September 2022
20Sep

UK. Early pensions access could encourage people to save, says ACA

Younger generations could be encouraged to save more for the long-term if the state allowed them to dip into their retirement savings early in order to cover urgent essential expenditure. This is according to evidence submitted by the Association of Consulting Actuaries for a Treasury Select Committee inquiry examining whether the current suite of tax reliefs represent good value for money. The ACA said too many people currently do not have a cushion of adequate immediate-access savings that would cover unexpected...

September 20, 2022
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14Sep

Hispanic Americans deserve retirement security

By Maria French Originating in 1968 and enacted into law in 1988, National Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate Hispanic Americans’ history and contributions and the influence they have had on American culture and society and to consider the future of the Latino community. Throughout modern history, Hispanic labor leaders like Cesar Chavez and Santiago Iglesias Pantin have contributed vastly to the labor movement by organizing workers and advocating for better pay and working conditions. Today, Americans with ancestry...

September 14, 2022
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13Sep

UK. Opperman: 12mn people are under-saving for retirement

Pensions minister Guy Opperman has told MPs that around 12mn people are under-saving for their retirement, accounting for 38 per cent of the nation’s working age population. The revelation surfaced in a letter to Work and Pensions Committee chair Stephen Timms, whose committee is carrying out an inquiry into “saving for later life”, which is examining pensions adequacy, including specific focus on the gender pensions gap and gig economy workers. Timms had asked the pensions minister, in a letter dated July...

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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August 2022
31Aug

UK. Pensions industry urged to join forces to address adequacy concerns

The pensions industry has been urged to work together to reach a consensus on how to deal with the issue of under saving, after a report from B&CE found that 61 per cent of households and nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of individuals aren’t saving enough for retirement. The analysis, based on data from the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey, found that 68 per cent of Generation X workers aren’t saving enough, rising to 76 per cent amongst Millenials,...

August 31, 2022
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30Aug

UK. Workers cut pension contributions amid cost of living crisis

Workers are leaving pension schemes or cutting their contributions, trade unions say, as the cost of living crisis prompts desperate measures that will reduce their retirement funds. The warning comes as UK inflation is predicted to hit 18.6 per cent, the highest rate among larger western economies, and as real wages fall at the fastest rate for at least two decades. The Trades Union Congress, the UK’s main movement for organised labour, said a growing number of its members in the...

August 30, 2022
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30Aug

Retirement Security: Recent Efforts by Other Countries to Expand Plan Coverage and Facilitate Savings

By GAO Ensuring retirement income security for the aging U.S. workforce presents many challenges. People are increasingly responsible for their retirement planning, and as they live longer, they may outlive their savings. We reviewed steps other countries have taken to promote retirement plan savings. International experts informed us of several efforts, including auto-enrollment—which can increase plan participation for eligible workers but may not reach others, such as part-time or self-employed workers. Our review of these and other efforts can inform U.S. policymakers...

August 30, 2022
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25Aug

UK. Cost-of-living crisis could slash pensions by quarter

The youngest UK workers could see their retirement savings cut by a quarter if they were to reduce their pension contributions by 2% in response to the cost-of-living crisis. That is according to new analysis by consultancy firm Broadstone, which found that 25-year-olds could lose up to £60,000 of their pension savings if a ‘temporary’ cutback in contributions becomes permanent. This is based on 2% reduction in employee contributions – taking total contributions down from 8% to 6%, assuming that 3%...

August 25, 2022
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10Aug

UK. Pensions: More than 1 million workers not participating in workplace scheme

Around a fifth of workers at small medium sized (SMEs) enterprises that are eligible for a workplace pension are not participating in schemes, a new research shows. Analysis of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data from Broadstone found nearly 1.2 million SME employees could be falling through the "pension accumulation gap". Read also U.K. pension regulator calling on plan sponsors to support pension scam prevention strategy  It also found pension participation is "stalling" at SMEs, warning employers at these companies to...

August 10, 2022
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08Aug

UK. How to help the self-employed boost their pension savings

Just prior to the pandemic the self-employed made up about one in seven of the workforce, and while that is likely to have dipped somewhat through the pandemic, this remains much larger than a generation ago, driven by growth in self-employment in the decade after the financial crisis. Despite the growth in the number of people who are self-employed over the years, pension savings for this group have continued to fall. A recent report from the Office for National Statistics paints...

August 8, 2022
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