June 2020
20Jun

Returning to the Core: Rediscovering a Role for Real Estate in Defined Contribution Pension Schemes

By Debbie Harrison, David P. Blake, Tony Key The objective of the research was to analyse and evaluate the role of real estate in the UK’s defined contribution (DC) pensions market in relation to auto-enrollment – the new system of pension scheme provision for private sector employees in the UK, which is being phased in by all employers between October 2012 and 2018. The most important feature of auto-enrollment schemes is the ‘default fund’, which is the multi-asset investment strategy...

June 20, 2020
Articles, Pension design, ,
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12Jun

The Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Pensions

By Charles Sutcliffe COVID-19 and the lockdowns have had a big global economic effect, as well as increasing mortality. We examine the effects of COVID-19 and the resulting relaxations of pension regulations on pension schemes. Those who transfer their pension or withdraw cash from their pension pot while asset prices are depressed by COVID-19 are losers; as are members of defined benefit schemes with a deficit whose employer fails due to COVID-19. The increased mortality from covid-19 will have...

June 12, 2020
Articles, System Sustainability, , ,
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12Jun

South African Individual Retirement Savings: An Analysis of the Social Factors

By Gizelle Willows This study's primary aim is to determine whether members of a South African tertiary institution's retirement fund are en route to have sufficient retirement savings. Secondly, the results are analysed between different social factors namely: age, gender, race, education level, marital status, and cost of employment. Survey data and information received directly from the retirement fund were used as inputs in a customised model. This method was unique to this study, that is, it was able...

June 12, 2020
Articles, Savings, , ,
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12Jun

Emergency Funds in the Wake of the Coronavirus

By Margaret Ryznar The CARES Act targeting the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic allows taxpayers to withdraw up to $100,000 from their retirement savings, such as section 401(k) plans, without the typical 10% penalty for early withdrawal. However, retirement accounts do not make for ideal emergency funds. This Article therefore advocates that future legislation should incentivize separate savings funds. Source: SSRN

June 12, 2020
Articles, Savings, , , ,
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08Jun

A “New Deal” for Informal Workers in Asia

By Era Dabla-Norris, Changyong Rhee Full or partial lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 are having crippling effects on businesses and workers across Asia, as elsewhere. Among the most vulnerable of the workers are the ones working in part-time and temporary jobs without social insurance, and in sectors of the economy that are neither taxed, nor regulated by any form of government. Known as informal workers, they are particularly vulnerable to dramatic collapses of income and loss...

June 8, 2020
Articles, Labor Market, , , , , ,
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08Jun

Building better retirement systems in the wake of the global pandemic

By Olivia S. Mitchell In the wake of the global pandemic known as COVID-19, retirees, along with those hoping to retire someday, have been shocked into a new awareness of the need for better risk management tools to handle longevity and aging. This paper offers an assessment of the status quo prior to the spread of the coronavirus, evaluates how retirement systems are faring in the wake of the shock. Next we examine insurance and financial market products that...

June 8, 2020
Articles, Pension design, System Sustainability, , , , , ,
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05Jun

An Introduction to Pensionomics

By Mario Arturo Ruiz Estrada, Evangelos Koutronas Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of pensionomics as a prospective tool for pension evaluation. This paper suggests a paradigm shift – a multi-disciplinary synthesis of differing perspectives in evaluating pension’s overall performance based on past work on pension evaluation – incorporating non-economic variables with significant impact on economic growth and social development. Design/methodology/approach – This paper suggests a new analytical tool called “Pensions Consistency (PC)...

June 5, 2020
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05Jun

Can Low Retirement Savings Be Rationalized?

By John B. Shoven, Sita Slavov, John G. Watson Simple presentations of the life cycle model often suggest a constant level of real consumption in retirement. Similarly, financial planners commonly suggest that people save for retirement in such a way as to enable them to maintain a level retirement standard of living equal to their standard of living while working. However, constant consumption with age is only optimal under the precise and unlikely condition that the subjective rate of...

June 5, 2020
Articles, Pension design, Savings, ,
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05Jun

Exporting Financial Services in Latin America and the Caribbean

By Adrian Gonzalez, Carolina Lopez-Rocha, Rongpeng Yang, Marilyne Youbi, Inés Zabalbeitia Múgica According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade in services has become the most dynamic segment of world trade, growing more quickly than trade in goods. While travel remains the most exported service both worldwide and in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), other services are becoming relevant for both developed and developing economies. Among them, financial services is one of the most important categories in terms...

June 5, 2020
Articles, Regulation, ,
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May 2020
29May

The Effect of Workplace Pensions on Household Saving: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Taiwan

By Tzu‐Ting Yang Population aging causes financial imbalances in pay‐as‐you‐go public pension programs. To remedy this problem, while ensuring the adequacy of retirement savings for employees, many countries complement or substitute public pensions by regulating their workplace pensions. This article exploits a pension reform in Taiwan that has mandated, since 2005, that all private‐sector employers contribute at least 6 percent of an employee's monthly wage to an individual pension account. I use workers in the unaffected sectors as a...

May 29, 2020
Articles, Pension design, Savings, ,
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