November 2017

14Nov

Achieving pension goals in retirement: how to move Latin American DC second pillars forward

By Eduardo Rodriguez Montemayor PPI’s Editorial Board editorial@pensionpolicy.net Nobel-prize winner Robert C. Merton stated in more than one occasion that “our approach to DC savings is all wrong: we need to think about monthly income, not net worth”, in reference to how defined-contribution (DC) pension schemes usually focus on maximizing the amount of assets that people accumulate at the time of retirement instead of focusing on actually achieving a regular pension payment during retirement. Nicholas Barr and Peter Diamond, two of the global...

November 14, 2017
Adequacy, OP Ed, Pension design, PPI’s original Op-Eds, Regulation, System Sustainability, , , ,
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02Nov

UK. Cost of living pressures affect people on welfare more than anyone

The release of the latest cost of living indexes shows that for all types of households the cost of living continues to grow well below long-term averages. But in September the impact of electricity price rises most affected aged pensioner and other government beneficiary households. For these households, who have mostly missed out on the benefits of falling interest rates, it means that they remain the most affected by cost of living pressures. Unlike the consumer price index, which provides...

November 2, 2017
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October 2017

10Oct

Nigeria. Contributory Pensions Scheme Vs Pension Reform Act 2014 Amendment: A Preamble

It is clear from the One-Day public hearing on the multiple bills to amend the Pension Reform Act 2014 at the House of Representatives in Abuja on Thursday 28 September, that important stakeholders in the pensions sector, namely, the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Employees Consultative Association, Securities and Exchange commission, National Pension Commission, Nigerian Union of Pensioners and Pension Funds Operators Association of Nigeria, among others, have decided to...

October 10, 2017
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09Oct

Spain. Blocked reforms

he Spanish economy has two very serious problems: signing of a wage agreement, which allows recovery of some of purchasing power in medium term, and a solution to reform pension system. Social agents (businessmen and trade unions) have shown a frustrating inability to reach a wage pact in 2017; It would be very dangerous for economic and social stability that agreement would also fail for 2018, because wage-earning policy cannot remain dissociated from reactivation. The recent agreement in Balearic...

October 9, 2017
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04Oct

Rwanda. Your pension will never be enough

An important consideration in planning for retirement is the level of income you will need and where the income will come from. Most people have unrealistic expectations as to the level of pension they will receive in retirement. This explains why in Rwanda today many mumble at the benefits paid by Rwanda Social Security Board. The RSSB pension arrangement is defined benefit and you can know at onset the level of pension benefits you may receive at any time should...

October 4, 2017
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September 2017

11Sep

Korea’s Stubborn Leviathan

Sentencing the billionaire leader of South Korea's largest and most powerful company, Samsung Electronics Co., to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement sent a strong signal the country might finally push through long-promised corporate reform. But if Korea really wants to clean up the overly cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship between the government and large family-owned business groups, known as chaebol, it will have to look inward to its own national pension fund. Since most workers must contribute...

September 11, 2017
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09Sep

Nigeria. Digitization, fintech as panacea to financial inclusion

One of the compelling aspirations of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the last two years has been to ramp up the numbers for financial inclusion in the country. To this end, Nigeria’s apex bank, alongside other regulators in the financial services sector, including the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), has vigorously pursued the agenda of financial inclusion through various initiatives with a clear intent to bring millions of Nigerians, especially those in the informal...

September 9, 2017
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08Sep

Pension reforms in Rwanda

The structural reforms in the Rwandan pensions sector reached its peak on July 19, 2016 with the gazetting of Regulation No. 04/2016 on the registration of voluntary pension schemes and licensing of pension scheme service providers.  The regulations operationalised Law No. 05/2015 of 30/03/2015 governing the organisation of pension schemes. The new law seeks to create a platform for the regulation and supervision on the establishment and management of pension schemes, promoting growth and stability in the sector. It is...

September 8, 2017
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04Sep

Switzerland. Pensions 2020 is a reform in name only

The original primary goal of the reform was to maintain the level of support offered by our pensions system. With support from the government, parliament reformulated this goal and – with a wafer-thin majority – pushed through a reform that expands old age pensions instead of restructuring it. Pensions 2020 has degenerated into an unfair, superficial reform that makes a mockery of the inter-generational contract. The reform of the old age and disability pension is unfair, because it leads two...

September 4, 2017
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July 2017

11Jul

243 Million Reasons For A New Pan-European Personal Pension Product

It is estimated that only around 28% of the EU’s 243 million citizens aged 25 to 59 years are currently saving into a pension. The European Commission considers that offering an alternative form of pensions vehicle will drive a change in behaviour. To this end, on 29 June, the European Commission proposed Regulations setting out a framework for a bold new pan-European personal pension product (PEPP). This emerges as part of the EU’s 2015 Action Plan on Building a...

July 11, 2017
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