January 2024

How Gen Z is navigating the world of wealth

More than 50 percent of the world’s population is under the age of 30. But raging global inflation means most of Gen Z, born in the late 1990s to late 2010s, can barely afford to pay rent and food bills. However, Gen Z is starting to harness its increasing buying muscle (see Fig 1) and the way they view their financial choices is different to previous generations. So, who are Gen Z listening to and trusting? Dr Michael Harrison is...

November 2023

The Impact of Population Aging on Financial Services and Economic Development

By Hongyu Fang With the increasing aging population, it has had a profound impact on the financial services industry and economy. This study aims to explore the effect of population aging on the financial service industry and economy and propose corresponding countermeasures and suggestions. The aging population has brought challenges to the financial services industry. The increase in the elderly population has led to a rise in demand for financial products and services. Financial institutions innovate and develop financial products...

June 2023

Australia. The positive super and tax changes from July 1

All Aussie employees will receive 0.5% more as their superannuation guarantee lifts to 11% of their salary from July 1, up from 10.5%. The biggest winners will be employees on award wages or enterprise agreements negotiated by a union because the superannuation will be paid on top of their wage. For example, an employee on a wage who is paid $100,000 plus superannuation is currently receiving $10,500 into their superannuation but from July 1, they will be paid $11,000 into...

May 2023

Workplace sidecar saving in action

By Annick Kuipers, Jo Phillips, Will Sandbrook & Emma Stockdale As a concept, sidecar saving is designed to work with human cognitive and behavioural biases, by sequencing people’s saving to boost their financial resilience – by first, in the short term, building liquid savings, and then, for retirement, increasing contributions to pension saving. We knew immediately that this idea had the potential to address two of the biggest financial challenges for low- to moderateincome households in the UK: 1) not...

August 2022

South Africa. One simple decision can cost you 41% of your retirement

On the back of the widely known statistic that over 90% of South Africans are not in a position to retire comfortably, FNB Employee Benefits has also noted a growing trend amongst SME employees not fully understanding or saving enough for retirement. “Although up to 70% of our commercial banking employers currently don’t offer formal benefits to their staff members, the small and medium businesses that do offer these benefits are concerned at the low rate of retirement saving from...

July 2022

US. Gen Z is stashing away 14% of income for retirement — more than older generations, study shows

Young adults may be hearing the save-for-retirement drumbeat loud and clear, a new study suggests. Generation Z workers — defined in the study as those ages 18 to 25 — are socking away, on average, 14% of income for their golden years, according to new research from BlackRock. That compares with 12% for their older counterparts: millennials (ages 26-42), Gen Xers (ages 43-55) and baby boomers (ages 56 to 75). At the same time, the total share of Americans who think...

June 2022

UK. Pensions: Workers not saving enough for retirement as cost of living crisis bites

Britons who pay into a workplace pension are not saving enough to get by when they retire but can’t afford to contribute more because of the cost of living squeeze, MPS have been told Anna Mowbray, research and policy officer at Community Trade Union, told the work and pensions committee that workers are worried about their future pension but the biggest concern now is facing soaring energy and food bills. “Given the current cost of living crisis that people are facing...

May 2022

Survey finds 56% of U.S. employees expecting less than $500K in retirement savings

While U.S. employees say it takes $1.1 million in savings, on average, to retire comfortably, 56 per cent expect to have less than $500,000 saved, according to a new survey by Schroders. It found 36 per cent of respondents expect to save less than $250,000 and only 24 per cent expect to save $1 million ahead of retirement. Among respondents nearing retirement age, more than half (54 per cent) said they’ll have less than $250,000 saved for retirement, while 22...

December 2021

These Retirement Savers Are Making a Big Mistake

Investing for retirement is crucial to building a nest egg that can provide financial security in your later years. Unfortunately, many people who are investing are making a big mistake with the money they're saving for the future. In fact, recent research from Fidelity found around a quarter of all employees who are invested in workplace retirement accounts are taking on more risk than they should. Among the 24.2% of investors in 2021 who are over-exposed to risk, there's one generation that's...

November 2021

Waiting to save: The cost of delaying your retirement funding

Putting enough money away for a comfortable retirement is a daunting task and, while we all know that starting early is critical, the numbers are alarming. Statistics from the 2021 10X South African Retirement Reality Report which has just been released are frightening. Around half the people surveyed indicated that they are making no provision for retirement at all, while the other half indicated they have some form of savings plan in place. 74% of survey respondents accept that...