January 2019

The Populist Backlash Against Europe: Why Only Alternative Economic and Social Policies Can Stop the Rise of Populism in Europe

By Bojan Bugaric (University of Sheffield, Department of Law) The European Union is facing an unprecedented political crisis. This club of liberal and democratic countries has been confronted by a nationalist and populist backlash that threatens the core principles at the very heart of the EU. Capitalizing on the European sovereign debt crisis, the backlash against refugees streaming in from the Middle East, public angst over the growing terror threat, and Brexit, previously fringe populist political parties are growing with...

December 2018

Korea Proposes Pension Reform

The world’s third-largest pension fund is in jeopardy of being depleted by 2057. The South Korean government has unveiled proposals to help reform the country’s pension system, as an aging population combined with record-low birth rates threatens to deplete South Korea’s $578.7 billion National Pension Fund by 2057. The country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare announced four proposals to maintain a balance between reinforcing recipients’ benefits and securing the fund’s stability, according to the Korea Herald. “The national pension...

UK. Pensions cold-calling to be banned from January

The long-delayed cold call ban has finally been approved into law, and will be effective from 9 January next year. Its introduction marks the end of an arduous journey that saw the government put off implementing the cold call ban on multiple occasions. Initially the ban was scheduled to come into force at the end of June this year but the Treasury delayed it due to “technicalities”. The government then announced progress on a pensions cold calling ban among...

Tax relief and fintech could help self-employed to save more into pension

Government will look to nudge self-employed workers to save towards a pension with the help of tech but tax reliefs may provide more effective in the long-run. The amount of self-employed workers who save towards their pension has more than halved in ten years, from 30 per cent in 2006/07 to 14 per cent in 2016/17 while self-employed workers grew from 3.3 million in 2001 to around 4.8 million this year. This has helped to create a self-employed pensions...

US. Bill Would Allow Use of Retirement Plans to Provide Student Loan Repayment Benefits

The Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act would permit 401(k), 403(b), and SIMPLE retirement plans to make matching contributions to workers as if their student loan payments were salary reduction contributions. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, have introduced legislation that would allow 401(k), 403(b) and SIMPLE retirement plan sponsors to use their plans to provide student loan repayment benefits to employees. According to a summary of the bill, The Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act would...

US. MetLife settles Massachusetts case over unpaid pensions

MetLife Inc will pay a US$1 million fine to resolve claims that it made misleading statements to investors in failing to pay pension benefits to thousands of retirees it improperly treated as "presumed dead." Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the settlement on Wednesday. The deal resolves an administrative case that Galvin's office filed against MetLife in June. As part of the settlement, Galvin's office said that MetLife will provide payments, with interest, to hundreds of Massachusetts...

Perú. Cooperativas podrán utilizar fondos de las AFP para financiar créditos hipotecarios

Óscar Basso, superintendente adjunto de Cooperativas de la SBS, dijo a gestion.pe que están trabajando en la normativa, que estimó, dinamizará la colocación de créditos hipotecarios. Las cooperativas que operan en el mercado tienen hasta el 1 de abril del 2019 para inscribirse en el Registro Nacional de COOPAC, de la Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP (SBS ). Una vez que se hayan registrado las cooperativas podrán ampliar y diversificar los productos que ofrecen; "estamos normando temas que tienen que...

Pensiones: poco más de una cuarta parte de los españoles ahorra habitualmente para su retiro

España, a la cola en planificación financiera para afrontar el final de la vida laboral, según el Estudio anual para la preparación de la jubilación de Aegon. El trabajador español afronta el final de su vida laboral con optimismo. Según datos de Aegon, el 72% asocia la jubilación con un periodo en el que puede dedicar más tiempo a sí mismo y a la familia, frente a un 48% que liga este periodo de la vida a palabras negativas...

UK. Can The Government Really Help Self-Employed Workers With Their Pensions?

In 2012, the UK Government launched a minimum contribution pension scheme for employed workers, meaning that a proportion of their monthly salary would be automatically withdrawn and saved for them to access at retirement age. The scheme was well-received, with 10 million workers being automatically opted in and only 9% of those enrolled choosing to opt-out. However, this automatic enrolment didn’t account for the self-employed, who make up an estimated 15% of the UK workforce. According to Guy Opperman, Minister for...

US. The states where pensions are safe and where they’re in trouble

Kentucky’s public pension, which was at risk of benefit cuts, may be saved Kentucky has one of the worst public pension plans in the country, but it’s just been saved from getting even worse. The state’s Supreme Court ruled against a reform law that would have cut benefits for public employees, including teachers, law enforcement, firefighters, social workers and government workers. Under the law, workers hired between 2003 and 2008 would have to pay 1% of their salaries for retiree health...