July 2020

15Jul

US. Post-pandemic Retirement: Can We Build More Resilient Systems?

Reforming retirement systems is a more urgent imperative globally as the coronavirus pandemic claims jobs, lowers economic growth and investment returns, and threatens to choke funding for already underfunded pension plans. The pandemic is also hastening the imminent insolvency of the Social Security Trust Fund in the U.S., a recent report by the Penn Wharton Budget Model has found. In two recession scenarios the report laid out, the trust fund would run out of money in 2032 or 2034...

July 15, 2020
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June 2020

17Jun

Netherlands moves closer to defined contribution system

The Dutch cabinet moved closer to a new agreement with employers, employees and unions that will see the country phase-out defined benefit arrangements by 2026. Following an initial "in principle" agreement in June 2019, talks over a new retirement legislation progressed on June 12 toward a new mandatory defined contribution system. The details of the system will be outlined in new legislation, which is expected to be in place by January 2022. The new legislation is expected to state...

June 17, 2020
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May 2020

28May

Bitwage and Gemini Partner to Launch Bitcoin-Based Retirement Plan for Employees

Cryptocurrency payroll service Bitwage has announced the launch of a Bitcoin 401 (k) plan, allowing companies to give their employees a BTC-based retirement plan. In a press statement, Bitwage, which claims to have tested the product on its own employees for 10 months, said workers now have the ability to invest their pre-tax and post-tax dollars in BTC, through their employer. A 401(k) is a retirement plan that allows employees of a company to save and invest for retirement...

May 28, 2020
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27May

The Future Of Fintech: The New Normal After The Covid-19 Crisis

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK The “new normal” in banking and fintech is best understood by starting with a look back at what the “old normal” was. The Old Normal: Fintech Fetishism The Oxford dictionary defines fetishism as “worship of an inanimate object for its supposed magical powers.” That’s a good term for how many people have thought—and still think—of fintech. There’s a misguided notion held by many that fintech startups are somehow more ethical than legacy banks,...

May 27, 2020
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26May

Romania’s PM says pensions will rise “depending on economy”

Romanian prime minister Ludovic Orban confirmed that the public pensions would increase from September 1, although the economy is not going well. By how much will depend on "the state of the economy" and will be decided considering the long-term sustainability of the public pension system, he added. "The pensions will increase. By how much will they increase, this depends on the state of the economy and the [state's] actual capacity to pay pensions not only this year but...

May 26, 2020
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20May

Did Coronavirus Destroy The FIRE (Early Retirement) Movement?

If you’re a member of the FIRE movement, you may be justifiably concerned about the economic and financial turmoil of the past few months. Most members of the movement have no experience with a serious downturn, at least not since retiring early. Read also How to Motivate Young Workers to Save For Retirement If you’re not familiar with the FIRE movement, it’s a moniker for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Participants in the movement use a combination of high income, radically...

May 20, 2020
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19May

US. How Lawmakers Can Raise Teacher Pay Without Decimating Pension Funds

When the pandemic hit, school districts across the country were in the process of giving their teachers a raise. But hiking teacher salaries now will strain state pension funds at a time when the economic fallout from the coronavirus is decimating public pension systems. In March, Moody’s Investment Service said U.S. public pension funds had already suffered nearly $1 trillion in investment losses. Lawmakers can’t make lost assets reappear. But they can take a step that will reduce future...

May 19, 2020
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12May

DB Funded Status Estimates Are Mixed in April

Firms that track defined benefit (DB) plan funded status reported a range of estimates for April—from a decrease of 0.1% to an increase of 4%, depending on the group of plans being tracked. The highest increase reported was 4% (to an 80% aggregate funding level), estimated by Mercer for pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies. The firm says this was the result of an increase in equity markets, which offset a decrease in discount rates. As of April...

May 12, 2020
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12May

US. How COVID-19 Has Changed Retirement Planning

The global COVID-19 pandemic has touched virtually every aspect of our lives, not least of which is how we save for retirement. Forbes Advisor commissioned a YouGov survey of 9,675 U.S. adults to get a deeper read on how coronavirus has impacted retirement planning. The answers were surprising. With a near total lockdown on business activity in the U.S., we wanted to understand how people have begun to reorient their financial priorities. As Warren Buffett explained in the Berkshire...

May 12, 2020
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06May

What are the implications for pension funds coming out of coronavirus crisis?

By Janet Rabovsky Last August, I wrote about whether central banks were creating a financial bubble with their coordinated easing programs intended to spur economic growth and/or lift inflation. In January 2020, I wrote about the end of the economic cycle, the potential for a recession and what that might mean for positioning an investment portfolio. Little did I know, when I wrote these articles, that we would be experiencing further central bank action as a result of COVID-19,...

May 6, 2020
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