November 2024

Real-World Shocks and Retirement System Resiliency

By Olivia S. Mitchell, John Sabelhaus & Stephen P. Utkus Growing awareness of real-world shocks including market downturns, health surprises, and labor market readjustment is calling into question the ability of global retirement systems to remain healthy and sustain future retirees. Financial and labor market stresses are shaping how older workers fare as they head into retirement, and how younger workers must prepare financially for their futures. These shocks come on top of long-standing concerns surrounding rising longevity, along with...

A ‘Mandatory’ Pension Scheme? Late-Stage Dropouts from the National Pension System in South Korea

By Jongseok Oh, Seho Son & Kun Lee In this study, we investigate the patterns of individuals dropping out of the National Pension System, a mandatory public pension scheme in South Korea with a generous and redistributive benefit structure. We analyze administrative pension insurance data on individuals eligible for a lump-sum refund of lifetime accrued contributions at the age of 60 due to insufficient contribution records. We employ a set of linear probability models with region-fixed effects and within-between-region effects...

October 2024

2024 Defined Contribution Pension and Savings Report

By Stuart Arnold & Claire Murray This year’s survey reveals the immediate focus and priorities that employers, plan sponsors and pension trustees have for their defined contribution (DC) retirement plans. In this edition, in response to the growing concern surrounding retirement adequacy, we look at the views and actions of employers concerning the outcomes that employees can expect from their retirement provision. What are the main priorities for employers in retirement provision, what steps are sponsors taking, and what opportunities should...

Pensions in Aging Asia and the Pacific: Policy Insights and Priorities

By Rafal Chomik, Philip O’Keefe & John Piggott Asia and the Pacific has the most diverse regional pension landscape globally. Yet the region’s pension systems are facing common challenges as they attempt to expand coverage, and ensure adequacy and fairness, while maintaining fiscal sustainability. We review the structures and performance of pension systems across Asia and the Pacific. Most remain characterized by low contributory coverage, social pensions with inadequate benefits and often low (or no) coverage, and informal sector schemes...

The Impact of Lump-Sum Retirement Withdrawals on Labor Supply: Evidence from Peru

By Carla Moreno & Sita Slavov  We examine the labor supply impact of a 2016 policy that allows retirementeligible individuals covered by Peru’s private pension system to receive retirement benefits as a lump sum rather than as an annuity. We present a theoretical model predicting that, for liquidity constrained workers, the lump sum option makes formal employment (requiring pension participation) more attractive relative to informal employment (not requiring pension participation); it also encourages early retirement. Using household panel data, we...

Social pensions in the Americas: Recent developments

By International Social Security Association Ensuring adequate social security coverage for an ageing population is an important priority for governments and the global membership of the International Social Security Association (ISSA). Social pensions, also known as zero pillar or non-contributory pensions, complement contributory social insurance systems by providing a guaranteed source of income for people not adequately protected by other forms of social security. In doing so, they expand overall social protection and can be a powerful tool for combating...

September 2024

The Future of Retirement Security An International Comparison through the Lens of Adequacy, Sustainability, Equity and Plan Design

By Surya Kolluri, Catherine Reilly & David P. Richardson Countries around the world are considering and implementing reforms to their retirement systems for a variety of reasons, including increasing demographic and economic pressures. A key demographic driver is human longevity. For example, the average retiree can expect to spend about two decades in retirement, roughly double the time from 50 years ago. In the United States, life expectancy has risen by 17 years since the Social Security program debuted nearly...

2024 Global Retirement Index

By Natixis Investment Managers Despite positive progress for many countries in the Global Retirement Index (GRI), retirement security remains on shaky ground in 2024. More and more individuals across the globe are realizing that they’re on their own when it comes to funding their retirement. Results from the long-running Natixis Global Survey of Individual Investors reveal that the number of people who say it’s increasingly their responsibility to fund retirement on their own—rather than relying on public and private pensions—has grown...

Pension Risk Transfer Monitor

By Legal & General  In this latest edition of our Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Monitor, we off¬er a side-by-side analysis of the two largest PRT markets globally – the US and UK. We expect PRT volumes to remain elevated across the next decade. Based on current levels, more than £250 billion of combined UK and US volumes are likely to be secured by insurers in the next 3 years alone. In this bulletin we reflect on the first half of...

The future of retirement security: An international comparison through the lens of adequacy, sustainability, equity and plan design

By Surya Kolluri, Catherine Reilly & David Richardson The average retiree can now expect to spend about two decades in retirement, roughly double the time from 50 years ago. Along with extended lifespans, the number of workers per retiree is declining around the world and ever fewer workers have access to defined benefit (DB) plans that promise a guaranteed income in retirement. Instead, most workers save for retirement through defined contribution (DC) plans, which do not automatically convert savings into...