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...
Pensioners in Greece are struggling to make ends meet as galloping inflation and high energy prices take a toll on household budgets. After they lost an average of 25 percent of their income during the Greek debt crisis-related bailouts (2010-2018), the recent jumps in food and heating costs take their anxiety up a notch. During a recent interview granted to Xinhua in a cafe in central Athens, Christos Vassilopoulos, 82, was adding up his monthly bills while sipping his coffee. The...
Italy’s pensions will increase by 7.3% from next year to keep up with rising inflation, Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday. The boost to retirement payments, which is automatic in contrast to wage hikes, will bring relief to households hit by soaring energy costs in the European Union’s third-biggest economy but may further complicate the European Central Bank’s efforts to rein in consumer prices. Overall, spending on pensions will increase by more than €50 billion ($50.4 billion) through 2025, the...
Britain is expected to increase state pension and welfare payments in line with inflation in next week's budget, the Times newspaper reported. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announce the increases to ensure that the Nov. 17 budget is seen as fair and compassionate, the report said. The government will set out its fiscal plans in an effort to rebuild investor confidence after a "mini-budget" earlier this year caused borrowing costs to surge. New finance minister Jeremy Hunt will seek...
By Alicia H. Munnell In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Elected officials, academic experts, and the media alike have pointed to funding shortfalls with alarm, expressing concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause. Alicia H. Munnell draws on...
By Oliver Giesecke & Joshua D. Rauh Unfunded public pension obligations represent the largest liability for state and local governments in the United States. As of fiscal year 2021, the total reported unfunded liabilities of these plans is $1.076 trillion. In contrast, the market value of the unfunded liability is approximately $6.501 trillion. As a result, the reported funding ratio of 82.5% falls to 43.8% under a market-based valuation. The market values reflect the fact that accrued pension promises are...
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...
The Forum for Public Sector Associations and Unions has asked the government not to apply a “haircut” to Tier 2 Pension Funds as part of a “probable” debt restructuring programme. The Forum said it had taken note of media reports suggesting that about 94 per cent of Tier 2 Pension contributions placed in government securities might be affected by the said debt restructuring agenda. At a press conference in Accra today, Thursday, October 20, 2022, Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, Chairman of...
The prime minister has resigned after 44 days in the role. In a statement outside 10 Downing Street today (October 20), Liz Truss said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and political instability…I cannot deliver the mandate.” Read also U.K. Pensions Doom Loop May Not Be Over Truss was told to quit by senior Tory members, according to the FT, the day after the home secretary, Suella Braverman, quit the government and used her resignation letter to issue...
Number 10 has refused to commit to the state pension triple lock, after Liz Truss promised to keep the measure just weeks ago. Truss’ spokesperson refused four times to say Truss would uphold the triple lock, which would ensure state pension payments stay in line with inflation next year. New chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned yesterday that public spending is not going to rise by “as much as people hoped” and he today told cabinet ministers to “find efficiencies” in their departments. Hunt...
