February 2017

Two thirds of homeowners want to downsize at retirement, says NOW: Pensions

“Over the next ten years, we estimate that 7.7million* people will retire. Our recent research** revealed that downsizing their property is the preferred route for two thirds (63%) of non-retired UK homeowners to release their property wealth. Two in five (39%) agree that it’s important to have the option to access their housing wealth. “To be able to downsize, there needs to be enough suitable homes by the time they retire, of the types of homes that retired people want...

Los traspasos entre las AFPs chilenas alcanzaron en noviembre su nivel más alto desde 2002

El penúltimo mes de 2016 mantuvo la tendencia al alza en los traspasos de las AFPs en el sistema de pensiones chileno. De acuerdo al informe mensual de Ciedess, en noviembre se cambiaron de administradora un total de 62.770 personas, el nivel más alto desde la creación de los multifondos en 2002. Durante el periodo, la AFP que sumó más afiliados con el mayor número de traspasos netos, fue Modelo, con 8.452 personas, mientras que la administradora con el saldo...

Modernized Rules for Occupational Pension Funds in Europe

On January 12, 2017, the long-awaited IORP II Directive entered into force. This will affect occupational pension schemes across all Member States in the European Economic Area. This Directive is the successor of the IORP I Directive, which dates from 2003, and includes new rules on institutions for occupational retirement provisions ("IORPs" or "pension funds"). The Directive is designed to improve the governance and transparency of IORPs across Europe, increase their use for cross-border activity, and support long-term investment...

Tom Brady should be a model for your retirement

Football fans: It may be years before you’re rid of Tom Brady — and there’s a retirement lesson for us all in that. Tom Brady — who led the New England Patriots to a stunning Super Bowl win last night — may be 39, a ripe old age for a quarterback, but he says he has no plans to retire before next season. He told Fox’s pregame show last night that there was “no way” he’d retire if he won...

Hours after Netanyahu visit, UK slams Regulation Law

The condemnation came a day after Netanyahu concluded his first visit with British Prime Minister Theresa May, during which Netanyahu declined to fully back the UK leader’s recognition of the two-state solution as the best pathway to peace. “As a longstanding friend of Israel, I condemn the passing of the Land Regularisation Bill by the Knesset, which damages Israel’s standing with its international partners,” Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood said in a statement. “It is of great concern...

US pension funds are slashing their forecasts…and some don’t even think they’ll meet those

US public pensionfunds are cutting their expectations for investment returns over the next 30 years or more, but some do not expect to meet even the new targets over the coming decade. After a long period of low interest rates, forecasts by investment analysts show the next 10 years will probably bring slower market growth, leading to reduced expectations for the $3.7 trillion of public pension assets. But public pensions are wary of lowering their expected return rates, or the discount...

Employee Saving and Investment Decisions in Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Survey Evidence from the UK

By Alistair Byrne This paper uses data from a survey of the members of a UK defined contribution pension plan to explore the attitudes and knowledge of employees faced with pension saving and investment decisions. The results are consistent with behavioural economics in that many employees show limited interest in their pension arrangements. Not all members have received advice about their pension, but those who have are more likely to have calculated their savings needs, to have higher levels of...

Savings After Retirement: A Survey

By Mariacristina De Nardi, Eric French,& John B. Jones The saving patterns of retired U.S. households pose a challenge to the basic life-cycle model of saving. The observed patterns of out-of-pocket medical expenses, which rise quickly with age and income during retirement, and heterogeneous lifespan risk, can explain a significant portion U.S. savings during retirement. However, more work is needed to disentangle these precautionary saving motives from other motives, such as the desire to leave bequests. An important complementary question...

Welfare and Generational Equity in Sustainable Unfunded Pension Systems

By Alan J. Auerbach & Ronald Lee We evaluate several actual and hypothetical sustainable PAYGO pension structures, including: (1) versions of the US Social Security system with annual adjustments of taxes or benefits to maintain fiscal balance; (2) Sweden's Notional Defined Contribution system and several variants developed to improve fiscal stability; and (3) the German system, which also includes annual adjustments to maintain fiscal balance. For each system, we present descriptive measures of uncertainty in representative outcomes for a typical...

Retirement Security in an Aging Society

By James M. Poterba The share of the U.S. population over the age of 65 was 8.1 percent in 1950, 12.4 percent in 2000, and is projected to reach 20.9 percent by 2050. The percent over 85 is projected to more than double from current levels, reaching 4.2 percent by mid-century. The aging of the U.S. population makes issues of retirement security increasingly important. Elderly individuals exhibit wide disparities in their sources of income. For those in the bottom half of...