April 2021

What Explains Low Old-Age Income? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

By Olivia S. Mitchell, Robert L. Clark, Annamaria Lusardi We examine respondents in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to observe how their financial situations unfolded as they aged. We focus on low income older adults and follow them over time to identify the factors associated with having low income at baseline and thereafter. We find that (a) real income remained relatively stable as individuals approach and enter retirement, and progress through their retirement years, and (b) labor force participation...

Next-Generation Retirement Plans Will Deliver Customized Retirement Income Solutions

While workplace retirement savings plans have evolved significantly over the past four decades, they still fall far short on delivering retirement income, investment manager PGIM says. But PGIM says that by relying on technology, retirement plans will soon be able to not only deliver retirement income solutions—but to provide customized options. Those personalized solutions could include managed accounts, model portfolios and advice engines, Josh Cohen, PGIM head of institutional defined contribution (DC), tells PLANADVISER. Cohen says he’s optimistic that after years of...

Combining Flexible Asset Allocation, Sustainable Withdrawals, and Deferred Annuities to provide an Adaptive Lifelong Investing Solution

By Anran Chen, Steven Haberman, Steve Thomas In this paper, we integrate investment decisions in the post-retirement decumulation period with that of the deferred annuity purchase to provide a lifetime decumulation solution. Based on Monte Carlo simulation and historical experience, we use the Perfect Withdrawal Rate (PWR) as a tool to make recommendations on withdrawal rates and asset allocations for different levels of risk preferences. We have a few potentially important findings. First, we illustrate how cheap it is to...

Do Required Minimum Distribution 401(K) Rules Matter, and for Whom? Insights from a Lifecycle Model

By Vanya Horneff, Raimond Maurer, Olivia S. Mitchell Tax-qualified vehicles helped U.S. private-sector workers accumulate $25Tr in retirement assets. An often-overlooked important institutional feature shaping decumulations from these retirement plans is the “Required Minimum Distribution” (RMD) regulation, requiring retirees to withdraw a minimum fraction from their retirement accounts or pay excise taxes on withdrawal shortfalls. Our calibrated lifecycle model measures the impact of RMD rules on financial behavior of heterogeneous households during their worklives and retirement. We show that proposed...

Retiring While Black

When you consider unemployment statistics, to be young, employed, and Black may seem like a victory unto itself. That’s even more true if you have a job you call a career and a professional future that looks bright. Many Black people who are now of retirement age have not been so fortunate, and many pre-retirees continue to live paycheck to paycheck. Indeed, when you look at how the Black community fares in terms of retirement readiness, the statistics give cause...

Zimbabwe. 100% payout hike, grocery vouchers for pensioners

Pensioners and widows are set to get a 100% increase to their monthly stipends, as well as grocery vouchers worth $3 000 from the National Social Security Authority (Nssa), NewsDay reported. Nssa deputy director for marketing Tendai Mutseyekwa told NewsDay that pensioners were going to get a 100% increment this month. "They are getting 100% increment this April and we are saying we are giving them this increment and the (COVID-19) vaccines at the same time. We will also give them...

The pandemic has shown that workers in the informal economy need a safety net, too

The coronavirus pandemic has hit the developing world’s informal economy hard. Existing on the margins, with no access to social safety nets such as unemployment insurance and pensions, many of the 2 billion informal workers around the world were already barely keeping their heads above water before the lockdowns. One analysis estimated that 1.6 billion informal sector workers worldwide would suffer a 62 percent decline in income in the first few months of the crisis alone, with workers in...

Preqin Markets in Focus: Latin America’s Growing Appetite for Alternative Assets

Changing demographics, policy shifts, and a growing base of highly sophisticated investors make Latin America an increasingly attractive source for private capital. Likewise, local institutional investors in Latin America are eager to put capital to work with top performing fund managers, both inside and outside the region, with an emphasis on absolute return. Where do GPs believe the best opportunities can be found? Preqin is delighted to bring Latin American alternatives markets into the spotlight with our new report, combining comprehensive...

Reference Points for Retirement Behavior: Evidence from German Pension Discontinuities

By Arthur Seibold This paper documents and analyzes an important and puzzling stylized fact about retirement behavior: the large concentration of job exits at specific ages. In Germany, almost 30% of workers retire precisely in the month when they reach one of three statutory retirement ages, although there is often no incentive or even a disincentive to retire at these thresholds. To study what can explain the concentration of retirements around statutory ages, I use novel administrative data covering the...

March 2021

UK women have up to 45% less in pension at retirement than men

The UK pensions system disadvantages women compared to men, with females having between 25% to 45% less in their pension pots at retirement, new data has shown. According to analysis from professional services consultancy Barnett Waddingham, the gender pension gap begins to diverge most after the age of 32, with men contributing up to £1,500 ($2,068) per annum more into their pension than women. This is despite contributing the same percentage of their salary. The research, which analysed the data and saving...