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Reframing retirement with help from Equitable and the Franklin Templeton Academy
Equitable® Savings & Retirement and Franklin Templeton Academy have teamed up again with two pre-recorded On-Demand webcasts that can help you reframe retirement goals and planning discussions with clients.
Rethinking Retirement Income
The traditional view of retirement income assumes clients will need a specific percentage of their annual pre-retirement income through their senior years. In this session you will learn how our notions of retirement have changed over the years, the difference between the traditional and goals-based planning approaches, and how we can help you implement a goals-based retirement income planning strategy.
Register to watch
Ethics of Aging
According to Statistics Canada, by 2036, Canadians aged 65 and older are estimated to represent 24% of our total population. In this session, you will learn about challenges that come with aging, helping clients prepare for the worst, and identifying and handling elder financial abuse.
Register to watch
Join your host, Joseph Trozzo, Investment Sales Vice President, Equitable, along with guest speaker Jocelyn Duncan, Senior Learning Consultant with the Franklin Templeton Academy, to reframe retirement and help clients develop a strategic retirement mindset.
Continuing Education Credits
These webcasts have been accredited for 1 Life continuing education (CE) credit for all provinces excluding Quebec via the Insurance Council of Manitoba and Alberta Insurance Council. To be eligible for CE credits, you must register individually, watch the webcast in full and complete a short quiz. These webcasts are available in English only.
Date posted: December 19, 2024 -
Savings & Retirement - Updated Application Forms
There are some important updates to share with you. The applications listed below have been updated for content and formatting. The changes also include the removal of maximums for Quebec Life Income Funds.Equitable will accept the previous versions until March 31, 2025, but on April 1, 2025, only the new versions will be accepted.
Form # Application New Version Previous Version 1383 Pivotal Select TFSA Application 2024/11/01 2023/05/29 1384 Pivotal Select Registered/Non-Registered Application 2025/01/01 2023/05/29 2086 Pivotal Select FHSA Application 2024/11/01 2023/08/01 796 Daily/Guaranteed Interest Account TFSA Application 2024/11/01 2024/07/01 799 Daily/Guaranteed Interest Account Registered/Non-Registered Application 2025/01/01 2024/07/01 2087 Daily/Guaranteed Interest Account FHSA Application 2024/11/01 2024/07/01
Updated Form Names
Equitable has updated the names of the Special Quote Request forms for the DIA/GIA and Payout Annuity.New Name Previous Name When to use Custom Quote – DIA/GIA
(Form # 686)GIA Special Quote Request form Any deposit to the Daily Interest Account or Guaranteed Interest Account that is equal to or greater than $1 million. Payout Annuity - Custom Quote
(Form #687)Payout Annuity Special Quote Request form Any non-standard annuity quote (i.e., exceeds maximum deposit or age, pension matching, etc.)
Simplified Conversion Process for Legacy Products
The simplified conversion process should make things easier for advisors. By using the RRSP to RRIF Conversion Form #1673, you can convert legacy products, like RRSP to RRIF and LIRA to LIF, without the need to complete an application.
If you have any questions, reach out to your Director, Investment Sales.
Posted January 27, 2025 - [pdf] Taking money out of your RSP?
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Important cybersecurity readiness guidance
As an advisor, you collect and store clients’ sensitive personal information. Protecting this information is essential. In July 2023, the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organization (CISRO) released a guide on Cybersecurity Readiness. It includes tips on keeping this sensitive client data and your business systems safe.
Please read the guide in full. Also, check your own practices to be cyber ready and reduce your risk of an incident.
Some key tips in the guide include:
1. Make cybersecurity a priority: Stay alert to cyber threats. These can be suspicious emails, texts or calls. Make sure your team knows how to keep your data and systems safe and has clear, documented processes to follow.
2. Know what to protect: Understand what data and business systems need to be protected.
3. Identify the risks: Spot the risks in your practice and those from third-party service providers.
4. Implement security measures: Take steps to protect your data and business systems.
5. Be ready to respond: Know how to spot and react to cyber incidents. The guide has useful tips on creating a Cyber Incident Response Plan.
And lastly – if you receive client instructions electronically (by email, text, or messaging apps), always confirm these over the phone to ensure it’s really the client sending the instructions.
Keep your business and important client data safe by staying informed and alert. We encourage you to read the full Cybersecurity Readiness document to learn more about how to prepare for cyber threats.
In our industry, protecting clients’ sensitive data and systems is essential. Thank you for your commitment to cybersecurity!
® or TM denotes a trademark of The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada. -
A bright start to July: our Dividend Scale is now active!
Effective July 1st - just in time for summer conversations!
Good news! The Equitable® Board of Directors has approved continuing our current dividend scale for the period of July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
• The interest rate* we use to decide the dividend scale will stay at 6.40%.
• Other factors used to decide the dividend scale will stay the same.
• The interest rate for policies with dividends on deposit will stay at 3.50%.
• The interest rate for most policy loans will stay at 6.50%. This applies to both new and existing policy loans, and automatic premium loans. It specifically applies to Equimax® policies with a 9-digit policy number that starts with either "3" or "8". Older policies may have different loan rates as they are based on the prime interest rate.
*The dividend scale interest rate (DSIR) is different from the participating account (PAR) rate of return. The DSIR smooths out the ups and downs of the participating account experience. The PAR rate of return is the return on the investments in the participating account over the calendar year.
Need more information?
Did you miss our Spring Update & 2025 Dividend Scale Announcement?
Watch it now:
- Miscellaneous
- Equitable Generations at a glance
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Equitable Life Group Benefits Bulletin - November 2022
The importance of timely plan member eligibility updates*
Effective Dec. 1, 2022, we are implementing a revised process for managing plan member and dependent health and dental claims that have been incurred and paid after coverage has been terminated. This new process is consistent with industry practices.
If health or dental claims have been incurred and paid after a plan member’s termination date but before we received notice of the termination, we will align the plan member’s or dependent’s termination date with the service date of the last paid claim, retaining premiums up until that date.
If no claims have been incurred and paid after the termination date, Equitable Life will process the termination as requested and refund any excess premium, subject to a maximum premium refund credit of three months.
Currently, we process the termination as requested and attempt to recover any claim overpayments directly from the plan member. We then refund any excess premiums that have been paid, subject to the maximum refund credit amount.
To avoid claims being incurred and paid after a plan member’s termination date, it is important for your clients to update plan member and dependent eligibility dates on or before the effective date of the change.
If you have any questions about the process your clients should follow for updating plan member eligibility, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.QuickAssess®: Absence and accommodation request review services*
It can be difficult to navigate chronic or complex cases of absenteeism or accommodation requests. That’s where QuickAssess® can help.
QuickAssess is an optional, fee-per-use service that can provide your clients with an unbiased, timely assessment of complex plan member absences and workplace accommodation requests. Our disability experts can provide recommendations to help your clients manage:- Workplace absences
- Chronic or patterned absenteeism
- Requests to modify workplaces or duties
- Return-to-work coordination
- Employee Insurance sick leaves
For more information on using QuickAssess, including eligibility requirements, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.
**Within two business days of receiving a completed QuickAssess Absence and Accommodation Review Referral Form and all required information. For more complex referrals, more time will be required.Finding a health care provider with TELUS eClaims direct billing*
By visiting TELUS’s Find a Provider page, your clients’ plan members can now easily search for paramedical and vision providers who are registered on the TELUS Health eClaims network and who can submit claims directly to us on behalf of their patients. Searches can be filtered by postal code to help plan members find the most convenient provider options.
As our direct billing provider for pharmacy, vision and paramedical claims, TELUS Health has an extensive network of 70,000 health care providers that provide direct billing to streamline the claims process.
Please note, plan members should always check Equitable Life’s list of de-listed providers before selecting a health care provider. The list is available for your clients and their plan members on EquitableHealth.ca, and is updated regularly.
For more information about TELUS eClaims, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager.First phase of the Canada Dental Benefit proposed for Dec. 1, 2022*
The federal government’s new Canada Dental Benefit is proposed to take effect on Dec. 1, 2022, subject to Parliamentary approval. The program will cover eligible expenses retroactive to Oct. 1, 2022, and this first phase would apply to Canadians under 12 years of age.
If implemented, the Canada Dental Benefit will provide dental care to Canadian families with under $90,000 adjusted net income annually. By 2025, the federal government expects to extend the benefit to children under 18, senior citizens and Canadians with disabilities.
Parents or guardians will be required to apply for this coverage through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and must not have private dental coverage for the child(ren).
This new program will have no impact on your clients’ dental coverage and no action is required on their part.
* Indicates content that will be shared with your clients.
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Insights from a pandemic: Drug trends during COVID-19
We were expecting drug costs to rise this year due to the increase in “specialty” drugs, the shift to more expensive treatments for common conditions, and the introduction of new, costly medications. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused drug costs to rise even more than expected. While this was partly due to increased claims for certain drug categories, the most significant factor was the increase in dispensing fees as the provinces imposed 30-day refill limits.
Costs and claimants surge, drop, then climb again
Initially, as COVID-19 started to spread, we saw an overall spike in the volume and paid amounts for drug claims in March as plan members rushed to stock up on their medications. On our block, the average amount paid per certificate increased 16% in March, compared with the previous year.
This spike was followed by a drop in April after most provinces put 30-day refill limits in place. This led to a decrease in both average paid amounts and quantity per claim as people were limited to smaller refills. But the dispensing fee portion of drug cost tripled for many plan members who had to refill their prescriptions every month instead of every 90 days.
The April plunge was short-lived. Drug claims started to climb again in May as some provinces removed their 30-day refill limits. We’ve seen a continued increase so far in June as all remaining provinces have lifted their 30-day limits.
Claims for “specialty” drugs increase
There were some notable exceptions to this trend. For example, both claimants and paid amounts for high-cost “specialty” drugs increased in March, April and May. Thirty-day refills are the norm for these drugs, so they weren’t impacted by the re-fill limits.Claims for asthma drugs had the largest surge of any common disease category in March but had no subsequent drop in April. Not surprisingly, claims for mental health drugs increased throughout the pandemic, including a 33% increase in the number of claimants in May.
Going forward, we should see the average quantity per prescription stabilize in future months and return to normal, provided pharmacies return most patients to refills of more than 30 days.
The full impact of COVID-19 remains to be determined. We will continue to provide timely updates on any developments that impact our clients and their plan members or their benefits coverage. In the meantime, please contact your Group Account Executive or myFlex Sales Manager if you have questions.
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How to Stay Grounded in a Changing World: Supporting Financial & Mental Well-Being
Are clients feeling the strain of global uncertainty? Join our Master Class webcast, "How to Stay Grounded in a Changing World: Supporting Financial & Mental Well-Being," to gain insights on managing financial and mental well-being.
We will explore how economic instability, geopolitical conflict, and climate change impact mental health and financial behaviours.
Join Shannon Labby, Vice President, National Investment Sales, Equitable as she welcomes Homewood Health’s clinical expert, Gabrielle Provencher who will provide tools to help advisors recognize signs of mental strain and support clients in maintaining financial focus.
Why Attend?- Understand the psychological impacts of global crises and media exposure.
- Learn how financial stress can affect mental health and decision-making.
- Enhance media literacy to help navigate misinformation and stay focused.
- Develop coping strategies to help manage anxiety and promote resilience.
- Gain techniques to help clients form self-care habits for long-term financial security.
Learn more
Continuing Education Credits
This webcast has been submitted for continuing education (CE) approval for all provinces excluding Quebec via the Insurance Council of Manitoba and Alberta Insurance Council. Upon approval, you will be sent an email notification to come back to the webcast presentation console to download your personalized certificate from the tool bar. To be eligible for CE credits, you must register individually, watch the webcast in full, and complete a short quiz. It is the advisor's responsibility to ensure Continuing Education credits being offered are accepted by their licensing body. Alberta Insurance Council (AIC) credits are valid in Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Insurance Council of Manitoba (ICM) credits are valid in Manitoba only.
This webcast is available in English only.
Date posted: June 5, 2025