The Globe and Mail

Meredith Brown wanted to make sure that her company had the best group RSP possible.

As vice-president of human resources and national operations for Coinamatic, she guided her company through a review of its plan options early last year that led Coinamatic to switch providers. "We discovered that there were significant advantages available, such as broader investment choice and significantly lower management fees,” Ms. Brown said. "We also now have greater employee support and planning advice with our new providers."

Is it time to take action on your group RSP? With a little push, perhaps your HR executives can find similar improvements for your company. If your plan isn’t up to par – and I will show you how to find out – you need to get your company to make it better.

Many Canadians working for mid- to large-sized companies have a group RSP or a defined contribution pension plan. These plans have largely replaced the traditional defined benefit pension plans, which feature steady monthly income. As important as the pension might have been for your parents, the group RSP could be just as important to you.

So why is it that so many people don’t pay close attention to their company pension?

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By the time you are retired, if you have had a group RSP in place at your (various) workplaces over the span of your work life, it could easily be worth several hundred thousand dollars. This is serious money, and a serious part of your retirement plan. Here are some of the key issues you need to consider:

1) What fees are being paid within the funds in your group RSP?

Many company plans come with high management fees. The people making the decisions on your behalf may not be aware that they can demand and get lower fees.

Many plans come with fees near 2 per cent on their mutual fund holdings. If your plan has fees that high, with limited investment options, you are better off moving your money out, as this is ridiculously high for a group plan. Most people have no idea what fees they are paying. You need to find out by asking your plan administrator.

2) How broad are you in your investment options?

In some plans, you have access to the full range of investments, from very safe investments to small company stocks to international funds. If your choices are limited to only a few types of investments, you need to demand better. This is your pension money, after all.

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3) What has the performance been versus other related options? Is it much better than average (in the top 25 per cent of performance vs. other funds) or is it much worse than average?

You can usually find this out by looking at the website Morningstar.ca. Your pension deserves at least average performance. Poor performance from your pension is something that needs to be changed.

4) What kind of guidance or advice have you received on your group RSP investments?

Another area of concern is that most people want guidance on investments but often receive little from their group retirement plan providers. Why is this? Shouldn’t the provider of these investments and services also give a reasonable degree of advice to those who take their retirement pension seriously? A 30-minute seminar once a year to a group of 100 employees simply isn’t enough.