May 2023

US. Debt-ceiling apocalypse could offer opportunities as well, observers say

The ongoing debt-ceiling standoff between Democrats and Republicans could result in buying opportunities for institutional investors as long as widespread faith that the two sides will eventually do whatever is necessary to avoid a U.S. debt default proves well-founded. If not, all bets are off. For now, even as the "X-date" where the government won't be able to cover all of its Treasury bonds and bills coming due approaches— as early as June by some estimates — most market participants say...

Philippines. Millions sans pension a ‘ticking time bomb’

The massive protests over the highly unpopular legislation that France passed, raising its retirement age from 62 to 64 to save its pension system, may be a window to a similar future in the Philippines, with its own “ticking time bomb” in its pension scheme. University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR) professor Emily Christi A. Cabegin warned of this scenario, where the government may have to spend millions of pesos to take care of thousands...

Germany. Retirement Workers: The Solution To The Skills Shortage?

Kurt Marx repairs and maintains heating systems. He started as an apprentice almost 50 years ago. Actually, he could soon retire free of deductions. However, the service technician plans to continue working. Not for financial reasons: he likes the daily challenge of finding technical errors, he says. Above all, Marx wants to keep in touch with people. And he knows how difficult it is for his boss to find staff. “I’m probably not the exception, after all, specialists are...

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...

“Milliman’s Pension Funding Index. May 2023”

By Milliman The funded status of the nation’s 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans decreased by $7 billion during April, as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). A decrease in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities led to an increase in these liabilities of $10 billion for the month. As of April 30, the funded ratio fell to 99.5%, from 100.1% at the end of March. April saw the funding surplus...

Retirement Plan Reforms in the Absence of a Retirement Policy

By Natalya Shnitser The US retirement system is currently characterized by tremendous diversity of instruments, institutions, and intermediaries in pursuit of the same goal. While the goal – achieving financial security in retirement – is widely accepted by policymakers and participants, for individuals in the United States, the nature of the “investment” experience in the retirement context varies considerably based on the identity, savviness, and size of the intermediaries, as well as the particular legal regime to which such intermediaries...

Social Security of Labour in India

By Ishita Arora The social security of labour in India is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. The country's labour force is massive, and ensuring their protection and well-being is crucial to their quality of life and the country's economic development. This research paper aims to explore the current state of social security for workers in India, including policies and programs aimed at providing protection and support to individuals and families against social and economic risks such as...

“The Great Retirement Boom”: The Pandemic-Era Surge in Retirements and Implications for Future Labor Force Participation

By Joshua Montes, Christopher L. Smith & Juliana Dajon As of October 2022, the retired share of the U.S. population was nearly 1-½ percentage points above its pre-pandemic level (after adjusting for updated population controls to the Current Population Survey), accounting for nearly all of the shortfall in the labor force participation rate. In this paper, we analyze the pandemic-era rise in retirements using a model that accounts for pre-pandemic trends in retirement, the cyclicality of retirement, and other factors....

México. Afores cierran primer trimestre del 2023 con plusvalía para los ahorradores

Las administradoras de fondos para el retiro (afores) registraron 108,599 millones de pesos en plusvalías durante marzo de este año, de acuerdo con información de la Comisión Nacional del Sistema del Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar). Con este resultado positivo, se registró un total de 138,800 millones de pesos en plusvalías durante el primer trimestre del año, un saldo positivo y una cifra que muestra también la revalorización de los ahorros. La Consar precisó que las plusvalías registradas tienen que ver...

Perú. Congreso busca que afiliación al sistema previsional sea voluntaria

En el marco de la discusión para una reforma de pensiones, el grupo de trabajo encargado de realizar un estudio de las propuestas para la mejora del sistema previsional peruano del Congreso presentó —de manera preliminar— los principios que debe tener el nuevo esquema. Sistema voluntario El primer avance presentado por este subgrupo de la Comisión de Economía estuvo enfocado en cómo lograr una cobertura previsional de los trabajadores informales, ya que el 73% de la Población Económicamente Activa (PEA) no...