March 2021

“Pensions for women, the challenges ahead. International Women’s Day Selection of News and Research”

UK. Pension challenges women face will impact on their retirement 03/12/21 March 8 marks International Women’s Day and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Ghana. Low financial literacy responsible for low patronage of pensions by women and informal workers 03/12/21 A Compliance officer with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) says low financial literacy is the cause of low patronage of the pension scheme among women and people in the informal sector. Taking a workforce break to raise children...

March 12, 2021
Adequacy, Pension design, System Sustainability, , ,
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12Mar

Towards Improved Retirement Savings Outcomes for Women

By OECD Labour market inequalities are well-known to be the main drivers of the gender pension gap. This publication focuses on helping governments find solutions for retirement savings arrangements that do not further exacerbate these inequalities. This study first analyses why the gender pension gap exists and sheds light on some of the behavioural and cultural factors that contribute to these inequalities. Country case studies assess how demographics, labour markets and other factors may affect gaps in pension coverage, assets...

March 12, 2021
Books, Labor Market, Pension design, Reports, Savings, , ,
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11Mar

Pension Trends for Executives in FTSE 350 & SmallCap Companies 2020

By e-reward.co.uk In this research, we outline: How contribution rates vary across the UK’s three main indices. The level of contribution rates paid to the majority of staff in the UK’s largest companies. Some of the approaches that individual companies have followed to reduce the pensions of their new and existing directors. Our data is sourced from over 1,200 annual reports published between September 2017 and 2020 from companies listed on the FTSE 100, mid-250 and SmallCap indices. This data represents...

March 11, 2021
Books, Pension design, Pension Management, , , ,
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11Mar

Pension Information and Women’s Awareness

By Marta Angelici, Daniela Del Boca, Noemi Oggero, Paola Profeta, Maria Christina Rossi, Claudia Villosio We explore the role of financial and pension information in increasing women’s knowledge and awareness of their future pension status, and consequently, in reducing the gender pension gap. A representative sample of 1249 Italian working women were interviewed to assess their knowledge about pensions and financial issues and about their own savings and personal wealth planned for retirement. The responses showed that their knowledge and...

March 11, 2021
Adequacy, Articles, Pension design, , ,
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February 2021
12Feb

Late-Career Unemployment Shocks, Pension Outcomes and Unemployment Insurance

By Samir Elsadek Mahmoudi In response to unemployment shocks, older workers deplete their 401(k)s, particularly after the waiving of the early withdrawal penalty on unemployment-motivated withdrawals at age 55. This paper shows that Unemployment Insurance (UI) keeps older workers from depleting their 401(k) assets following job losses. UI also incentivizes older unemployed workers to delay claiming their Social Security (SS) benefits beyond the earliest age of eligibility, 62. Overall, UI enhances the retirement income of the individuals having a history...

February 12, 2021
Articles, Pension design,
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January 2021

29Jan

Unearned Income and Labor Supply: Evidence from Survivor Pensions in Austria

By René Böheim, Michael Topf We study the effect of lower unearned income on labor supply. To identify the causal effect of an unexpected reduction in unearned income, we exploit a policy reform that lowered survivor pensions in Austria. Men widowed after the survivor pension reform received an approximately 34% lower survivor pension than men widowed before the reform. We follow the employment history of both groups for 150 months and estimate the reform’s effect on labor supply using...

January 29, 2021
Articles, Pension design, , , ,
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21Jan

The Benefit of Diversified Guaranteed Income for Retirees: Combining Immediate Fixed and Immediate Variable Annuities

By David Blanchett This paper explores the potential benefits of developing a retirement income that considers both immediate fixed annuities (IFA) and immediate variable annuities (IVA) using a stochastic utility model combined with a scenario framework. Optimal annuity allocations vary considerably across household type, but certainty equivalent retirement income increases by 20 percent, on average, when incorporating annuities. Total annuity allocations increase when both IFAs and IVAs are considered, and retirees realize only approximately two-thirds of the benefits of...

January 21, 2021
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21Jan

Olivia S. Mitchell, PhD: Calibrating Retirement Planning with Current Conditions

By Olivia S. Mitchell In September 2020, Robert Powell, editor-in-chief of the Retirement Management Journal, Jason Fichtner, PhD, senior lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University; and Anna Rappaport, FSA, MAAA, chair of the Society of Actuaries Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks, spoke with Mitchell about how longer lifespans and prolonged retirement periods are requiring adjustments to Social Security benefits, employee pension plans, and individual retirement savings. Source: SSRN

January 21, 2021
Adequacy, Aging, Articles, Pension design, , ,
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14Jan

Pension Reform Primer : Issues, Challenges, Options and Arguments in Pension Reform

By World Bank The World Bank Pension Reform Primer aims to provide a comprehensive toolkit for policy makers on designing and implementing pension reform. It is based on continuously updated information from countries that have introduced reforms emphasizing the role of privately-managed individual retirement accounts. Their experience offers a number of useful lessons for policy makers elsewhere. The Bank set out a conceptual framework for fundamental pension reform in "Averting the Old Age Crisis: Policies to Protect the Old...

January 14, 2021
Books, Pension design, System Sustainability,
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