December 2023
15Dec

Retirement Trajectories and Social Security’s Retirement Earnings Test

By Bob Joondeph Chair, Nancy J. Altman, Jagadeesh Gokhale & Amy Shuart Social Security’s retirement earnings test (RET) temporarily withholds or reduces the Social Security benefits of people below full retirement age (FRA) who work and earn above a certain threshold while collecting retirement benefits. Those benefits are increased at FRA to account for the months when benefits were withheld or reduced under the RET. The legislative intent of the RET, which has been part of the law since Social...

December 15, 2023
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15Dec

Innovative Combo Product Design Embedding Variable Annuity and Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts

By Yang Shen, Michael Sherris, Yawei Wang & Jonathan Ziveyi This paper presents a novel combo insurance product design consisting of a variable annuity contract embedded with guaranteed minimum income benefits and long-term care insurance. This combo product provides enhanced benefits when the policyholder is functionally disabled. The Hamiltonian Monte Carlo simulation technique is utilised for numerically valuing the combo product whose underlying fund is proportionally invested in multiple asset classes. Product features including the elimination period and the maximum...

December 15, 2023
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15Dec

Annuities Are Back in Favour

"In an environment of high market volatility and high interest rates, life annuities are an option to consider again," says Spencer Look, director at the Morningstar Center of retirement and policy studies in Chicago. "Interest rates, he continues, are allowing annuity income levels not seen since the mid-2000s." The figures in Quebec confirm this, showing an increase of 17.7% between 2021 and 2022. Of the six main product categories listed in the 2022 Annual Report on Financial Institutions and Credit...

December 15, 2023
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November 2023
27Nov

How to Calculate Your Retirement Cost of Living

When it comes to retirement, understanding the potential cost of living is important for effective financial planning. Without a clear idea of these costs, you can run the risk of outliving your savings or compromising your lifestyle. Here’s what you need to know to calculate your retirement cost of living. A financial advisor can help you determine what you need to put in your budget for retirement. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three...

November 27, 2023
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24Nov

Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2022: Transforming education as a basis for sustainable development

By ECLAC Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2022 has four chapters. Chapter I presents the relevant macroeconomic background in terms of the evolution of per capita GDP, employment, household income distribution and the consumer price index, and looks at how income inequality and poverty have changed over the past two decades (2002–2021). The chapter also discusses changes that occurred in social stratification during the pandemic. Chapter II addresses the worrying silent crisis of education as another of the...

November 24, 2023
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17Nov

The National Landscape of State Retirement Benefits

By Jonathan Moody & Anthony Randazzo   Retirement security is ultimately about retirement income. Families and individuals want to know that during their retirement years they will have enough weekly, monthly, or annual income to live comfortably and meet their basic needs. Of course, many people aspire to more than just the basics. Ask even a handful of individuals about how they want to live in retirement, and you’ll hear a wide range of preferences. Expenses can vary from family-to-family, too,...

November 17, 2023
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17Nov

Bulgaria Boosts Minimum Pension to BGN 580

A significant shift in Bulgaria's pension landscape is on the horizon, as the minimum pension for service and age is slated to surge by 11% under the Swiss rule, reaching BGN 580 starting July 1, 2024. Alongside this increase, widow's supplements are also expected to see a rise, as per insights from "Sega." Effective January 1, there's an uptick in the maximum insurance income to BGN 3,750, marking a nearly 10% rise. However, the pension ceiling remains unchanged, capped at...

November 17, 2023
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17Nov

Japan to curb pension benefit increases for 2nd straight year

Japan is expected to curb the increase in national pension payouts for the second year in a row using an adjustment that reduces benefits when compared against rising consumer prices, Nikkei has learned. Benefits will grow by an estimated 2.6% in fiscal 2024, leaving recipients somewhat worse off after inflation. Public pension benefits in principle rise along with inflation and wage growth so that pensioners can maintain purchasing power. But the number of pensioners is swelling while the working population shrinks, putting strain on the...

November 17, 2023
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16Nov

Romania’s Senate endorses 40% pension hike as of September 2024

Romania’s Senate passed on November 14 the government’s draft law on the public pension system, according to which the pensions of over 4.7 million beneficiaries are to be recalculated according to a new formula, Bursa.ro reported. The project will also be debated by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case. The pensions will increase on average by 40% when the updated pensions are first disbursed in September 2024, according to estimates of the bill’s author, the Labour Ministry. The...

November 16, 2023
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06Nov

UK. DWP urging almost a million people to claim extra £67 each week

People are being urged to claim extra benefits worth about £67 a week from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). X (formerly Twitter ) was used to send out an alert regarding benefits and pensions on Wednesday. As part of its efforts to encourage people to check if they are eligible for financial support worth thousands of pounds each year, the DWP continues to urge people to do so. A post from its official account said: "Don't miss out on #PensionCredit....

November 6, 2023
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