April 2025

Kenyan retirees win big as govt exempts pension from tax

How Kenyan retirees will benefit In a statement on Tuesday, April 29, the State House revealed the Cabinet had approved the bill that will benefit retirees in the public and private sectors. By removing pension taxes, the government intends to improve the financial stability of retirees, allowing them to enjoy their post-work years without worrying about additional tax deductions on their pension income. "Retirees will benefit significantly as all gratuity payments, whether in public or private pension schemes, will now be fully...

Longevity v interest rates – which poses the biggest risk for schemes?

Rising life expectancy poses a greater risk to UK corporate pension schemes than low interest rates, a report this week has suggested, but some industry experts have challenged the finding. Low interest rates have wreaked havoc on many schemes’ funding levels as liability calculations are revised up. Earlier this month the aggregate deficit of the Pension Protection Fund’s 7800 Index reached £254.2bn, up from £93.2bn a year ago. The cost of not hedging longevity in a low interest rate environment is proportionately greater...

96% of Ghanaian pensioners live on GH¢5,000 or less monthly – Paul Kofi Mante

At the 2025 edition of the Money Summit organized by the Business and Financial Times (B&FT), Paul Kofi Mante, Managing Director of EDC Investment Limited, raised urgent concerns about the state of pensions in Ghana, revealing that a staggering 96% of pensioners receive GH¢5,000 or less per month. Speaking as a panelist during a session focused on investment and retirement planning, Mr. Mante described the current pension reality as deeply worrying. He disclosed that out of the over 2 million Ghanaians aged 60 and above, fewer than 300,000 are enrolled on...

Economic volatility & tariff turmoil will elevate pension funds desire to diversify

In an increasingly volatile and uncertain financial world where the investment landscape has been exposed to unpredictable shocks, pension funds have been among the most affected by equity market declines and this is expected to further heighten the desire to diversify their asset portfolios. Stock market indices across major economies have fallen in the wake of the introduction of the United States administration’s tariff policy. While tariff amounts have been rolled back in some cases, or put on hold, with countries...

UK pension system is at a tipping point

The UK faces a pensions time bomb that could detonate within a generation. Unlike all good suspense movies, there is not going to be a cutting of the red or blue wire in the final seconds of a digital countdown; solutions are complex, multi-faceted and wide reaching. For decades, the UK pension system has been regarded as a stable safety net, ensuring workers can retire with dignity. But beneath this illusion of security lies a crisis in the making. The combined pressures of...

US. Benefits Cuts on the Table in House Budget Legislation

Cuts to federal employees’ benefits are being pitched in budget legislation scheduled to be marked up in the House of Representatives this week. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced that the Committee will mark up budget legislation on Wednesday, April 30 at 10:00 AM ET as part of the Trump administration’s plan to reduce federal spending to combat the growing debt which currently stands at about $36 trillion. Items Under Consideration The items to be considered would have...

Innovation, skills and reform of the pension system key to Luxembourg’s strong growth and public finances

Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita among the 38 OECD countries and low public debt. To maintain strong economic growth and public finances, policies should now focus on boosting innovation and skills and securing the sustainability of the pension system for future generations, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Luxembourg says that GDP growth is projected to pick up from 1.0% in 2024 to 2.1% in 2025 and 2.3% in 2026. Headline consumer price inflation is...

Finland. More than half of working-age people save for retirement, especially young people

Private savings for retirement have increased significantly over the past decade. According to a comprehensive survey by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, more than half of people aged 25–67 are saving or have saved for retirement in 2024. According to the study, the most common pension savers are the self-employed, people with above-average incomes and Finns close to retirement age. Savings rates among people under 30 have increased compared to previous similar surveys. In 2024, 45 per cent of the under-30-year-olds...

Why ageing well takes a village

For people to age well, they need systems, sectors and policies that create the conditions to support good health and economic well-being. One element of this involves creating policies that ensure people are not forced to stop working simply because they have reached a certain age. Policy-makers, employers and the public sector have collaborated on legislation that enables older people to keep working if they wish. Like everything in life, ageing is not something we do alone. That’s even more true when...

US. More and more Americans are draining their 401(k)s to survive — with ‘hardship withdrawals’ at 15%-20% above normal.

More Americans are tapping into their 401(k) to make ends meet — treating it more like an emergency fund than a retirement savings plan. Hardship withdrawals are running 15% to 20% above the historical norm, Empower CEO Ed Murphy told Bloomberg TV. Empower is the second-largest retirement plan (by number of participants) in the U.S. While new rules make it easier to withdraw funds, some people may be turning to their retirement savings as prices on consumer goods — from groceries to...