Unlocking a locked-in Pension (RRSP)

[oldman]

Good Morning All,

As some of you may or may not be aware as yet, Philip James has secured a one hour time slot on the Bill Kelly Talk Show at radio station CHML Hamilton 900 on the AM band at 11am on Wednesday Sept. 19th. The broadcast will be streamed live and can be heard on the Internet at http://www.900chml.com .

Philip & Ken Elliott will be participating together as Billy Kelly's guests.
Over the last few days, we've been working together gathering material and discussing topics and various strategies in preparation for the program.
The topics will be around the various locked-in pensions issue and hopefully they will be able to provide the listeners with a clear realization of what a locked-in pension is, if any of the listeners in fact do have one that don't yet even realize that they do, the consequences and limitations of locked-in pensions, the current political parties position regarding unlocking these pensions, the hypocritical position and silence from the current Liberal government and of the real truth and discrimination behind Bill 27 and the select 61 MPP's who cleverly and deceitfully created legislation to bypass the very rules they continue to impose on Ontarians today.
Hopefully as time permits, they will be able to get most of this material out to the listeners and create enough of a buzz among the voters who can then decide how important an issue locked-in pensions really are for themselves and how they detrimentally affect not only the current holders of LIF's and LRIF's but also the continually growing number of employees with LIRA's resulting from their employers DC type pension plans.

I will make every attempt to record the interview and create a copy of the program in an audio file and distribute it to those who want a copy, subject to the radio station's permission.

Please feel free to pass this on to all of your own set of contacts within your respective areas. The more listeners, the better chance to get the message out.


Regards,
Grant Fleury
Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders

 

[oldman]

MEDIA ADVISORY/INVITATION​

CARP FIGHTS FOR COMPLETE ACCESS TO LOCKED-IN-FUNDS​

FOR ALL ONTARIANS BY AGE 65​

Proposed policy will enhance equity and quality of life for LIF holders​

Toronto, Ontario, September 19, 2007 – On Wednesday, September 26, at 10:30 a.m., Canada’s Association for the 50 Plus (CARP) will hold a press conference to urge the Ontario government to unlock LIFs for all Ontario LIF holders. CARP, in conjunction with the Ontario Coalition of Independent Locked-in-Fund Holders (OCILFH), proposes that 50 per cent of the principal in a LIF should be unlocked at age 55, with an additional 50 per cent unlocked at age 65.


450,000 Ontario LIF holders are seeking equity with the 61 Ontario MPPs who were allowed to unlock their LIFs; CARP urges the government to follow the example of Saskatchewan which has unlocked LIFs 100 per cent.


When: Wednesday September 26, 2007 @ 10:30am


Where: CARP’S National office, 27 Queen Street East, Suite 1307, Toronto, corner Victoria.


Who: Speakers will include preeminent tax expert, Professor Jack Mintz, leading actuary Malcolm Hamilton, Dr. W. Gleberzon, CARP’s Director of Government Relations, with a message from financial author and publisher, Gordon Pape.




Personal testimony by LIF holders will also be presented.


Contact: Michelle Taylor at 416-363-8748 ext. 236 or at m.taylor@50plus.com​

 

[hermanntrude]

10 posts in a row, oldman. You must be desperate for us to read this stuff. Or just a spammer

 

[oldman]

10 posts in a row, oldman. You must be desperate for us to read this stuff. Or just a spammer

Hi Hermanntrude.

No I am not Desperate and I am not a Spammer. Actually unlocking these pensions will benefit me very little. It is also not much fun putting these messages out continuously for the last two years in forums across Ontario.

It is just that I believe as others do that it is time to let people know about the perils of locked in pensions, and the fact that People in other provinces other then Ontario are allowed to have control of their own money in these plans.
I also want to let people know that Their MPP's slipped in a bill to unlock their pensions under the guise of helping seniors with their pension issues.

NO I AM NOT DESPERATE. I receive hundreds of e-mails on this subject and have to spend sometimes 12 hours in a day answering etc. So no I am not desperate, just fighting for our rites and even your rites if you should ever have a locked in pension plan.

After all we are not talking about Government money or Tax payer Money .

We are talking about Your Deferred Wages and Your own Contributions.

Regards Bill Costello

 

[oldman]

Response to a Article in the Star.com
Hi All; This letter is in response to a article that was read in thestar.com

Ontario Election , Drawing the line on campaign attack ads.

Good evening to all Liberals who seem to think it is honourable to tell less than the whole truth. Your collective silence as Liberal Party members on the issue of locked-in pensions is despicable!!!!!!!!!!

In the article below, Ben Chin, Liberal campaign spokesperson is once again only telling part of the truth, while hiding the whole truth as it relates to the Ontario Liberal Party.
(See the 4th and 5th last paragraph of this article.)

As you are well aware Mr. Brown, Mr. Kwinter, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Ruprecht, Mr. Patten, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. Sorbara, there were 20 Liberals in all who received the same financial opportunity that Howard Hampton and Shelley Martel received courtesy of Bill 27, An Act To Amend The Pension Benefits Act And The MPPs Pension Act.

Each of you received the same privilege as did Hampton and Martel.

In fact your former colleague, Sean Conway (also a recipienet of the same privilege as Hampton and Martel) said in the House (see Hansard for Monday December 13, 1999) about Bill 27 ... " I want to make it plain. No one benefits more from this change than I do. It's a wrong thing for me to support. I would go even further and say it's immoral."

As for you Mr. Bradley, Minister Responsible for Seniors, your complete silence on this issue, while hundreds of thousands of your constituency (seniors holding locked-in pensions) suffer under the disgusting confines imposed by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, is abhorrent. I don't know how you can live with yourself!

Is there even one Liberal party member with the guts to stand up and tell the honest truth about Bill 27, even as it relates to the Liberal Party.

So far there hasn't been one individual with that integrity.

STUDENTS SPEAK OUT
Kerry Gillespie
Queen's Park Bureau


Like most teenagers, Xing Chiu watches television.
What's unusual is that she's particularly interested in the political ads and in reading what the various leaders have to say about their plans for Ontario.
But in an era of negative campaigning, she's often disappointed. Instead of learning about what each party will do, more often than not, she finds out just how much they dislike what the others are up to.
"Recently, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory accused Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty of being `the worst promise breaker of modern times.' At what point, or is there a point, where we draw the line between actually campaigning (on policies) and plain accusing and humiliating opponents?" asked Chiu, a 17-year-old student North Toronto Collegiate.
"You do draw the line ... you don't engage in nasty name calling," Tory said when the Star asked Chiu's question.
"To say someone is the greatest promise breaker in modern times, there's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek aspect to that ... but I'm trying to make a serious point," Tory said.
"The nature of some of the broken promises is unprecedented and it's a huge issue in this election if you believe as I do that you have to have credibility and trust in order to govern and lead effectively.
"But I will admit ... finding that balance between discussing your opponent's record and putting forward your own is a difficult challenge. But I really try."
There's a reason parties resort to bashing their opponents in the media and in paid negative ads, said Nelson Wiseman, University of Toronto political science professor.
"Some work, some blow up in your face, but for the most part (negative ads) do work and that's why parties use them," Wiseman said.
Last week, the NDP launched its first television ad. But rather than tell about its policies, all it does is bash McGuinty and his policies.
Often, it's not the party leader throwing the dirtiest mud.
Yesterday, within minutes of NDP Leader Howard Hampton promising to roll back the 25 per cent pay hike MPPs gave themselves last year, McGuinty's staff had sent reporters an email titled: "Troubling questions on Howard Hampton's rich rhetoric."
"When Mike Harris eliminated the MPP pension plan, Howard Hampton and his wife, Shelley Martel, were handed a near $1 million payout. Pretty easy to talk about pay cuts when you're sitting on a million-dollar nest egg, isn't it?" Liberal campaign spokesperson Ben Chin wrote.
Chiu, senior vice-president on her school's student council, knows a little about election campaigning.
"Campaigning means selling yourself, not degrading your opponents," Chiu said.
"I guess it's unavoidable in a provincial-level election to point out your opponents' flaws to boost your own popularity, but when opponent-bashing is the basis of one's campaign ... both parties lose credibility," she said.




PLEASE NOTE:

John Tory and the Progressive Conservative Party have endorsed 100% unlocking of pension funds (LIFs, LRIFs, etc.), 50% at age 55 and 50% at age 65.

The NDP endorsed unlocking of pension funds as MPP Andrea Horwath introduced private members bill #175 to unlock 100% of pension funds.

The Liberals offered a insulting 25% unlocking in their 2007 budget.

 

[oldman]

Hi All; I just found this it was posted today.

NEWS RELEASE

JOSH PRINGLE
PC CANDIDATE
SAULT STE. MARIE

************************
A John Tory government will protect seniors

PC Leader John Tory said a PC government will give Ontarians 100 percent access to their locked-in pension income.

This would mean seniors and retirees would have access to 50 percent of their pension at age 55 and the remaining 50 percent at age 65.

In Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario, pensions are locked-in by the government as late as age 90 and the most any senior can hope to access from their pension savings is one out of every four dollars.

Tory indicated that when the Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions reports back in the summer of 2008, he will move quickly to implement its recommendations.

“We can, and must, do more for our senior citizens,” Mr. Tory concluded. “This means adopting policies that put fairness for seniors first. Our seniors have done so much to make Ontario what it is today. In order to repay that debt, leadership matters.”

John Tory has cited comments made in March 2007 by Dr. Jack Mintz of the University of Toronto calling for Ontario to unlock the chains put on pension savings of employees who change jobs or retire.

According to Mintz, unlocking locked-in pensions would help contribute to labour mobility, better retirement plans and ultimately, a stronger economy.

“Seniors and retirees built the foundation for the strong community and Ontario we know today. They deserve to have control over their hard-earned retirement savings,” said Pringle. “We believe that Ontarians know best how to look after their money– not government.”

“Our plan will allow seniors and retirees to have control over their own money and better plan for retirement based on their own needs,” said Pringle. “Ontario’s pension regulations present unnecessary challenges for seniors and retirees looking to transform a lifetime of hard work into financial freedom.”

Pringle added: “This is a simple change to Ontario’s pension rules with no cost to the taxpayer. Unlike Dalton McGuinty, who is only willing to provide seniors and retirees with partial access to their locked in pension funds, a John Tory PC government will respect the wishes of these individuals to manage their money as they see fit.”

In the 2007 budget, Dalton McGuinty responded to seniors and retirees concerns about this issue by proposing a plan that would give Ontarians access to 25 percent of locked-in accounts at the earliest retirement date of the pension plan from which the money was transferred and 100 percent access at age 90.

To date, no regulations or legislation have been brought forward to enact these proposed changes.

“Leadership is about listening to seniors and retirees," said Pringle. "If we are going to remove the barriers and give the people of our community the fairness and peace of mind they deserve, then leadership matters."

Ontario PC Leader John Tory also today detailed the Progressive Conservative plan to protect senior citizens and other vulnerable homeowners struggling with rising property assessments and unduly restrictive pension structures.

“Today, many seniors are struggling to make ends meet. They are penalized by a property assessment system that punishes people on fixed incomes most of all,” John Tory said.

“Dalton McGuinty has failed to show real leadership on Ontario’s assessment crisis. Too many seniors are on the verge of being forced out of their own homes.”

John Tory said his government will take aim at the current municipal property tax assessment system, which is facing a “crisis of credibility” according to the Ontario Ombudsman.

The average assessed home in Ontario recently rose from $179,151 in the 2003 taxation year to $232,883 in the 2006 taxation year.

Some assessment increases have been as high as 150 percent, and homeowners are receiving assessments that contain incorrect information about their properties.

A John Tory government will provide stability to homeowners by:

- Establishing a five percent annual cap on property assessment increases for as long as a person owns his or her home (including if the property is transferred to a spouse).

- Implementing a new reverse onus appeal system so the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will have to justify an assessment increase.

- Ensuring MPAC fully implements the recommendations of the Ombudsman, and if the serious problems he identified are not addressed, shutting down MPAC and building a better system.

- Addressing rural assessment inequities which currently penalize farmers who have been encouraged to have value-added production services.

PLEASE NOTE:

John Tory and the Progressive Conservative Party have endorsed 100% unlocking of pension funds (LIFs, LRIFs, etc.), 50% at age 55 and 50% at age 65.

The NDP endorsed unlocking of pension funds as MPP Andrea Horwath introduced private members bill #175 to unlock 100% of pension funds.

The Liberals offered a insulting 25% unlocking in their 2007 budget.

 

[oldman]

Statement from Conference

Hi All; This is a statement from our conference. It was quite a success.
As i get caught up with everything that has been happening I will try and post some of it. We are definitely gaining momentum.

Regards Bill C

Good Morning and thank you for allowing us the opportunity to speak to you today.
The Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders is composed of a number of private citizens assembled from various regions in Ontario who's sole purpose is to lobby the government to unlock all "locked-in" pensions in our province.
We are primarily arguing two issues within one campaign.
The primary issue is that of fairness and equality under one law for all Ontario citizens regardless of vocation and void of political favouritism.
The secondary issue is that of the unjust government control of Ontarians access to their own personal locked-in pension assets. Assets that were generally derived from former employers "wound-up" defined benefit plans and employers defined contribution plans.
Regarding the primary issue, the current rules and regulations set out in the Pension Benefits Act are discriminatory, as theyre not equally applied to all Ontarians. The MPPs pension assets, derived from their former wound-up pension plan in 1995, fall under the jurisdiction of the MPPs Pension Act, thus the discrimination. Two separate Acts for the same type of locked-in pensions.
Discrimination?
YES, there are currently 61 MPP's, both former and present, that through a deceitful amendment to the MPP Pensions Act, cloaked within Bill 27 in 1999, exempted themselves from the highly restrictive and paternalistic legislation that governs all other Ontarians LIRA's, LIF's and LRIF's.
Regarding the secondary issue, the yearly maximum withdrawal limits for those who meet the minimum age requirement (usually 55) for access to their locked-in LIF and LRIF pensions is approximately 6.5%, increasing slightly year after year, until either age 80 if it's a LIF or age 90 if it's an LRIF. The aforementioned 61 MPP's have 100% access! The zenith of discrimination!
YES, 100% unrestricted access to the same type of pension-derived locked-in assets as compared to the rest of all other Ontarians 6.5%!
Outright inequality and double standard. Two separate laws for the same type of pension.
One for 61 MPP's and one for an estimated million plus other Ontarians.

Our Coalition is dead set against such inequality and blatant discrimination. Discrimination and silence since 1999 that continues to percolate within the ruling Liberal party.
We are demanding fair and equal treatment and insist on being included in this exclusive group of 61 privileged Ontarians by receiving the same 100% access to our locked-in pensions.
According to our research, there were Sixty-one (61) MPPs, across all three parties that benefited from this immorally and selfishly conceived piece of legislation consisting of 22 PCs, 19 NDP and 20 Liberals. The names of these 61 MPPs are known to the Coalition as they were derived, with reasonable assurance, from the Ontario Legislature Hansard.
This legislation, quietly kept from the public and cleverly tucked away within Bill 27, only unlocked their locked-in pensions, while leaving all other Ontarians behind.
For the past four years, Premiere Dalton McGuinty, Finance minister Greg Sorbara and Seniors minister Jim Bradley have continued to ignore the pleas of Ontarians begging for full access to their locked-in pensions, while specific members within their party, hypocritically, continue to have full 100% access to their own former locked-in pensions.
In the recent Liberal budget back in March, Greg Sorbara introduced a one time 25% unlocking option to hopefully appease the holders of locked-in pensions. This was an insult to all Ontarians and continues to fly in the face of democracy, and equality under one law for all.
In 2002, Saskatchewan listened to the will of their people and eliminated these restrictions, granting full 100% access to all locked-in pensions through legislation that applied to ALL their residents, and not just their provincial politicians. Their belief was that their residents know best how and when to use their own private pension assets.
In December of 2006, Andrea Horwath of the NDP, introduced Bill 175 to unlock all locked-in pensions in Ontario receiving verbal support in the legislature from Bob Runciman of the PCs.
Predictably and true to their ignorance towards seniors locked-in pensions, the Liberal party ignored this bill and instead went on to introduce and pass a bill for themselves that essentially granted all MPPs a 35% pay raise.

During the current campaign in a press release and public appearance in July, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, John Tory committed to unlocking all locked-in pensions 100% if elected, citing that "Ontarians know best how to look after their money, not government".
Our goal here today is to create an awareness of these two issues within the general public.
A public who for the most part, have no idea about the restrictions they will face when they qualify to withdraw their hard earned locked-in pension assets and who further and more importantly have no idea of the hypocritically conceived legislation that was created by politicians, for politicians, leaving the rest of Ontario shackled and begging for equal access to their own pension money.
We encourage you to support the parties in the upcoming election that will unlock pensions 100% for ALL Ontarians and not just a select few as was done in 1999.
Thank you for your time and allowing us the opportunity to speak to you about this extremely important issue affecting the quality and standard of living for the estimated million plus
locked-in pension holders in the province of Ontario.


Sincerely,
Grant Fleury
Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders





The Principals in the Coalition contact information is listed below;
Bill Costello: banjo6@baytel.net Bill Nafziger: nafjbg@perth.net
Ken Elliott: kenneth.elliott@sympatico.ca Philip James: philipajames@rogers.com
Anna Pollock: beachers2@yahoo.com Bill Foan: wfoan@storm.ca
Grant Fleury: gjfleury@sympatico.ca

 

[Lester]

It's pretty well the same in Alberta where I unlocked 20k worth- of course you do have to pay about 35-40% in income tax right off the hop.

 

[oldman]

It's pretty well the same in Alberta where I unlocked 20k worth- of course you do have to pay about 35-40% in income tax right off the hop.

Hi Lester:

Yes in Alberta You are able to unlock 50%. If you transfer it into a RRIF and just take it out gradually as You need some ,you would pay a lot less tax. If you take out a large sum. Yes you are going to pat through the nose.
The reason of having these funds unlocked is for emergencies more then anything.

Regards Bill C

 

[oldman]

Hi All; Rick Bartolucci took a cheep shot in the Sudbury Debate and this is a comment to Mr. Bartolucci.


Mr. Bartolucci in his shameful attempt to discredit his inexperienced opposition, cites the fact that Mr. Hampton, while disrespectfully referring to him as "Howie Hampton", received a $550, 000 pension buyout, hypocritically fails to include the 20 members of his own Liberal party who also received amounts far in excess of the $550, 000 collected by Mr. Hampton.

That's right! Twenty members of his own party, including McGuinty, Sorbara, Conway, Bradley, Ramsey etc... all received the same or similar amounts!

With that shot Mr. Bartolucci, you have reached the all-time zenith of hypocrisy.

It's too bad your opponents didn't know anything about it, otherwise I'm sure you would have kept your little secret to yourself as you've done now for the last eight years.What a shameful cheap shot!

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Mr. Bartolucci, besides being pompous in his attitude towards his opponents and his constituents, in his usual style fails to "tell the truth - the whole truth..." and include his own party members as recipients of this gross amount of taxpayers money.

Yes taxpayers money as well, because in order for all of them to get their pension buyouts, including his own Liberal brethren, the taxpayers of Ontario had to pay the 10 to 20 million dollar shortfall for the buyout to be completed.

Further he also fails to inform you all that this special unprecedented buyout was only created by the government for 61 MPP's while all other Ontarians were left out of this special little privilege.

That's right, the Liberals, including Mr. Bartolucci, so very eloquent in opposition to this financial largesse, have done nothing to include the rest of all Ontarians in this exclusive unfettered benefit.

That's right again, 61 MPP's amongst us are walking around quietly with full access to their pensions while the million other Ontarians with the same types of pension assets are struggling year after year with a mere 6.5% access!

So yes, Rick, why don't you you tell the public the truth - the whole truth and then maybe you won't be so smug when the audience and the public hears how much of a hypocrite you are.

Regards,Grant Fleury, SudburyOntario

Coalition of Independent LIF Holderslocked_pensions_gf@yaho o.ca

 

[oldman]

Media Conference Summary
Good afternoon,

Wednesday, September the 26th in Toronto at the CARP headquarters, a
media conference took place that included notable financial economics
experts Jack Mintz and Malcolm Hamilton, Bill Gleberzon of CARP,
members of our Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders, reporters
from various media organizations and other interested parties.

Bill Gleberzon of CARP, head of CARP's campaign to unlock pensions,
hosted the event and presented a comprehensive summary of the locked-in
pensions, the 61 MPP's with full 100% access, the invited speakers and
the current status of the political parties position.

A number of items relating to the unlocking of pensions in our province
and various rationale for unlocking locked-in pensions was discussed at
length by the participants.

A message of support for unlocking locked-in pensions, written by
renowned financial expert Gordon Pape (although unable to attend), was
read on his behalf.

Our two attending Coalition members, Bill Nafziger and Philip James,
gave examples of the hardships and limitations affecting them as a
direct result of holding one of these restrictive locked-in pensions as
well as a number of other stories of hardships being encountered by
Ontario residents that are currently in possession of locked-in
pensions.

They were very well received and as a direct result, one of their
stories is featured in today's TheStar.com. The article can be accessed
on the internet at;
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/260918

Another article has also been written today in the Financial Post by
Jonathan Chevreau under the banner "The Wealthy Boomer" based on an
interview with Malcolm Hamilton and can be accessed at;
http://communities.canada.com/financ...-pensions.aspx

Philip James read our Coalition statement that I wrote on behalf of the
members of our Coalition. It can be found on the internet using google
and searching for "Coalition of Independent LIF Holders".

We are encouraging every Ontarian who is currently in possession of a
LIRA, LIF or LRIF, (essentially a form of a locked-in pension) to lobby
your MPP and the candidates in your local riding to unlock all
"locked-in" pensions 100% thus allowing you to decide for yourself how
to manage your own pension money. Remember this is not government money
- it's yours - 100% of it. You must demand to have the same right to
manage it as you see fit, as was created for 61 MPP's by MPP's in
1999. Yes, they already have 100% access to their former "wound-up"
pension through an amendment to provincial legislation they exclusively
created for themselves in December of 1999. All other Ontarians do not
have this privilege!

We are also encouraging every Ontarian who is currently receiving some
form of pension benefit from your employer to take heed of the future
limitations you will face if you are forced to have your company
pension benefit transferred to a "locked-in" retirement account due to
layoff, termination, company closure or similar event that creates such
an occurrence.
Although this may not be on the minds of the younger workforce since
retirement is far into the future, changing the legislation to have
these "locked-in" retirement accounts (LIRA's) unlocked at age 55 is as
equally important for the younger workforce as it is for those who are
currently at the qualified retirement age (usually 55), since they too
will one day be in a similar position once they reach retirement age.

The campaign to have these pensions unlocked for those now with LIF's
and LRIF's (created from the aforementioned LIRA's) today is extremely
important as it greatly affects the quality of retirement they will
have if access to their locked-in pension is increased to 100% as 61
MPP's in 1999 did for themselves.

Yes, there are 61 elite Ontarians amongst us that enjoy a benefit that
is not available to you!

The Liberals have introduced a one time 25% unlock option in January of
2008 in an attempt to appease the holders of locked-in pensions. We
believe this to be a hypocritical insult to all Ontarians while twenty
of Premiere McGuinty's Liberals, past and present, continue to enjoy
100% access for themselves! They continue to support this hypocrisy by
allowing two acts to exist, with dramatically different access
provisions, governing the exact same type of pension derived assets.
One act (MPP Pension Benefits Act) governing and granting themselves
100% access and the other act (Ontario Pension Benefits Act) governing
the rest of all other Ontarians allowing a paltry 6.5% yearly access!

The NDP, although as of today quiet on this issue in their campaign,
had introduced a bill (Bill 175) in December of 2006 to unlock pensions
100% as well.

The PC's are the only party to date that have publicly committed to
100% unlocking since their July 5th public announcement and continue to
highlight this in their campaign, if elected.

Saskatchewan, in 2002, became a leader in respecting the rights of
their residents to manage their own pension money and unlocked all
locked-in pensions for ALL their residents, not just their provincial
politicians. Ontario stubbornly continues on with their repressive,
regressive and discriminatory policies pertaining to locked-in pensions
for all Ontarians, with the exception of the 61 MPP's of 1999.

We encourage you to exercise your rights and let your voice be heard in
the upcoming provincial election and vote for the party that will
unlock locked-in pensions 100% as was done for the 61 MPP's in 1999.

Our Coalition will accept nothing less than 100% unlocking, as was done
in Saskatchewan, and parity with our own 61 MPP's of 1999!

Thank you,
Grant Fleury
Ontario Coalition of Independent LIF Holders

 

[oldman]

A FREE VOTE

Hi All; This is a letter I just received.
Regards Bill C

There has been a lot of discussion in the media and by the other political parties about bringing faith-based schools into the public education system. The John Tory campaign wanted to make sure you were aware of additional details John Tory provided today on this issue as part of his speech to the Economic Club of Toronto.

In John’s own words,“If I have the privilege of serving as Premier, I will strike a commission, consult with the public, create pilot projects, and place a bill before the [Ontario] Legislature. But that bill will only proceed with the support of the people, through their elected representatives. MPPs will be allowed a free vote, so they are at liberty to vote their conscience and represent the wishes of their constituents. In this significant way, the public can be more involved in the decision making.”

To be clear:

John Tory is allowing all of his MPPs to have a free vote in the Legislature on this issue when it comes before them in two – three years.
This means that they will all be able to vote based on their own conscience and the wishes of their constituents.
In the meantime, over the next year or so, a commission to study the issue will be conducted.
Then, appropriate pilot projects will be conducted. Then, a committee of the Legislature will review and study the work of the commission.
And, after that two – three year process, members of the Legislature will have a free vote so they can reflect the wishes of their constituents.
John Tory will vote for it, but, PC MPPs will be free to vote as they see fit.

John Tory has been open and honest about his views and the motivation behind them. He has been clear today, before the election, that there will be a free vote for MPPs and he has always had the same position in public as he has had in private on this issue.

John Tory continues to be the only provincial party leader offering real leadership for Ontario. Through strengthening and modernizing health care, getting rid of ‘catch and release’ justice, providing real assistance for our farmers, eliminating Dalton McGuinty’s regressive health tax, and helping our most vulnerable citizens, only John Tory has a vision and plan for a strong, inclusive and economically prosperous Ontario.

 

[oldman]

Hi All I received this letter from a concerned Citizen who would like to encourage all people to read Linda Leatherdales Article of which I will post next Regards Bill C

From: John Hoell
To: torsun.editor@sunmedia.ca
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 10:32 PM
Subject: Re-Retirees want their money

In regards to Linda leatherdale's column Friday Sept.28-Retirees want their money,I urge all Ontarians to read and understand her story.I signed that petition 6 months ago after doing some serious investigating and was almost sick to my stomach.In my opinion this trash that calls themselves the liberal party of Ontario must be voted out of office on October 10 and preferably into jail where most of them belong.They are treating our seniors with complete disrespect and just plain arrogance.If every taxpayer knew the facts (as this situation of these controversial locked-in pensions could very well apply to them and endanger their financial well being when they retire) I am sure without doubt that they would vote these bums out come Oct.10.This is disgusting the way our seniors who worked hard during their lives to be treated this way.I personally have sent numerous emails to the liberals to explain themselves and what they intend to do to fix this mess but I did not receive one reply,which I figured anyways.I know one thing absolutely for sure and that is on Oct.10 my vote will not be for these incompetent liberals and I urge everyone to go out and exercise their right to vote.
J.Hoell
Barrie

 

[oldman]

A Great Article

Hi This is a Great article that Linda Leatherdale wrote.

http://money.canoe.ca/Columnists/Leatherdale/2007/09/28/4533775-sun.html

Any wise politician knows this: Don't tick off the blue-rinse crowd.

Well, this powerful voter group is ticked off. Skyrocketing property taxes have them seeing red. So do gouging electricity bills that Queen's Park hit with a debt retirement tax, plus GST. And they're angry about a clampdown on their precious income trusts, thanks to the feds.

But here's an issue that really has them riled. Not allowing them access to their locked-in pension money. Their anger hits meltdown when they recall how MPPs were allowed total access to their pension money in 1999, when some $54 million was withdrawn from the old pension scheme, then topped up with $55 million from general revenues, for a total of $109 million funnelled into MPP RRSP accounts.

"It's disgusting how elected officials have this ongoing trend of continually taking care of themselves, while totally ignoring the rest of the electorate," writes Eva Cherwinski, one of thousands who've signed a petition demanding access to locked-in funds.

Here's how Ontario's pension laws work. Let's say you're 48, and you get the boot out the corporate door. Any money accrued in your company pension plan would be moved into a Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA), and you're not allowed to touch the money until you're 55.
Problem is access is very limited, like only 6.7%. The older you get, the more money you can get at -- but not until age 90 can you take all your money.

James Law accuses Queen's Park of being "cruel."

He wrote that five years ago his mother was diagnosed with cancer and his father, then 68, had a sizable amount of money in a locked-in pension. His parents wanted to travel and enjoy the money while they could, but his father was denied access to the funds. His mother died two years later, and now his dad is gone, too.

"We, his children, did not want their money," Law said.

Recent changes to pension laws allow people facing financial hardships to get at the money. Also, you're allowed access if a doctor certifies you have less than two years to live.

In the past, regulators voiced concern if people had access they could blow the money and become dependent on low-income government programs. Others worried benefits, like the GST credit and old age credits, could be jeopardized, plus investors would miss out on extra value in vested pensions.

But Malcolm Hamilton, a pension expert with Mercer Consulting, says their worries are misguided. "Personally, I don't see (why) the protection is needed," he said, pointing out investors have access to their RRSP money and there is no evidence of irresponsibility.

CONVERT OR CASH OUT

RRSP funds grow tax free up to age 71, when you must either convert to a RRIF or an annuity, or cash out. Cash out early and you pay tax at your income tax rate.

The bottom line is Saskatchewan already allows 100% access to those 55 or older, Manitoba is soon to do the same, Alberta allows 50% at age 50, and New Brunswick 25%.

It's estimated one million Canadians have locked-in pension money, with 450,000 of them in Ontario.

"Why begrudge Ontarians the same right?" asks Bill Gleberzon, director of government relations with Canada's Association for the 50 Plus (CARP).

With only 12 days to the Oct. 10 Ontario election, the CARP, along with the Ontario Coalition of Independent Locked-In Fund Holders, is making this a political hot potato. This week, they went to Queen's Park to demand changes that would see those aged 55 be allowed to access 50% of locked-in funds, and at 65, 100%.

CARP has Conservative leader John Tory's support. He promises 100% access.

NDP leader Howard Hampton is also committed. In December 2006, NDP MPP Andrea Horwath tabled a private's members bill that would unlock funds.

With the heat on, Fiberal leader Dalton McGuinty was forced to introduce legislation to take effect in January 2008, that would allow people to transfer their current locked-in fund into a new locked-in fund, and be able to access 25% of the money within 60 days.

"Miss the 60 days, and you're out of luck," said CARP's Gleberzon.

Wanna fight back?

Go to www.petitiononline.com/WRC101/petition.html.

As Patricia Reeves argues, "It's our money, not yours!"

 

[oldman]

Hi All ; This is a letter Ken sent to a Liberal MPP.

Good morning Mr. Kwinter,

Like your Liberal colleagues, both past and present ... Mr. Michael Brown, Mr. Michael Bryant, Mr. Sean Conway, Ms Caroline DiCocco, Mr. Bruce Crozier, Mr. John Gerretsen, Mr. Dalton McGuinty, and the list goes on ... you clearly understood the incongruity of Bill 27.

Your words from the Hansard for Thursday, December 9, 1999 are ...

" I haven't quite come to terms as to why there is a special provision for MPPs. What is the intent? I don't understand that.......... Why are we now singling out MPPs, and not only MPPs but a very small number who could have access to this provision?

In fact on that same day you went to great lengths to tell the Legislature that as a former Minister of Financial Institutions in 1986, you had introduced Bill 170, an Act to revise the Pension Benefits Act.

You said concerning Bill 170 ... "I would caution the members on the opposite side and the minister and the people in the ministry to make sure they have a coherent, clear rationale for why this is being done, particularly when you take a look at Bill 170, the bill I introduced on December 9, 1986, where there was absolutely no mention of MPPs, no mention of any particular group other than pensioners. It was totally universal across the whole field of pensions."

I have been asking you for some time ... are you a man of integrity . are you going to tell Ontarians the REAL and WHOLE truth behind Bill 27 . given that Mr. Bradley, Mr. Conway and 18 others from your Liberal party received totally unfettered, unlocked pensions ... pensions that had been previously locked-in ... and ... despite many members of your own party, including yourself, speaking strongly against such exclusive privilege . they accepted their unlocked pensions anyway.

As you are well aware, this same extraordinary financial privilege has never been extended to any other Ontarian.

Your recent offering of a one-time, 25% unlocking privilege of principal . full unlocking being available at age 90 ... is a cruel and vicious joke against Ontarians ... when compared to what Mr. Bradley and Mr. Conway received!

Does the word HONOURABLE before your name compel you to tell ALL the truth ALL of the time ... or does it simply mean an enhanced pay cheque ... a pay cheque that is paid in part by seniors who own locked-in pensions and who must submit to the vulgar restrictions imposed on their pensions by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.?

Are you or are you not going to tell the WHOLE truth? You have been in power since 2003 and as such, have had ample opportunity to do so!

I again await your answer,

Kenneth Elliot

 

[oldman]

This Part of The Fight is just about over

Hi All; This part of the fight is just about over, the story will be told on Wednesday.
If the Liberals get in We will have a hard fight to try and have these pensions unlocked 100%

Anybody that wants these pensions unlocked had best get out and Vote for either the PC or NDP party because if not. Who Knows!!

Here is a letter I sent out to some papers in NW Ontario recently and some of my thoughts below it

Regards Bill Costello

Unlock pensions

Bill Costello
Wednesday, October 3, 2007 Dear editor:

An open letter to local Liberal candidate Mike Wood.


Why is it, when asked the question to all members if they would unlock locked-in pensions at the all-candidates’ debate on Kenora TV, that you immediately attacked Howard Hampton and his wife for having their pensions unlocked 100 percent when they retire at the age of 55 or their earlier retirement date.

Why didn’t you also state that 20 of your own party members also had their pensions unlocked—and many of them for a lot more money than Howard and his wife will receive when they retire.

We don’t begrudge the MPP's for having their pensions unlocked. This is the sensible thing to do.

We do, however, begrudge the fact that even though the Liberal leader spoke out in the legislature against it being done for the 61 special MPP's (including himself), that it was not fair because it was not done for the rest of the citizens in Ontario.

He now refuses to do it for the working people and seniors of Ontario.

Why is it that the Liberal party now only offers to unlock these pensions 25 percent and the remainder at 90 years of age? An age when most of the people already will have died!

Why is it that the Liberal party refuses to unlock 100 percent when the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives, plus C.A.R.P. (the organization for 50-plus) and experts in the field of pensions, such as Gordon Pape, Jack Mintz, and Malcolm Hamilton, all agree that these pensions should be unlocked 100 percent for the citizens of Ontario at their retirement age, as it was done for the citizens of Saskatchewan in 2002.

Why is it the Liberal party refuses to do the right thing? Especially considering that it would not cost the taxpayer one cent and also would improve the economy.

Why is it the Liberal party refuses, after being lobbied for two years, to do the honourable thing and unlock these pensions.

(Signed),
Bill Costello
Atikokan, Ont.
Editor’s note: Bill Costello is with the Ontario Coalition of Independent Locked-in Fund Holders

 

[oldman]

Why will the Liberals Not unlock our Personal Pensions

Hi All This is a note to a question I was asked. ( Why wont the Liberals unlock our personal pensions? )

My Reply

It Just doesn't make sense and I cant understand their thoughts because of these things.

A person that has a LIRF can invest their money and lose it all . ( they have no problem with that )

They allow the pension to be unlocked fully and transferred in to a RRIF If the pension holder dies and it goes to the spouse.

( I have no problem unlocking for the spouse) The Part I cant understand is if they can do that for one. Why cant they do it for two ? ( to me this doesn't make seance as the Plan Holder more the likely has more knowledge of the workings of the funds.

People like Jack & Malcolm & Gordon & CARP & Senior organizations endorse unlocking these pensions 100%.

Financle institutions say it would be better for them. ( Less paper work )

It would be better for the economy of Ontario.

Saskatchewan did it 5 years ago and Other provinces are following.

The people have been Asking for this to be done.


Greg Sorbara The Ontario Finance Minister Said "it is not to protect the people".

Greg Sorbara said "it was to protect the contract with the Employer " ( This Contract is no longer a contract when the plan is moved to a LIRF or RRSP ( The employer is no longer involved )


Is it that McGuinty and Company want to have power over the people of this province.

If there really a logical reason that they want to keep these pensions locked in.

I cant under stand it.

It would be sure nice if we could sit down face to face with the Liberals and let them logically explain why they refuse to unlock these pensions.

Regard Bill C

 

[Kreskin]

Another issue, more a federal governance one, is the income splitting issue. The way it stands right now, as of the 2007 federal budget rule change, to split your pension income for tax purposes you can be of any age. To split your LIRA/LIF income the pensioner drawing the income must be age 65.

For example, if someone has a defined contribution pension and they move it at retirement to a LIF they can't split the income until they reach the age of 65. If they keep it with the pension holder and convert it to an annuity they can income split it at any age. Even though both are governed by pension rules only one option gets to file it as an income split before age 65.

 

[oldman]

Hi Kreskin;
Thanks for that piece of information. It is important to many of us.
I will pass it on to my contacts and other forums after the election.

Regards Bill Costello

 

[oldman]

McGuinty's Time On Air Yesterday

DALTON MCGUINTY'S TIME ON AIR YESTERDAY

I know it is too late to change peoples minds about the people we are voting for , To Me it just shows how much disrespect the Liberal Government has for the people of this Province.

Below are a couple of letters sent out in disgust of what happened at a radio show that was to take call's to ask questions of the Premier.

<DIV>Good morning Eileen,

Yesterday afternoon, Michael Coren admitted on air that Mr. McGuinty had not, as had earlier been promised to CFRB listeners, opened the phone lines to the Ontario electorate.

Not only did we witness another brazen example of this man's contempt for Ontarians, but CFRB went on to support such deceit by announcing that there would be a repeat broadcast later in the evening.

Your unwillingness to expose this man for what he is ... one who refuses to have open and honest dialogue with Ontarians ... a glaring example being his recent brush-off of the Ottawa cancer patient ... has left me wondering if there is even one member of the media (CFRB included) who values truth and moral decency any longer.

Taylor Parnaby, during his news broadcast on Friday, October 05, 2007, was musing over the proliferation of "spin" . half-truths, quarter-truths and outright lies ... that is handed to Ontarians daily and how difficult it is, even for him, to get honest answers to direct questions. He went on to say that one person from one of the political parties who has been regularly sending him "spin", will no longer be welcome in his office, once the election is over.

Why didn't CFRB immediately take Mr. McGuinty off the air when it realized there would be no open phone lines for listeners? After all, listeners were being encouraged by CFRB, right up to the last minute before the programme aired, to call in if they wanted to speak directly to the Premier.

Just disgusted ... this blatant manipulation of Ontarians by our politicians has to stop ... otherwise our vote is nothing more than an exercise in futility.

Kenneth Elliott

<DIV>