January 2019

Retirement Savings Adequacy in U.S. Defined Contribution Plans

By Francisco Gomes (London Business School), Kenton Hoyem (Financial Engines, Inc.), Wei-Yin Hu (Financial Engines, Inc.), Enrichetta Ravina (Kellogg School of Management) We evaluate retirement savings adequacy in the U.S. using a large panel dataset comprising the contribution rates, salary, tenure, account value, plan features and asset allocations of more than 300 thousand US workers with a 401(k) account. Our simulations account for medical expenditure, longevity, and investment risks, and realistically model the likelihood of withdrawals due to hardship, job...

México. Aumentar aportaciones y un sistema universal, propuestas para afores

Se debe abordar la pensión no contributiva, la universal y el programa de 65 y más. A lo largo del último sexenio, diversas organizaciones han presentado sus propuestas para mejorar el sistema de pensiones y la mayoría coincide en la necesidad de aumentar las aportaciones de 6.5% y de tener un sistema universal. Entre las propuestas más recientes se encuentra la del Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas (IMEF), la cual sugiere que las aportaciones pasen de 6.5 a...

Chile. Coordinadora NO + AFP solicita indagar a agentes de Provida que pagaban por traspasos de cotizantes

La instancia ciudadana pidió a la Contraloría General de República que oficie al superintendente de Pensione, para que entregue a la fiscalía la información de los involucrados en las prácticas irregulares. La Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores NO+AFP presentó una petición a la Contraloría General de la República para que se den a conocer los nombres y apellidos de los directores y ejecutivos de AFP Provida, que eventualmente incurrieron en el delito de corrupción. Recordemos que en diciembre pasado, la Superintendencia...

UK. New pension should have multiple designs

Pension experts have urged the government to be flexible in its approach to creating a new risk-shared saving vehicle, to ensure that a wide range of members’ needs are covered. Responding to a consultation on collective defined contribution (CDC) schemes, which closed yesterday (January 16), consultants Aon and XPS, along with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), put forward their views. All three stated establishing a retirement saving model that shared risk throughout a broad pool of...

Rethink Retirement

There’s a narrative out there, a conventional wisdom about the notion of retirement. It goes something like this: We work hard. We save all we can and we make wise investments. Then, one day we stop working and we become less of a factor in the world. We’re not needed anymore. Our best years are behind us. Karen Wagner and Erica Baird, founders of Lustre will tell you that the conventional wisdom is wrong. They describe their mission like...

US. The good and bad of 401(k) rollovers

"If you are moving on from your employer, shouldn't your money move on as well?" asked Peter Lazaroff at The Wall Street Journal. Rolling a 401(k) into an individual retirement account when you leave a job is an "automatic move for many investors," but there are times when it makes more sense to leave your money where it is. The most important thing to consider is expenses. It could be that your current 401(k) plan is cheaper than an...

Asia must navigate pensions crunch

Region unprepared to manage growing financial burdens of retirement. Asian pension systems are facing major challenges. The region is experiencing seismic demographic changes, with rapidly aging populations and declining birthrates. But investment returns are relatively low due to geopolitical uncertainty and minimal interest rates. With the region having relatively few robust retirement systems, many Asian countries will struggle to provide adequate pensions. Governments need to take positive action now to reduce financial pressures and avoid intergenerational conflicts between the young...

México. Ahorro voluntario para el retiro creció 19.1% durante 2018

A pesar de este incremento anual, el ahorro voluntario para el retiro representó sólo el 2.0% el total de recursos registrados en las Administradoras de Fondos para el Retiro (Afores). Al cierre de 2018, el ahorro voluntario para el retiro se ubicó en 68,569 millones de pesos (mdp), lo que significó un incremento de 19.1% respecto a lo reportado un año antes, destacó la Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar). A pesar de este incremento anual,...

UK. Pensions regulator calls on advisers to get behind cold-calling ban

The Pensions Regulator has called on financial advisers to stand behind the cold-calling ban by doing more to report potential scammers. In a blog post this morning, TPR frontline regulation director Nicola Parish calls on IFAs to show clients the FCA’s Scam Smart website to alert them to the warning signs of fraud, particularly when the are considering a pension transfer. Parish writes: “The move by the government to make good on its pledge to make pension cold calling an offence sends...

Indian infrastructure group’s crisis may hit pensions

Pension and provident funds of the Indian salaried class is now in danger as these funds have wide exposure to the troubled IL+FS group The crisis afflicting Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) – an infrastructure conglomerate and group companies – is expected to take a toll on retirement benefits for middle-class citizens.The pension and provident funds for thousands of salaried workers are in danger as they have investments of up to 200 billion rupees in IL&FS.The funds either purchased...