April 2024
01Apr

UK. DWP State Pension update for women in their 60s and 70s due around £5,000

The Treasury recently confirmed that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) started writing to older people whose National Insurance (NI) records may be affected by missing periods of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) in September 2023, inviting them to apply to fill potential gaps to ensure they receive the correct amount of State Pension. Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Nigel Huddleston MP also told the Commons that HMRC is working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to find people affected...

April 1, 2024
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March 2024
25Mar

UK’s Conservatives will commit to pensions triple lock, says Hunt

Britain's ruling Conservative Party would commit to keeping the so-called triple lock for increasing state pensions, finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday, seeking to woo older voters ahead of an election expected later this year. With the opposition Labour Party holding a strong lead in opinion polls, Hunt stepped up efforts to draw a dividing line between the parties by emphasising the Conservatives' commitment to lower taxation. Under the existing pension triple lock system, the government has promised to raise...

March 25, 2024
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21Mar

UK’s Hunt Says State Pension and Benefits Are ‘Under Review’

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt indicated that reforms to the UK state pension and welfare benefits are being considered as the government scrambles to fund increases in defense spending and boost economic growth. Testifying to lawmakers in the House of Lords, Hunt said the triple lock — which guarantees that the state pension rises by the highest of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% — was “under review.” Continuation of the policy is subject to improving the government’s two goals of...

March 21, 2024
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15Mar

UK. TPR takes tougher action over value as it issues first fine

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued a fine against a corporate trustee in the UK in a drive to ensure savers receive value from their pension schemes. Regulation, which came into force in 2021, require trustees of pension schemes with less than £100m in assets to undertake a more detailed assessment of value for members than larger schemes. Those failing to deliver value must set out a plan to improve or transfer members to a better-value scheme. To ensure this, TPR launched...

March 15, 2024
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14Mar

UK. DWP’s frozen state pension policy called into question

The International Consortium of British Pensioners has called for a review of frozen pensions as its analysis reportedly calls into question the figures used by the government to defend the policy. According to the report titled ‘Frozen Pensions: A Policy Overdue for Review’, the figures used by the DWP on the cost of unfreezing pensions are based on the "false presumption" that, at the date of such a policy change, all pensions would be uprated to the level they would have...

March 14, 2024
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February 2024
15Feb

UK. DWP has ‘no plans’ to raise frozen state pension payments for 500,000 expats, minister confirms

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has “no plans” to raise frozen state pension payments for 500,000 Britons living abroad, a Government minister has confirmed. Pensions minister Paul Maynard told MPs the Government will not be introducing a “change to its longstanding policy”. Pensioners who retire overseas in certain countries, including Canada and New Zealand, have their payments frozen at the rate they were paid when they left the UK. An estimated 500,000 older Britons do not receive the full state pension entitlement they...

February 15, 2024
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06Feb

U.S. Public Pensions Highly Vulnerable to Market Correction

Investment volatility has re-emerged as a key concern for defined benefit public pension plans since the pandemic began, signalling the risk that market corrections can set back progress in stabilizing funded ratios and trigger higher contributions, Fitch Ratings says. Asset values surged in 2021 followed by sharp reversal in 2022 and a rebound in 2023. Based on audits of almost 100 major state pension plans, fiduciary plan assets rose a median of 24.4% in fiscal 2021, then fell 7% yoy...

February 6, 2024
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06Feb

UK’s ageing population prompts calls to push state pension age up to 71

The UK’s ageing population means that the state pension age would need to rise from the current 66 to 70 or 71 to maintain the status quo, research from the International Longevity Centre (ILC) has revealed. The ILC pointed out that most of those countries ranking at the top of its Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index have rapidly ageing populations, which are making it increasingly important for these governments to act to support healthy ageing. In particular, the ILC’s analysis showed,...

February 6, 2024
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December 2023
20Dec

UK. DWP urges people buying State Pension top-ups to check uplift will be applied to payments first

New figures published by the UK Government show that at the end of March 2023, the number of people making voluntary National Insurance (NI) contributions to top-up their State Pension has surged by 85 per cent over the last year. The National Insurance Fund Accounts indicate that £391,973,000 worth of Class 3 NI contributions were made for the year ending March 31, compared to £212,311,000 paid in the previous year. However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is urging people thinking...

December 20, 2023
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19Dec

UK. Pensions are far from broken but could still use a fix

There aren’t too many areas of public policy where we in the UK can feel we have done a better job than in comparable countries. Our state pension system is, arguably, one of them. What we have is vaguely coherent and more affordable than most. It forms part of a system which, alongside widespread private provision and additional means-tested support for the poorest, results in many enjoying a relatively comfortable old age, and far fewer than in the past...

December 19, 2023
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