Pensions not only have to be valuable, but they also have to be fair and equitable. At the same time, they have to decrease risk exposure to members and to the organizations in which they work.
The reality is that this is difficult to achieve, especially because there are so many facets to both understanding and operationalizing pension parity. The fact is that pensions are not alike, and pension savings (and their impact on retirement) often differ from each other deeply, and in ways that are hidden.
This paper explores what’s going on underneath the surfaces when it comes to pension parity, and suggests that what we cannot readily see what’s on our pension reports and retirement savings statements. In this paper, we’ll look at what pension parity really means, and how organizations can protect themselves against the risk of parity issues, both financial and litigious. We’ll talk about why parity, if it can be achieved, can drive both solutions and hope. Finally, we’ll discuss why managers are the best equipped to take a key role in creating funcitional, operationalized changes in pensions that can make an impact on equity in their organizations, and in the working world and beyond.
The issue of pension parity is not simply about abating risk, but about the broader strategy of how leaders think about the future of managing employees, contributions and retirement, and it’s going to be a major focus of how we plan for pensions in 2020.