Jost's Story
Meet Jost, an OMERS member and firefighter who works at one of the busiest fire stations in Canada. He has confidence knowing that his OMERS pension plan is secure and will be there for him when he retires. “I’m going to be able to enjoy retirement. I’m going to be able to do the things I want to do,” he says, which includes travelling and spending time with family and friends.
My name is Jost Kaempffer. I'm 32 and I am a firefighter with the City of Toronto.
I work at one of the busiest stations in Canada right now. It's Station 332 and I've been there for the past five years.
I like the camaraderie. It's great we make fun of each other but we also are in some pretty intense situations together so it's finding that balance and people I work with are very like-minded like myself so we like working with our hands and we like that all the calls are kind of different but still helping out that community it's really great.
First learned about OMERS once I was hired with the Toronto Fire Services six and half years ago. I received my OMERS member handbook and kind of leafed through it, went online and signed into myOMERS and there's a lot of great information so I was able to look up my my pension report and take a look at what I've contributed and just understanding what OMERS is and that's pretty secure and stable pension plan.
It's really diverse portfolio which is great. When I'm at the hall and there is some downtime I do I like to cook and so we'll all be sitting around the breakfast table or the dinner table and we'll just be chatting and it always inevitably goes towards the OMERS pension plan and guys retiring.
Everyone has a different situation but they all know that OMERS is going to be there for them. Firefighting it is a high-risk occupation it just comes with the territory and the fact that there are survivor benefits with OMERS is a fantastic plus because if something unforeseen does happen that it's just comforting to know that my family would be taken care of.
My OMERS pension plan is going to get me started off on the right foot, it's going to be a step in the right direction. I'm going along with my other investments I'm going to be able to enjoy my retirement. I'm going to be able to go do the things I want to.
I'm going to be able to spend time with my family and with my friends and go traveling and just not worry. I just know that my OMERS pension plan is going to be there for me.
Social Value of the Plan
The OMERS defined benefit plan isn’t just important to our members. Research confirms that the OMERS Plan generates social and economic value for communities in Ontario, underscoring the importance of preserving OMERS as a defined benefit pension plan.
