June 2020
17Jun

Countless South Africans are owed pension benefits, and yet claiming is a constant battle

While few immediately associate youth issues with pensions, the reality is that many young people actively participate in and even depend on the pensions industry. This includes their participation in the ongoing struggle of millions to access more than R42-billion in pension benefits owed to individuals and families. Young people interact with the pensions industry in various ways. Some in formal employment already contribute to a pension or benefit fund or are considering which fund to choose. Those counted...

June 17, 2020
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17Jun

Ghana. Public sector pensioners call for better packages from SSNIT

Scores of pensioners and public sector workers have expressed dismay at the pension package offered by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) saying they would embark on industrial action if the anomaly was not rectified. “There will be total lockdown of public sector activities on June 25, if SSNIT does not follow the correct procedure and formula in paying past credits to pensioners,” Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, Chairman of the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pensions Schemes,...

June 17, 2020
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09Jun

US. Pandemic creates pension plan tension: Take the lump sum or trust lifetime payments

One of the risks that comes with pension plans may be looming larger than usual. As many companies work to regain their financial footing in the midst of continuing economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a retiring worker’s decision to take either a lump sum or lifetime payments from their pension could boil down to one factor: whether they think the employer will be able to meet its long-term commitments. “That’s one of the biggest considerations that employees...

June 9, 2020
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04Jun

U.S. clears private equity as investment option for retirement plans

The U.S. Department of Labor issued guidance on Wednesday that allows private equity investments to be offered to U.S. retirement plans as part of diversified investment funds, a move that the leveraged buyout industry has long called for. Employee-sponsored defined benefit plans, such as the pension funds of public sector workers, have long been allowed to include buyout funds in their investment portfolios, turning private equity into a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Read also US pension plans warned they will run...

June 4, 2020
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March 2020

28Mar

The Economics of Ageing—What Do You Face?

By Ian M. McDonald The economics of ageing is the study of economic decision‐making by individuals and government aimed at fostering well‐being in old age. These decisions include preparing for old age and dealing with the risks of old age. The risks are substantial. Using the life‐cycle model, this article considers the risks for well‐being that people face in retirement and the role of government and private insurance in meeting those risks. The perspective of the life‐cycle model is...

March 28, 2020
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02Mar

New Zealand. Reverse mortgages boom as pensioners opt to put retirement on the house

Low interest rates and high house prices are prompting more retirees to take out a reverse mortgage against their homes. Reverse mortgages - primarily offered in New Zealand by Heartland Bank - allow people to borrow a sum of money against their houses. They do not have to make any repayments until the house is sold. But interest accrues and compounds while the loan is not being repaid, so the amount that finally falls due can be a lot...

March 2, 2020
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February 2020

28Feb

Poverty Reduction Among Older People Through Pensions: A Comparative Analysis

By Olaf van Vliet, Koen Caminada, Kees Goudswaard, Jinxian Wang Given the ageing of the populations in many Western countries, older people constitute an important group in the analysis of poverty. In this chapter, we examine the poverty incidence among older people across LIS countries, relying on data from the Luxembourg Income Study. The data show that poverty rates are substantially reduced by redistribution via tax/benefit systems (mainly via pension benefits). Furthermore, the data show that old-age poverty rates...

February 28, 2020
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20Feb

Which countries’ workers spend the longest (and shortest) in retirement?

Retirement lengths vary by country. There are now more people over the age of 65 than there are under the age of five. The World Economic Forum says pension savings must be incentivized to ensure better retirement outcomes. For the first time, there are now more people over the age of 65 than there are under the age of five, a World Economic Forum report has found. As a result, there are fewer young people to support the growing...

February 20, 2020
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15Feb

Target Date Funds and Portfolio Choice in 401(k) Plans

By Olivia S. Mitchell, Stephen P. Utkus Target date funds in corporate retirement plans grew from $5B in 2000 to $734B in 2018, partly because federal regulation sanctioned these as default investments in automatic enrollment plans. We show that adopters delegated pension investment decisions to fund managers selected by plan sponsors. Including these funds in retirement saving menus raised equity shares, boosted bond exposures, curtailed cash/company stock holdings, and reduced idiosyncratic risk. The adoption of low-cost target date funds...

February 15, 2020
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January 2020

28Jan

UK. DWP publishes expat pension guidance ahead of Brexit

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that the UK state pension will be protected by the Withdrawal Agreement in new guidance examining the rights for UK nationals after the UK has left the EU. The guidance confirmed that UK nationals living in an EEA state or Switzerland by 31 December 2020 will be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. The UK state pension will be uprated every year that an individual continues to live there, regardless of...

January 28, 2020
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