The Canadian Baptist Pension Plan (CBPP) is an important and valuable part of your compensation, and a key tool to help you secure your financial future.
Our plan is a Defined Contribution (DC) pension plan. This means the contributions are fixed, but the benefits at retirement will vary based on the performance of your investments and your account balance at retirement. Both your contributions and your employer’s are immediately vested, meaning they belong to you from Day 1.
Being a CBPP member comes with some important benefits:
Employer matching – Your basic contribution to the CBPP is 6% of your earnings. When you contribute 6%, your employer will match those contributions, automatically doubling your plan investment. You can also make voluntary contributions, by payroll deduction, in any amount you choose. Making regular CBPP contributions via payroll deduction is a convenient and easy way to save for the future. You can also transfer pension money from a previous employer or an RRSP into your Canadian Baptist pension account, if the other employer’s plan allows this.
Lower fees – Because the CBPP has a large pool of assets, the fund management fees you pay as a plan member are 0.62% – much less than the 2.00% to 2.50% you’d typically pay in the retail market. Lower fees means more money stays in your account – which, over time, can have a significant impact on your retirement income.
Special access to funds and professional management – The funds within the CBPP were designed exclusively for your plan – in fact, most of them aren’t even marketed to the general public. As a CBPP member, you also benefit from the experience and expertise of some of Canada’s leading investment managers.
For more information on your benefits, refer to the plan booklet at www.mysunlife.ca.
Membership in the CBPP is voluntary. Ministry Leaders such as pastors, professors, executive and management staff are eligible to join the plan from their date of employment.
Support Staff (such as church administrators, secretarial, clerical and custodial staff) are eligible to join after one year of continuous employment, or earlier if the employer agrees and legislation permits.
You can join the plan at any time after becoming eligible for membership. Once you have joined, you can’t terminate your membership and remove your funds while you are employed by a participating employer.
You choose how to invest your contributions and those made by your employer. You have four investment portfolios to choose from: Conservative, Moderate, Balanced, and Aggressive. It’s important to choose funds that match your risk tolerance and your time horizon to retirement.
To help you determine what investment portfolio is right for you, use Sun Life’s risk profiler tool, available at www.mysunlife.ca. You may also wish to seek professional investment advice before making your selections.
In addition to your DC pension plan, you also have access to a tax-free savings account (TFSA). With a TFSA, you can save up to $5,500 every year and watch it grow tax-free!
Some of the key benefits of a TFSA include:
Flexibility – You can make regular or lump sum contributions at any time during the year.
Tax advantages – Your contributions will grow tax-free, and you can withdraw them whenever you want without paying tax.
Carry forward – You can carry forward unused contribution room every year. If you make a withdrawal, that amount will be added to your contribution room for the next year.
No age limits – There’s no age limit for contributing, and you aren’t required to start drawing retirement income from your TFSA at age 71.
To open a TFSA account and start contributing, log into www.mysunlife.ca and complete the online enrollment process. You may also send cheques to Sun Life directly – visit www.mysunlife.ca for details.
To view your investments, see your account balance, or access retirement planning resources and tools, contact Sun Life:
www.mysunlife.ca
1-866-733-8613
Are you preparing for Retirement?
Contact Sunlife’s dedicated retirement consultants for our plan at 1-866-224-3906 (Option 1). Make sure you ask about CBM’s retirement options built specifically for our plan!
For our READY TO RETIRE program, email retire@cbbenefits.ca.
For general inquiries, email info@cbbenefits.ca.