WELCOME

I was surfing the Internet one day and I noticed that Saskatchewan had unlocked their citizens locked in pensions 100% when they were transferred from a locked in retirement account ((L.I.R.A.)) into a Fund where they would be able to start collecting from . (( we will call the unlocked fund a registered retirement income fund R.R.I.F. )) The name varies a little bit Province to Province. I was surfing a bit more and I found that Manitoba had Unlocked 50% of the locked in funds in their province for their people. (( They are currently being lobbied to unlock the remaining 50% )) I then begin to think (( and that is hard to do sometimes )) Ontario being a progressive Province. Why is Ontario not unlocking these funds for their people. Considering that this is very unjust and cruel legislation keeping these funds Locked in when a person reaches Retirement age. Many of us were lead to belive when we contributed to the Defined Contribution Fund and reached the age of retirement that we could draw on our funds at will. Not be controlled by the Government and only allowed to remove basically the interest on the funds from 2.5% to 11% depending how good the fund was doing. This our OWN MONEY not Government Money. It is not OAS or CPP.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Good News for Ontarians

Good News for Ontarians

Enlightened policy promises to unlock Life Income Funds 100%.

CARP and the Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF-Holders applaud PC leader John Tory’s announcement today that, if elected, a PC government will allow Ontarians to unlock 100% of their Life Income Funds (LIFs)
– half at age 55 and the full amount at age 65.
We fully support this progressive policy that will bring Ontario into the 21st century.
The PC Party heard us and its decision represents another milestone in our alliance’s campaign to have LIFs unlocked 100% in Ontario.
Mr. Tory’s pledge propels the momentum to unshackle LIF-holders that began with NDP MPP Andrea Horwath‘s Bill to unlock LIFs 100% which was introduced in the Ontario Legislature in December 2006, in conjunction with CARP and the Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF-Holders.

When individuals retire/leave a job which has a registered corporate or occupational pension, the terms of the pension plan may allow them to transfer their portion of the pension into a Locked In Retirement Account (LIRA) and subsequently a LIF. However access to the principal in the LIF is denied to the LIF holders as it is locked-in for life or to age 90.
Like savings in any registered pensions, LIFs or LIRAs are the individual’s money, made up of their contributions plus those of the company or occupation as deferred salary. It is not government money.

A LIF has a mandated maximum yearly withdrawal limit unlike a RRIF which has none. This ensures that the average Ontario male cannot access about two thirds of his LIF until death (average male 79 and female 84) at which moment the LIF is completely unlocked for their spouse. It also means that most of us may not live to 90 at which age all of our LIF can be unlocked.

However, 100% unlimited access to the retirees’ LIF money in Ontario may be available by submitting a lengthy request form to the Financial Service Commission of Ontario (FSCO). This bureaucratic agency requires a payment of $200 to $600 from successful applicants in order to access their own money. Their appeal may be granted only if the applicant can prove dire health or financial circumstances.

The precedent to unlock LIFs was established in Ontario in 1999 when 61 MPPs were given the right to unlock their occupational pension 100%. Not only did they give themselves a privilege which they denied to all other Ontarians with LIFs, but their action cost Ontario taxpayers $10 million because they miscalculated the amount they could put into their individual RRSPs.
CARP and its allies have been engaged in a campaign to have direct access to 100% of the principal in a LIF without paternalistic government control. The goal of the Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF-Holders is to persuade the Ontario government to unlock LIFs 100%.

For more information, please contact:

For CARP, Canada’s Association For the Fifty-Plus:

Bill Gleberzon, Director of Government Relations - 416-363-8748 ext. 230 or 1-800-363-9736 ext. 230 e-mail: w.gleberzon@50plus.com

For The Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF-Holders:

Bill Nafziger, spokesperson - 519-595-8161 e:mail:nafjbg@perth.net

Grant Fleury, spokesperson - 705-566-6924 e:mail: gjfleury@sympatico.ca

To sign a petition to the Ontario government on unlocking LIFs 100%, click on the link below.

Posted July 5, 2007
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