June 2023

US Pension Funded Status Continues to Improve in May

Despite negative returns for many asset classes in the stock market, decreasing liabilities resulted in U.S. corporate pension funded status improvements in May, according to analysts. Pension discount rates rose almost one-quarter of a percentage point in May, erasing much of the fall in rates that had been seen so far this year, according to Agilis’s May Pension Briefing. This boost in funded status comes on the heels of a strong April for pension plans, as an increasing number of pension...

EU. Bureau adopts measures to put MEPs’ pension scheme on a more sustainable path

Confirming its decision on 22 May, the Bureau modified the conditions of the voluntary pension fund closed in 2009 to put it on a more sustainable path. The voluntary pension fund was created in 1990, when there was no single statute for MEPs. The fund was closed in 2009, which meant that no MEPs could join the scheme as of 2009 when the new MEPs' single statute entered into force. From the moment she came in office, President Metsola tasked the...

Confronting aging: How LGBTQ+ seniors can tackle their special caregiving challenges

Margaret Roesch, 67, and her wife, Pat McAulay, 68, wanted to have a supportive community around them as they grew older. So they helped to create a cohousing development for LGBTQ+ seniors and allies, making it easier to offer support to one another. “We said we don’t want to have to go back in the closet when we get older,” Roesch said from the front porch of her home in Durham, North Carolina. Opened in 2020, the Village Hearth is a...

UK pension fund fights appeal in landmark fossil fuels lawsuit

Britain's biggest private pension scheme on Tuesday asked a London court to block a landmark lawsuit over its alleged failure to devise a credible plan to divest from fossil fuels. The 82 billion-pound ($103 billion) Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) is facing legal action from two of its members over its continuing investments in coal, natural gas and petroleum. The lawsuit was blocked last year by London's High Court, but the two academics behind the claim asked the Court of Appeal to...

México. ¿Qué pasará con las pensiones si el Banco del Bienestar se FUSIONA con Banamex?

Desde el comienzo del gobierno del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador las pensiones para adultos mayores, discapacitados y estudiantes se elevaron a rango constitucional, por lo que ahora es un derecho al que pueden acceder todos los mexicanos que cumplan con los requisitos. Debido al gran apoyo que significa para los sectores más vulnerables de México los diferentes programas sociales del gobierno de México, a muchos les ha inquietado el rumor de que el Banco del Bienestar, donde se depositan...

Convocan en Chile a nueva movilización nacional contra las AFP

El vocero del Movimiento No Más AFP (Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones), el sindicalista Luis Mesina, anunció una nueva jornada de protesta contra el sistema de administración de pensiones en todo Chile el próximo 23 de julio. Durante un mitin de la Confederación Fenats Nacional, de los Trabajadores de la Salud Pública, realizado en el hospital Barros Luco, Región Metropolitana, Mesina subrayó que “la unidad hace la fuerza, y solamente a los fuertes se les respeta en este país”. Manifestó que...

Panameños rechazan ser quienes carguen con salvación de CSS

Trabajadores panameños rechazan ser quienes carguen con la salvación de la Caja de Seguro Social aumentando la edad o la cantidad de cuotas para obtener jubilación. El reclamo que dirigen distintas agrupaciones de jubilados en Panamá, responde principalmente a la incapacidad de satisfacer sus necesidades con las actuales pensiones, que mantienen a un aproximado del 44 % de ellos en situación de pobreza. La Caja de Seguro Social (CSS) y la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) han venido alertando que, de...

UK. What can be done about the ‘great gender pension chasm’?

Thank you for the depiction of the “great gender pension chasm”, (Women’s private pensions worth 35% less than men’s in Great Britain, 5 June). It is something we’ve long been concerned about and tracked for a number of years, examining how it has persistently shaped women’s retirement prospects for the worse. The vast inequality between private pension pots for men and women is alarming. The findings of the latest Department for Work and Pensions gender pension report show the need...

US. Social Security’s woes highlight need for holistic plan

Given Social Security's uncertain future, defined contribution executives say that it's important for plan sponsors to offer participants holistic retirement planning and encourage additional savings. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which covers retirees and their families, is now set to reach depletion in 2033, according to an April report from the Social Security Board of Trustees. If that happens, the trust's income would be able to pay 77% of its scheduled benefits, the report states. A reduction in Social...

South Africa: ‘Two-Pot’ Retirement System to Kick in On 1 March 2024 – Here’s How It Will Work

The draft legislation governing the first phase of the proposed two-pot system has been published and is open for comment. The long-awaited draft legislation with more details regarding the roll-out of the "two-pot" retirement system was published on Friday afternoon. The changes are being introduced in response to consumers' dire financial stress during the Covid pandemic, when many were unable to access their retirement savings despite having no other money to turn to. The implementation date remains 1 March 2024, and the...