............................................................
Watch this space:
www.optrust.com
OPTrust is set to unveil its newly redesigned website this summer.
Our popular website is getting a modern facelift to serve you better.
Stay tuned for our new look. ▢
6
Ever wondered how the pension contributions you paid during your career
add up in retirement? Whether you’re a new member or are nearing
retirement, you might be surprised to learn what the value of your OPTrust
pension benefit may be over the course of your lifetime.
The OPSEU Pension Plan is a defined benefit pension plan. This means that
you receive a lifetime retirement pension based on a formula that takes
into account your salary and credit when you were an active member. Now
that you’re retired, you can count on your OPTrust pension to provide you
with a predictable income payable for your lifetime.
EXAMPLE
Davis retires at age 60 with 25 years of credit
• His best average annual salary is $50,000
• He contributed $107,000 plus interest during his employment
• He collects a pension for 24 years
• His surviving partner collects a pension for 5 years
• Inflation increase is 2.25% per year
• Total benefits paid to Davis and his partner are $705,286
$705,286
Inflation
(2.25% / year)
$183,656
Spousal survivor
pension (5 years)
$51,734
Age 65 to 84
Age 60 to 64
$344,896
$107,000
$107,000
$125,000
Contributions plus interest
during employment
Total benefits
paid
Of course the value of an OPTrust pension benefit will vary based on
a number of factors including: your salary, years of service in the Plan,
when you retired, how long you collect a pension and inflation rates.
Your lifetime benefit will be different than the example shown. ▢
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Your OPTrust advantage
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4
RESSOURCES
DISPONIBLES EN
FRANÇAIS
Êtes-vous un participant ou
une participante bilingue?
Préféreriez-vous recevoir
La filière des pensions en
français? Vous pouvez choisir
une version électronique ou
imprimée. Si vous voulez une
copie de la version française
de La filière des pensions,
veuillez envoyer un courriel à
communications@optrust.
com ou ouvrir une session
dans votre compte de
Services en ligne pour
transmettre un message
sécurisé à la FRRS. ▢
7
SIX REASONS TO USE SECURE ONLINE SERVICES
OPTrust’s Online
Services site gives
you secure access to
your personal pension
information at any
time and it offers a
range of features.
[ 1 ] check and update your beneficiary information
[ 2 ] update your address and other contact information
[ 3 ] communicate through secure e-mail messages regarding
your pension
[ 4 ] update your income tax and banking information
[ 5 ] view your insured benefits coverage information
[ 6 ] view your current Pensioner Information Change Statement.
The information you provide through Online Services is safe and
secure. Behind the scenes, Online Services is a protected environment
that meets the highest internet security standards. Log on or
register today at www.optrust.com. ▢
Pension Connection is a newsletter for pensioners of the OPSEU
Pension Trust. Its goal is to provide useful and timely information
about the OPSEU Pension Plan.
If there is any conflict between statements in this newsletter and the
legal documents of the OPSEU Pension Plan, the legal documents
will prevail. Please direct any questions about your personal benefits
under the Plan to OPTrust. You should contact OPTrust before
making any pension-related decisions.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.
OPSEU Pension Trust
Fiducie du régime de
retraite du SEFPO
Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:
OPSEU Pension Trust
1 Adelaide Street East, Suite 1200
Toronto, ON M5C 3A7
ISSN 1203-7729 | Publications Mail Agreement 40052641
HOW TO REACH US
OPSEU Pension Trust
1 Adelaide Street East, Suite 1200
Toronto, ON M5C 3A7
Member and Pensioner Services
Tel: 416 681-6100 in Toronto
1 800 637-0024 toll-free in Canada
Fax: 416 681-6175
www.optrust.com | [email protected]