January 2022
07Jan

UK. Expanding auto-enrolment could cost employers more, experts warn

Proposed legislation expanding auto-enrolment pensions to include thousands more employees, including younger workers and lower earners, could lead to higher costs for employers, experts have warned. A bill was introduced to Parliament yesterday (5 January) that would see the minimum age for auto-enrolment drop from 22 to 18, giving employees an extra four years of savings towards their pensions. The proposal would also scrap the £10,000 minimum earning threshold that currently triggers automatic enrolment, meaning that all workers over 18 would...

January 7, 2022
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06Jan

US. What the Pension Protection Act has taught us about saving for retirement

They say that hindsight is 20/20. And as we look back on the Pension Protection Act, which was passed just over 15 years ago, it’s clear that our understanding of the law has, well, cleared up. Commendably, this legislation was crafted with the best of intentions — to help more Americans save for retirement — but its unintended consequences made a greater impact for too long. Among other provisions, the Pension Protection Act gave plan sponsors the power to automatically enroll...

January 6, 2022
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06Jan

UK. MP seeks to extend auto-enrolment to 18-year-olds

Proposals that would see working 18-year-olds and low earners automatically save into a pension are being put before parliament this week. Read also UK. Expanding auto-enrolment could cost employers more, experts warn Conservative MP Richard Holden tabled a motion in the House of Commons on Wednesday to extend auto-enrolment in this way. Read also UK. FTSE 350 DB pension deficit falls by £28bn; ‘looming risks’ ahead The proposal looks to boost the pension pots of 18 to 22-year-olds and those who either work...

January 6, 2022
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December 2021
16Dec

UK. WPC launches inquiry into saving for later life

The Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) has launched the third and final part of its inquiry into the impact of the pension freedoms and protection of savers, focusing on what needs to be done to help people plan and save for retirement. The inquiry, which will be hearing evidence until 2 February 2022, will consider whether households have adequate pension savings and how the government can improve member outcomes. In particular, it will consider issues around auto-enrolment, retirement income targets and...

December 16, 2021
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November 2021
26Nov

Retirement Confidence Survey

By Employee Benefit Research Institute & Greenwald Research   The RCS is the longest-running survey of its kind, measuring worker and retiree confidence about retirement, and is conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research. The 2021 survey of 3,017 Americans was conducted online January 5 through January 25, 2021. All respondents were ages 25 or older. The survey included 1,507 workers and 1,510 retirees — which includes an oversample of roughly 500 completed surveys among Black Americans (252 workers and 253 retirees) and roughly...

November 26, 2021
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25Nov

US. How The Pandemic Has Impacted Retirement Confidence

In the 2021 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, 50% of workers and 72% of retirees say the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed their confidence in achieving a secure retirement. Still, 33% of workers and 25% of retirees say it’s made them somewhat or significantly less confident they will have enough to live comfortably throughout retirement. Among workers who feel less confident, 3 in 10 say the pandemic has negatively impacted...

November 25, 2021
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24Nov

US Department of Labor recovered more than $2.4B to employee benefit plans, participants, beneficiaries in fiscal year 2021

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has recovered more than $2.4 billion in direct payments to plans, participants and beneficiaries in fiscal year 2021. In FY 2021, EBSA closed 1,072 civil investigations with 741 of those investigations resulting in monetary results for plans or other corrective actions. The investigations led to 16,024 terminated vested participants in defined benefit plans collecting benefits of $1.548 billion owed to them. Terminated vested results represent a combination of the present values...

November 24, 2021
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24Nov

No pension. No savings. No future. No wonder we’re betting the house on crypto

By Rohit Thawani I must begin this article by stating that the information I’m providing is not financial advice. I think I legally have to say that because I heard it on a podcast or whatever, I really don’t know. But, if you’re taking crypto advice from me, that might be your first problem. It all started with a missed shot. Let’s go back to 2004, when I invested my $5,000 life savings into Apple, a company I truly believed in. It...

November 24, 2021
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22Nov

Pension funds can steer next level growth and development in Nigeria

In retrospect, it is widely attested that an active pension ecosystem effectively congregating players – a regulator, administrators, custodians, public and private sector employers and working-class persons across several age groups – is well established in Nigeria. The maturity of this industry relative to more advanced economies of the world like the US or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nonetheless, the pension industry globally has displayed great resilience, navigating the turbulence and whirlwinds: macroeconomic shocks, economic downturns,...

November 22, 2021
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17Nov

Nigeria. Pension schemes subscribers increased by 3.6% year-on-year in 2020 – PenCom

The National Pension Commission, PenCom, has disclosed that the total membership of the pension Schemes increased by 3.6% from 8.95 million from December 2019 to 9.3 million in December 2020. This is according to the Commission’s recently released 2020 Annual Report. Growth in the industry is said to have been triggered by factors such as increase in the level of compliance by the public and private sectors owing to steps taken by the commission to improve compliance and coverage, as well...

November 17, 2021
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