July 2022
07Jul

YuLife picks up $120M at an $800M valuation for gamified, wellness-focused life insurance

YuLife originally made a name for itself in its home market of the U.K. for its new approach to the provisioning of life insurance: yes, sell a policy that provides financial security to your people in the event of your death; but do so with a focus on improving the policyholder’s current life with wellness opportunities, and encourage use of that with gamification — a model that not only is aimed at benefitting the policyholders more, but increases engagement...

July 7, 2022
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June 2022
24Jun

Greening Pensions: A Behavioural Perspective

By Alice Farrell, Kristina Londakova, Izzy Brennan, Jake Reynolds & Toby Park Through their pensions, the vast majority of people in the UK are investors, with pension pots collectively amounting to over £2.6 trillion.1 Investing a greater portion of this money sustainably - i.e. in businesses who have positive or neutral impacts on the environment and green technologies – could significantly accelerate our transition to a low-carbon society. While 68% of people say they would like their investments to be responsible...

June 24, 2022
Books, Investment, Pension design, Pension Management, , , , ,
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24Jun

The Effects of the Minimum Pension Reform in a Defined Contribution Pension System: The Case of Chile

By Jorge Sabat Using longitudinal data on roughly 16,800 low-income workers, I estimate the effects of a reform that introduced a solidarity pillar on the Chilean defined contribution pension system. I specifically test for a negative effect on the propensity to save for retirement that would have arisen from the disincentives caused by the introduction of an implicit tax on pension savings, as predicted by a theoretical life-cycle model. Empirically, I document a negative and significant effect on the propensity...

June 24, 2022
Articles, Savings, , , ,
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24Jun

New UK trial seeks to ‘nudge’ people into making greener pension choices

A new trial to encourage people to learn more about making greener pension choices in the UK has been launched. Dubbed the ‘Green Nudge’, the trial will test the impact of behavioural nudges and messages on increasing saver engagement with the sustainability of pension investments and how it could translate into greener pension decision-making. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working in partnership with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), Aviva, Smart Pension and Hargreaves Lansdown to deliver the “nudges”...

June 24, 2022
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01Jun

UK. Providers urge earlier introduction of Pension Wise ‘nudge’

The Financial Conduct Authority’s new rules guiding customers to use Pension Wise before drawing down their pension, which came into force on June 1, have been criticised as “poorly timed and mismanaged” by one provider. Trustees and providers are now required to offer customers aged 55 and above, who are accessing their funds for the first time, an appointment with Pension Wise. The service offers free 45-minute sessions on savers’ retirement options. The FCA said that this “nudge” can be delivered...

June 1, 2022
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May 2022

Serenity Now, Save Later? Evidence on Retirement Savings Puzzles from a 401(K) Field Experiment
26May

Serenity Now, Save Later? Evidence on Retirement Savings Puzzles from a 401(K) Field Experiment

By Saurabh Bhargava & Lynn Conell-Price Economists have advanced several psychological frictions to explain why many 401(k)-eligible employees undersave for retirement despite generous matching incentives. We provide evidence on four of these frictions through a field experiment randomizing undersaving employees to information- and incentive-based treatments linked to a survey assessing each friction’s baseline incidence. We describe four main findings: (1) We corroborate prior work showing pervasive deficits in retirement literacy and their correlation with saving but reject any meaningful increase...

May 26, 2022
Articles, Pension design, Savings, ,
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09May

US. EBRI: Challenges Aside, Retirement Confidence Remains High

Despite the pandemic and inflation, American workers and retirees remain optimistic about living a comfortable retirement—and one key factor that has helped is having a workplace retirement savings plan. This is according to the 32nd annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) measuring worker and retirement confidence conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research. In fact, in 2022, 82% of workers who are offered a workplace retirement savings plan are satisfied with it—a finding that has remained steady...

May 9, 2022
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April 2022

Wealth After Work Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security
11Apr

Wealth After Work Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security

By William G. Gale, J. Mark Iwry, & David C. John Pensions and retirement saving plans have helped millions of households build financial security. But tens of millions of people have been left behind, without access to these wealth accumulation vehicles. For many others, the plans they have do not ensure financial security in retirement. The problems that underlie these failures can be addressed. This book proposes concrete, practical ways to make dependable retirement income accessible for all Americans—not just those...

April 11, 2022
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07Apr

Age-friendly cities and communities: A global perspective

By Tine Buffel, Sophie Handler & Chris Phillipson New book Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A Global Perspective, Policy Press Tine Buffel, Sophie Handler and Chris Phillipson (Editors) Bringing together leading researchers and policy-makers working to develop age-friendly cities and communities, this edited volume examines the potential of developing urban environments responsive to the needs of older people. The book provides numerous case studies and examples of good practice, drawing upon work in Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and the USA. It...

April 7, 2022
Aging, Books, Innovation, , ,
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US. Saving for Retirement Is Harder Than It Should Be
05Apr

US. Saving for Retirement Is Harder Than It Should Be

The U.S. government has long offered myriad contrivances and enticements to get Americans to save enough for a comfortable retirement — so far with woefully inadequate results. But why should it be involved at all? Why can’t people be responsible enough to prepare for an entirely foreseeable event? There are two answers. First, people turn out to be pretty bad at thinking about the distant future: It seems our brains aren’t wired for it. Second, compounding that problem, the financial...

April 5, 2022
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