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The Retirees' Newsletter

The Bi-Monthly Publication of the Faculty and Librarian Retirees' Association,

The University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada,

Vol. VII , Issue No. 3, June 1997

Issue #23

SUNDAY, JULY 20^TH, 2 P.M.

We've rented a Covered Picnic Shelter

adjacent to the

Ojibway Nature Centre

Bring your own Food and Pop.

Barbecue Grills Available.

We will provide Charcoal, Coffee

and Desserts. (We need volunteers to bring

desserts in lieu of money).

$2.00 per person.

Pay when you get there.

Plenty of room, so bring friends

and relatives.

Phone John LaGaipa at 966-2350, by July 15^th.

Please Note that NO ALCOHOL is allowed in the Park

DIRECTIONS: EC ROW west; turn left onto

Matchette at Matchette Rd. Exit, (the first cutoff

after Huron Church exit) then down the road a piece

--'bout a half mile

FROM THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

LATELY I'VE BEEN HARPING A LOT ON PENSIONS maybe too much. But just one more time, dear readers, bear with me a while on the subject of what is, after all, the retiree's livelihood.

THREE MONTHS AGO I WROTE IN THIS COLUMN:

"...Are there just too many levels of administration involved in our pension (the University, the Faculty Association, Canada Trust as administrator, the actuaries, the fund managers, and goodness knows what other functionaries), with the result that the retirees slip through the cracks and become the forgotten people in the pension picture?"

I AM STILL AMAZED at how little information is provided to us as retirees, about the operation of our Pension Plan. One really has to be retired in order to fully appreciate the feeling of isolation that can set in. And maybe also, it helps to be abruptly reminded from time to time by newspaper reports, about this or that pension fund that ran into major problems while its members slumbered in the illusion that all was well.

AS OUR READERS KNOW, Norm Shklov, one of our members, a statistical mathematician well qualified for the task, has undertaken voluntarily to put together for our members, a "guide" to our Plan, which is being published in segments in this Newsletter. Thank goodness for Norm's initiative in that matter, and for all his time and work.

To make the most of what Norm is doing, I suggest that we set up a standing committee in the Association, to monitor the Pension Plan and to keep the membership informed. We have the expertise within our membership. We have, in this Newsletter, the means of getting information out. What my proposal amounts to is that we can and should now establish OUR OWN sources and channel of information!

AFTER ALL, it's our livelihoods that are involved. Some might feel that, in suggesting a monitoring committee, the editor is being a "rabble rouser". But that idea would be absurd. I don't want to see interference: just information. Hey, I've been retired ten years, and today I could not name one investment in our Fund. See what I mean?

If you feel there's any merit in my suggestion, let me know. A call, a note, an e-mail. A bit of support for the idea is all that's needed. IT COULD BE THE MOST SENSIBLE STEP THE RETIREES HAVE COLLECTIVELY TAKEN TO DATE.

Bill Phillips

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