If you are a city of Toronto employee, you will be very interested in this post.  Because it could be a financial windfall for you.

The story goes like this:

Toronto City Hall is offering a buyout package to all permanent public service employees.  The offer will be three weeks pay for each year of service up to a maximum of 26 weeks pay (or 4 weeks for each year if your senior management).  All employees wishing to accept this offer are required to apply by September 9th, 2011 to then have their application reviewed.  They will then find out if their application has been accepted or denied by October 1st, 2011.

Here are my thoughts on this.

So far, after reading as many articles and notices I can get my hands on relating to this topic, not one of them has touched on the most important factor in helping people know whether this is a good deal for them or not.  The articles either touch on how bad it is for the city and how all of the “good” talent will be lost or how Rob Ford has reneged on his platform promises.  In my mind, the most important thing that needs to be looked at is how to we assist the tens of thousands of people in making the right decision?

I mean here is a group of people who have worked the majority of their lives for the city and who have relied upon “others” (unions, human resource departments, etc…) for all of their financial guidance.  And now, providing initially little to no information the City is telling these people that they will have to make their decision by September 9th as to whether or not they want to accept the package being offered to them.

Also, the articles and reports are currently paying lip service to the fact that a lot of these employees who are going to qualify for the full 26 week package (those who have worked almost nine years for the City) will also have to decide how to properly transfer their pension plan.  If you’re considering this package (and you should consider it), this one statement should bring a bead of sweat to your brow.

Why would you begin to sweat?

Well, consider that a long standing employee who has worked for the city for many, many years has build up an entitlement to a defined benefit pension plan.  And, that same employee (who up until now has viewed that defined benefit pension plan as an amount of cash flow they will receive during their retirement – $3,000 a month, $4,000 a month, etc…) will now have to decide how to properly manage the pool of capital that has been accumulating for them that was to pay their annual pension income.  But now, they are going to be asked to take this with them and manage it themselves.  This could be a decision on a sum of money that most only dream about receiving – from say a lottery.  But now, they are being asked to make a decision on potentially millions of dollars – their nest egg – in a few weeks.

Nobody has provided any counsel on the options these employees are going  to be faced with.

Who do you call?  Call a Certified Financial Planner.  What is considered the “gold standard” when it comes to licensing in the financial planning field.  This group will assist in analyzing the options.

And, what are some of the options that should be considered:

1. Transferring to another pension plan (either a new employer’s plan or an Individual Pension Plan)
2. Transferring to a locked-in registered plan
3. Transferring to an annuity
4. Opting for a deferred pension.

Working through the options with a qualified compensation specialist will provide confidence and piece of mind that is hard to come by.  When a package like this is being offered, you really should analyze all of your options first, so you can make a knowledgeable decision.

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