November 2022

How much does Europe spend on pensions?

Iceland Iceland’s pension system is rated by CNBC as the best in the world and yet remarkably it only spends 2.6% of GDP on retirees, the smallest amount in Europe. Pensioners are entitled to the full ellilífeyrir payment if they’ve lived in Iceland for 40 years. Retirees can apply for a basic pension, a pension supplement and a household supplement and all amounts are based on income. The regular pension age is 67, unless you have worked at sea for...

China. Authorities release guideline for private pension plans

Five central departments released a guideline for the implementation of private pension plans on Friday, in an effort to improve the nation's pension system. The guideline, jointly released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration, said individuals joining the private pension plan should first open an account at State-run social security platforms or those operated by commercial banks and then open a capital account at an authorized commercial bank...

Chile’s Boric announces plan to end private pension system

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday announced his long-awaited plan to reform the country’s controversial private pension system. In a televised address, Boric said he was planning to end Chile’s Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) system in lieu of a new private-public social security system that would see new contributions from employers and the state. “The AFPs, in this reform, are finished,” Boric said, adding that new private entities would still be allowed to invest pension funds, but there will also be...

October 2022

The politics and economics of pension privatization in latin america

By Raúl Madrir This research note seeks to explain 'lvhya large nUl11ber of Latin Atnerican countries have privatized their pension systel11s in recent years. It argues that the privatization schelnes are a response to the severe capital shortages that have plagued their countries intennittently in recent years rather than to the financial problelns facing son1e of the pension systelns. The likelihood of pension privatization, 1 argue, is determined in large part by the vulnerability of countries to capital shortages as...

Tax cuts for China’s private pension scheme likely to lure participants as financial institutions vie for market share

Tax on withdrawal of funds is down to 3 per cent from 7.5 per cent, a move likely to drive participation according to analysts However, the new tax rates may have little immediate impact given the relatively small size of the taxpayer population New favourable tax policies will encourage more people to participate in China’s forthcoming private pension scheme, analysts said, as Beijing strives to ease the financial strain of a rapidly ageing population. The tax cuts, announced last week, may also...

September 2022

China to allow deferrals of gov’t-levied charges, tax concessions for private pensions

China will allow market entities to defer payments of certain government-levied charges to further reduce financial burdens, and offer tax concessions for private pension schemes, according to a State Council executive meeting. At the meeting, chaired by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Monday, decisions were also made to enhance government services, ensure a bumper autumn harvest with improved rural infrastructure, and promote the development of the self-employment sector. Payments of certain government-levied charges and deposits will be temporarily deferred to further...

UK pension funds lose case to block RPI inflation change

A British court on Thursday rejected an application from major pension funds to overturn authorities' plans to reform the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation. "The application for judicial review is dismissed," London's High Court of Justice said in its judgment. The pension funds, including those of BT (BT.L), Marks and Spencer (MKS.L) and Ford (F.N), had brought the case for judicial review against the UK Statistics Authority regulator and Britain's finance minister. RPI, which dates back to the 1940s and...

After union’s strike, Mexico’s Telmex offers better pension plan for new hires

Union workers for Telmex, the Mexican telecommunications firm controlled by the family of tycoon Carlos Slim, on Wednesday said they were weighing a new offer from employers that included improvements to retirement benefits for new staff. In a company document shared with union workers and seen by Reuters, new hires would upon retirement get a pension worth 100% of their final net pay, determined by their job category, becoming eligible after 35 years of work and once they turn 65. That...

August 2022

China should encourage private pension accounts

By Jiang Xueqing China should encourage individuals to open personal accounts and choose investment vehicles under a private pension plan rolled out by the country, and the plan should be better connected with basic old-age insurance and occupational pensions to complement the current guaranteed retirement income system, industry experts said. The nation unveiled the framework of a private pension plan earlier this year amid increasing efforts to address the needs of its rapidly aging population. At the end of last year,...

Inequality of Opportunity and Health Performance of Private Health Insurance — Empirical Evidence from China

By Rui Li, Minxue Jia & Su Yang Background: The role of private health insurance in protecting the population's health is an essential global concern. However, the for-profit nature of private health insurance has led to inequality of opportunity for coverage, which has implications for the health performance of insurance.Method: This article uses the 2018 China Urban Statistics Yearbook and cross-sectional data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) of 2015 and 2018. Based on the Heckman two-step...