September 2022
13Sep

U.S. This is how much Social Security benefits are likely to rise next year

By Brett Arends Social Security beneficiaries could be looking at a very welcome bump of 8.7% in their benefits starting in January next year, if current trends continue. That hike would be the biggest since 1981, and would be worth an extra $144 a month for a retiree on the average monthly benefit of $1,656. These numbers are the latest projection from the Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit, and are based on the government’s inflation data over recent months. These are only projections,...

September 13, 2022
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09Sep

Rise of DC poses risks and challenges for future pensioners

Increasing reliance on defined contribution savings means the needs of future pensioners will be markedly different from those of previous generations, placing greater emphasis on the need for support, according to a new report. The report from the Pensions Policy Institute, published on September 8, explained that increasing reliance on DC pots as opposed to older defined benefit schemes results in “more complex” retirement finances that future pensioners will have to manage, and that these will require more active engagement...

September 9, 2022
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09Sep

Are Retirement Planning Tools Substitutes or Complements to Financial Capability?

By Gopi Shah Goda, Matthew Levy, Colleen Flaherty Manchester, Aaron Sojourner, Joshua Tasoff, Jiusi Xiao We conducted a randomized controlled trial to understand how a web-based retirement saving calculator affects workers’ retirement-savings decisions. In both conditions, the calculator projected workers’ retirement income goal. In the treatment condition, it additionally projected retirement income based on defined-contribution savings, prominently displayed the gap between projected goal and actual retirement income, and allowed users to interactively explore how alternative, future contribution choices would affect...

September 9, 2022
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08Sep

Jamaica. JMEA members to access VM pension scheme, special offerings

VM Pensions Management Limited has inked a deal which will see the business supporting member companies and employees of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) get access to an approved retirement scheme (ARS) and a suite of other specially curated offerings. Through the partnership, the association’s members will benefit from enrollment in an affordable pension scheme, with premiums starting as low as $1,000; reduced rates and special access to corporate financing solutions, as well as financial coaching for companies...

September 8, 2022
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02Sep

How Gloomy is the Retirement Outlook for Millennials?

By Karen Smith, Richard W. Johnson Social, economic, demographic, and public policy shifts have made Millennial retirement security a pressing concern. Many recent trends threaten financial security for future generations of retirees. Male labor force participation pre-age 55 has slumped, men’s median earnings have stagnated, marriage and homeownership rates are falling, debt levels remain high, and out-of-pocket spending on medical and long-term services and supports are rising. Other trends are more encouraging, such as women’s higher earnings, the rise in...

September 2, 2022
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August 2022
30Aug

US. Q2 Market Losses Hard on Self-Directed 401k Balances

Self-directed 401k investors’ balances declined with the market in the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest edition of the Charles Schwab SDBA Indicators Report, an industry-leading benchmark on retirement plan participant investment activity within self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBAs). The report, released today, found the average account balance across all participant accounts finished at $283,485 for the second quarter ending June 30, an 18.58% decrease year-over-year and a 14.62% decrease from the first quarter of 2022. The Q2 SDBA Indicators...

August 30, 2022
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23Aug

Ghana: Pension Scheme Provides More Reward – SSNIT DG

The Director General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr John Ofori-Tenkorang, has argued that the pension scheme provided more reward to clients than they invest during their days of active service. He lauded the scheme as generous and said although workers contributed 11 per cent of their basic salary, the SSNIT scheme guaranteed members up to 60 percent of the average of their best three years' salaries and paid them monthly pensions till they were no...

August 23, 2022
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19Aug

A Game-Theoretic Model of the Consumer Behavior under Pay-What-You-Want Pricing Strategy

By Vahid Ashrafimoghari & Jordan W. Suchow In a digital age where companies face rapid changes in technology, consumer trends, and business environments, there is a critical need for continual revision of the business model in response to disruptive innovation. A pillar of innovation in business practices is the adoption of novel pricing schemes, such as Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW). In this paper, we employed game theory and behavioral economics to model consumers’ behavior in response to a PWYW pricing strategy where...

August 19, 2022
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19Aug

Changes in Retirement Savings During the COVID Pandemic

By Elena Derby, Lucas Goodman, Kathleen Mackie & Jacob Mortenson This paper documents changes in retirement saving patterns at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We construct a large panel of US tax data, including tens of millions of person-year observations, and measure retirement savings contributions and withdrawals. We use these data to document several important changes in retirement savings patterns during the pandemic relative to prior years, and we compare these results to changes in savings patterns during the...

August 19, 2022
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12Aug

The Vanguard Participant Saving Rate Index

By Jeffrey W. Clark & Jean A. Young Saving rates are fundamental to retirement wealth accumulations. In this paper, we assess whether Vanguard defined contribution plan participants are saving optimally in their current workplace retirement plan. ● We find that 7 in 10 defined contribution plan participants are saving at rates that would enable them to attain a 65% replacement rate in retirement. Saving rates include both the employee elective contributions and any employer contributions. ● We find that a modest increase...

August 12, 2022
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