Deals and People September 8, 2011

MassMutual Appoints VP of New Business Operations

September 8, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) announced Sharmaine Miller has joined the company as Vice President of New Business Operations in MassMutual’s U.S. Insurance Group protection product management division. 

Reported by

Miller succeeds Todd Gish, Vice President, who has transitioned to lead the U.S. Insurance Group expense and risk management function in the finance division. 

In her new position, Miller is responsible for the oversight of the company’s new business administration and policy issuance functions for life insurance, disability income insurance, executive benefits, and annuity products. 

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Prior to joining MassMutual, Miller held leadership positions with Maple Life Companies and Allstate Corporation.  She is a Fellow in the Life Management Institute and a Six Sigma Master Black Belt.  She received her BA degree from the University of Delaware. 

Benefits September 8, 2011

Four in 10 Canadians Say They’ll Postpone Retirement

September 8, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - According to the third annual survey of employees conducted by the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA), 40% of Canadians said they'll likely have to retire later than they previously planned.
Reported by

On the West Coast, the number was similar to the national average with 40% of workers expecting they’ll have to postpone their retirement.   

A news release said the primary reason (cited by 40% of Canadians) was “I’m not saving enough money for retirement.” Almost three-quarters of employees (74%) said they have saved less than a quarter of their retirement savings goal. On the West Coast, the number is about the same at 73%.  

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Half of employees across the country (45% on the West Coast) reported they are currently saving only 5% or less of their net pay. This is well below the 10% of net pay that financial planning experts generally recommend as a retirement savings rate, the news release noted.   

Almost two-thirds of Canadian workers (63%) felt they would need more than $750,000 in savings for a comfortable retirement.   

Most Canadians do understand what they could be doing to improve their financial situation and meet their retirement goals. Ranked in order of importance, respondents thought they should be spending less (32%), paying off credit card debt (22%), reducing their mortgage (19%) and contributing more to their retirement savings (14%).   

The CPA survey found the majority of Canadian workers continue to live pay cheque to pay cheque, with 57% saying they would be in financial difficulty if their pay was delayed by even a week. Workers on the West Coast are faring slightly better than those in other regions, but still 53% reported that they are living pay cheque to pay cheque.   

Two thousand seventy (2,070) employees responded to the online survey between July 6 and August 2, 2011.

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