June 2024
26Jun

Ghana. SSNIT drags railways MD to court for nonpayment of contributions

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) office in Takoradi has dragged the Ghana Railways Corporation (GRC) and its Managing Director, Michael Adjei Anyetei, to court for nonpayment of social security contributions of the entity’s workers to the tune of GH¢4.13 million. The Circuit Court presided over by Araba Nunoo, issued the warrant for the arrest of the managing director after the SSNIT Prosecutor, Ann-Marie Annan, applied for a bench warrant to that effect. The prosecutor told the court that...

June 26, 2024
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19Jun

UK. ‘Serious disparity’ around retirement savings of people identifying as LGBTQ+

One in four (25%) people who identify as LGBTQ+ are not saving for their retirement, a survey has found. The research was released by Scottish Widows to coincide with Pride Month in June. It also found that just under a fifth (18%) of people who do not identify as LGBTQ+ report they are saving nothing towards their retirement. People who are LGBTQ+ were also less likely in the survey to say that they have taken financial advice. One in nine (11%) people surveyed who identify as...

June 19, 2024
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18Jun

UK. DC contributions exceed DB pensions for the first time

A report published today by Barnett Waddingham (BW), the leading professional services consultancy shows that for the first time, contributions paid by the FTSE 350 defined benefit (DB) scheme sponsors into defined contribution (DC) schemes exceeded those paid into DB schemes. BW conducted an analysis of the FTSE 350 companies with DB pension schemes over the last twelve months to 31 May 2024. The data reveals that contributions totalling £8.1 billion were paid into DB schemes (consisting of £4.7bn of...

June 18, 2024
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13Jun

UK. Auto-enrolment ambitions must go above and beyond just pensions

If I were to point to the most sensible decision made in pensions policy in the last 20 years, the introduction of auto-enrolment (AE) in 2012 would no doubt top the list. In one swoop, the mandatory law made saving for retirement the norm and improved the chances of maintaining a decent standard of living in later life for millions of employees. Of course, AE was never supposed to be the last word. It was meant to be the beginning of...

June 13, 2024
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12Jun

Kenya. State fails to remit Sh220m pension for new employees

The government failed to remit Sh219.9 million in its share of contributions to the Public Service Superannuation Fund (PSSF) in the financial year ending June 2023, revealing emerging risks for the recently established pension scheme. PSSF, which commenced operations in January of 2021, is a defined contribution scheme under which civil servants pay towards their retirement benefits which are topped up by exchequer contributions. Civil servants contribute 7.5 percent of their gross salaries from five and two percent previously while the...

June 12, 2024
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11Jun

US. Young Savers Report Higher Confidence in Retirement Planning

A new report reveals positive momentum by Gen Z and Millennials in seizing the initiative early to get their savings on track. According to Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s (GSAM) “Diving Deeper into the Financial Vortex: The Generational Divide,” Gen Z and Millennials are off to a good start, but they apparently are already feeling the effects of competing financial priorities and may need some help with retirement planning assumptions. The report, which is a supplement to the firm’s annual retirement report,...

June 11, 2024
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06Jun

UK. Pension pot of £1.3m needed for comfortable early retirement

A pension pot of £1.3m is now required to fund a comfortable early retirement at 55-years-old, analysis from Interactive Investor has revealed. The findings come as industry rumours suggest a possible return of the pension lifetime allowance, which was formerly £1,073,100, ahead of the general election. New calculations by the investment platform found that for a comfortable retirement at 55-years-old, £1.3m is required with 2 per cent inflation factored in, if they retire in 2024. This is an extra £495,000 compared...

June 6, 2024
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May 2024
31May

Retirement Survey & Insights Report 2023. Diving Deeper into the Financial Vortex

By Goldman Sachs Plotting a path through the Financial Vortex is essential for an employee’s retirement journey and can be achieved with help from their employer. There is no defined path or solution that solves retirement for all individuals, yet the challenge of retirement saving presents employers with an opportunity to provide employees more integrated, personalized, effective solutions to help their retirement goals. Get the report here

May 31, 2024
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30May

This retirement planning gap is ‘hidden in plain sight,’ Harvard professor says

For many people, retirement planning is all about money: how to invest, how much to save, when to claim Social Security, how to best withdraw from accounts. Finances in retirement are an acute fear. About 2 in 3 people worry more about running out of money than about death, according to a recent poll by Allianz Life. Yet, there's a notable lack of attention and concern given to the social aspect of retirement, experts said. It's a facet of retirement planning that's almost "hidden in plain sight," said Robert...

May 30, 2024
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29May

The world’s largest pension fund may be running dry

A population equaling the size of the entire U.S. will retire from China's workforce by 2035, and the country isn't reproducing sufficiently to mend its fraying social safety net Fifty-eight-year-old Li Zhong, a traditional-Chinese-medicine salesman, retires in two years and doesn't fret about his pension. It's his daughter he is worried about. He recently took out a mortgage to help her buy a house in a Shanghai suburb. China's housing bubble burst in 2021, and prices are at their lowest levels...

May 29, 2024
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