CLC Launches on Line Calculator on Costly RRSP Fees

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 18, 2011) - The Canadian Labour Congress has launched an on line calculator to show how banks and financial investment companies are gouging people who are trying to save for their retirement.

"Our research indicates that when a company charges you an annual 2.5 per cent management fee, this will eat up to half of your investment over the long term," says CLC President Ken Georgetti. "That is a scandal and we are using our on line calculator to help Canadians with their financial literacy."

Anyone can use the calculator to check on investment costs by going to the CLC website at: http://www.canadianlabour.ca/national/news/financial-literacy-month

Georgetti says it is ironic that the financial services industry has declared November to be Financial Literacy Month in Canada. "This is a month where the industry wants to educate people who they consider to be uninformed but glosses over how its management fees are the highest in the world. In the spirit of Financial Literacy Month, we are using our on line calculator to show people how these high fees affect them."

Georgetti says that RRSPs and mutual funds have failed to deliver retirement security for Canadians. "Too many retirees are left with a goose egg instead of a nest egg." He says that a far better idea is to improve the Canada Pension Plan, which provides a stable and predictable retirement income, and whose management fees are just a fraction of those charged by the financial services industry. "The moral of the story is that the CPP is by far the cheapest and most secure way away for people to save for retirement."

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 3.2 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils. Web site: www.canadianlabour.ca