3. Time frame of article

Janet McFarland's article featured in the Globe and Mail on the 25th of September, 2015, being as such one of the newest articles discussing retirement. The timing of the article is highly relevant in the context of the current status of the global economy. Specifically, the international market place continues to battle the unfolding and effects of the economic crisis. In this, the economic agents have taken radical measures to survive and their primary activity was represented by the cost cutting efforts. The companies made decisions such as employee downsizing, freezing of financial rewards, or even decreases in the offered salaries; cutting of training programs; reduction in investments in retirement plans or the elimination of several other employee benefits.

These decisions however may have short-term benefits, whereas the longer term impacts would be negative ones (Price, 2011). In such a setting, the timing of McFarland's article suggests that employers in Canada, but also across the globe, need to reintegrate employee benefits in order to attract and retain staff members; and they ought to place increased emphasis on retirement plans.

4. Concepts and legislation covered

The article written by Janet McFarland is rather succinct and it mostly relies on the results of the survey conducted by consulting firm Towers Watson. Its approach of the legislation is limited, but it does nonetheless point out to some notable economic concepts, which can be further elaborated. These refer to the following:

The changing nature of pension plans, for instance the defined benefit plan vs. The defined contribution plan. At this level, notable differences exist between the two and the first provides more stability,...

Conclusions and recommendations
The modern day business context is highly pressured by the economic crisis and the companies have often sought to cut costs. Still, employees now come to value more solid retirement plans, and these plans have become powerful tools to employee attraction and retention.

In such a setting then, the final recommendation is that the economic agents need to place more emphasis on employee retirement plans. They should as such seek to invest in traditional plans which offer higher levels of security; employers should have high thresholds for risks and should instead opt for stability of investments. Additionally, when facing financial shortages, the employers should seek mutually beneficial solutions with the employees, such as relocating the money for bonuses for instance to the retirement plans, rather than cutting the retirement plans.