February 2024
01Feb

South Africa. 2023 was a somewhat better year for salaries and private pensions

The BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index (BTPI), which tracks the average nominal take-home pay among approximately 4 million salary earners in South Africa, ended the 2023 year on a slightly better note as salaries and private pensions performed slightly better than in the previous year. “The average nominal take-home pay was 5.6% higher at R15,409 in December 2023 compared to the R14,596 recorded in December 2022,” says Shergeran Naidoo, BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements. However, the average nominal take-home pay in 2023...

February 1, 2024
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January 2024
08Jan

The Four Headwinds of Retirement and How to Combat Them

Dipping your toes in the fresh waters of an exotic beach. Enjoying a gorgeous sunset and your favorite drink as you relax on the back patio. Getting lost in a painting because you have all the time in the world to perfect every brushstroke. Spending more time with family and friends. These are the types of things you dream of indulging in when you retire. You don’t picture worrying about how much money you have in the bank or trying...

January 8, 2024
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December 2023
15Dec

Pensions at a Glance 2023: OECD and G20 Indicators

By OECD The 2023 edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD countries over the last two years. It includes a special chapter focusing on pension provisions for hazardous or arduous work. It describes existing rules, characterises recent policy trends and assesses the design and functioning of early-retirement rules for hazardous or arduous jobs given changing working conditions and ageing pressure on pension systems. This edition also updates information on the key features of pension provision in...

December 15, 2023
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12Dec

Managing inflation expectations may be tougher in aging societies: Expert

Monetary policymakers in aging economies may be perceived to have a comparatively lesser influence on the public’s inflation expectations when compared to those in nations with a different age structure, according to a leading scholar in investor behavior. Speaking at the 2023 Annual Conference on Asia-Pacific Financial Markets (CAFM) held in Seoul on Friday to Saturday, Professor Stefan Nagel from the University of Chicago said that investors adjust their inflation expectations based on experience rather than the language of monetary...

December 12, 2023
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08Dec

Money Illusion in Retirement Savings with a Minimum Guarantee

By Catherine Donnelly, Gaurav Khemka & William Lim We investigate the impact of money illusion on the investment strategy and retirement outcomes of pre-retirees. Money illusion refers to the tendency of individuals to overlook the effects of inflation and focus on nominal rather than real terms. We solve and compare the optimal investment strategies for a pre-retiree who exhibits money illusion and aims to maximize the expected power utility of wealth at retirement, subject to a minimum guarantee constraint. While...

December 8, 2023
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November 2023
29Nov

Retirement Planning in a Time of Inflation and High Interest Rates

Retirement planning can be a complex puzzle to solve, with multiple pieces that need to align for a comfortable retirement. In recent times, two significant factors have emerged to challenge this balance: rising interest rates and inflation. In this article, we'll discuss the impact of these economic realities on retirement planning for individuals and the strategies we recommend at Retirement Planners of America. The debt-free retirement goal At Retirement Planners of America, we tell our clients, “When our client retires, so should their debt be retired.”...

November 29, 2023
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10Nov

The world’s largest pension funds – 2023

By Thinking Ahead Institute  The global top 300 pension funds is an annual study conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute, in conjunction with Pensions and Investments. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on how the characteristics of these top funds have changed. Key findings Assets Under Management (AUM) of the top 300 pension funds total US$20.6 trillion, having reduced by 12.9% in 2022, down from 8.9% growth the previous year Volatility and uncertainty in...

November 10, 2023
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08Nov

UK. Pensions notably excluded from King’s Speech

Speaking at the 2023 State Opening of Parliament this morning, the King did not mention any new pensions legislation to build on chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Mansion House reforms announced earlier this year. Reforms included the creation of the Mansion House Compact, alongside several consultations on issues such as defined benefit (DB) superfunds, deferred small pots, collective defined contribution and a value money for money framework. ‘Disappointed' The pensions industry has aired its disappointment over the lack of mention of pensions in the monarch's first King's Speech. Aegon pensions director Steven Cameron...

November 8, 2023
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October 2023
19Oct

US. Inflation Spurs Rethink of Retirement Savings Strategy, Survey Shows

Two-thirds of Those Surveyed Aren't Confident They Will Be Able to Retire When They Want Inflation is creating more worries for retirement savers, with many now changing how they are saving and investing to meet those goals, a new survey shows. Persistently higher prices from inflation is leading 60% of retirement plan participants to think differently about retirement, according to the 2023 Global Retirement Survey from MFS Investment Management. Three-in-four said they now need to save more for retirement than they originally thought,...

October 19, 2023
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13Oct

UK. Govt urged to using ‘more timely’ data for state pension triple lock

The government should consider using more timely inflation and earnings growth data as part of long-term plans for the state pension triple lock, Aegon has said. The September inflation figure that could be used for the state pension increase in April will be announced next week (18 October), although it is expected to be below the 8.5 per cent earnings growth figure for May-July, which was published in August. While Aegon acknowledged that state pension rises need to be confirmed early...

October 13, 2023
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