November 2024
26Nov

Romania’s Govt. announces 12.1% hike in pensions as of January

Pensions in Romania will increase with the hike in the reference point value (VPR), rising by 12.1%  from RON 81 currently to RON 91 after January 1, 2025, the Ministry of Labor announced on November 20 on its Facebook page. "The 12.1% increase in the VPR is above the inflation rate.  The new Pension Law is a firm guarantee that every pensioner will benefit from a sustainable increase in income," said the minister of labor and social solidarity, Simona Bucura Oprescu,...

November 26, 2024
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25Nov

UK. Hopes and fears for pensions in 2025

Improvements in defined benefit (DB) pension scheme funding mean that, for many, the ‘endgame’ for the pension scheme now feels tangible, instead of a distant ambition. However, the advent of the new funding regime will overlay a new discipline. With defined contribution (DC) schemes, questions around adequacy remain uppermost for members, while the absence of a timetable for the extension of auto-enrolment minimum contributions continues to be a concern.” The challenge of retirement adequacy We now know that Employer National Insurance...

November 25, 2024
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25Nov

Are You One of 38 Million Seniors Who Fear Your Retirement Income Won’t Be Enough? You’re Not Alone.

Social Security is one of the most crucial functions of the U.S. government. Last year, the program paid roughly $1.5 trillion to 68 million Americans, 51 million of whom were retired. Many of these retired Americans rely on the program for a significant portion of their incomes. Originally intended as one of three income sources for retirees along with employer pensions and personal savings, Social Security's role has grown as pensions have become rare for most. Many lower-income earners are unable...

November 25, 2024
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25Nov

UK. Aviva completes a £1.7 billion buy-in with the National Grid Electricity Group of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme

Aviva has today announced the completion of a £1.7 billion pensioner buy-in with the National Grid Electricity Group (“the Group”) of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme (“the Scheme”). The transaction, which completed in October 2024, included transitioning the Group’s existing longevity swap with Zurich Assurance Ltd to Aviva, and insures the benefits for 5,800 pensioner members of the Group. Aon acted as the sole transaction adviser, covering actuarial, investment and broking aspects. Legal advice to the Group Trustee was provided by...

November 25, 2024
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25Nov

India. 80,000 more people to get old-age pension in Delhi: Kejriwal

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said an additional 80,000 people are now eligible for old-age pension in Delhi, raising the total number of such beneficiaries to 5.3 lakh. Kejriwal said at a press conference that the Delhi government is committed to social welfare and highlighted that the decision to pay old-age pension to more people is being implemented following Cabinet approval on Sunday. On Sunday, the Delhi government launched a portal for the elderly to apply for pensions. It has...

November 25, 2024
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25Nov

Pensions reform is vital to raise the UK’s dismal savings rate

No area of policymaking suffers more from “muddling through” than pensions. Pension arrangements shape national prosperity and individual security over multiple generations. “Long-termism” is the only sane approach. Yet what the UK has done is, alas, the opposite. As I noted in a column published in June 2023, this short-sightedness ended up by putting people working in the private sector into one of two “corners”. In one corner are defined benefit schemes, which offer guaranteed pensions, with investment and longevity...

November 25, 2024
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22Nov

US. Public pension funding ratios drop in October, first dip since April — Milliman

The overall estimated funding ratio of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans fell in October, the first such decline since April, according to the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding index. The drop in the funding ratio to 81.2% as of Oct. 31 from the estimate of 82.8% as of Sept. 30 was primarily the result of negative investment returns. It was the first decline after five straight months of increases due to strong market returns. Before that streak had begin,...

November 22, 2024
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22Nov

Cardinal appointed for ‘urgent’ Vatican pensions overhaul

Pope Francis said he had taken an “essential step” by naming Cardinal Kevin Farrell “sole administrator” of the pension fund. Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Kevin Farrell to oversee “new and unavoidable” reform to the Vatican’s pension system as it faces a “serious prospective imbalance” that means changes can no longer be postponed. In a letter to cardinals, dicastery prefects, and managers in the Roman Curia on 21 November, the Pope emphasised the gravity of the unsustainability of the Vatican’s pension fund...

November 22, 2024
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22Nov

Australia. Why some people deserve an age pension before others: new research

However, the ageing population presents long-term fiscal challenges to the sustainability of social welfare systems of advanced economies such as Australia and especially the cost of providing age pensions. The Australian government’s Intergenerational Report 2023 suggests the number of people aged 65 and over will more than double over the next 40 years. But economic growth is forecast to be slower than the previous four decades because of lower population growth and reduced workforce participation due to ageing. In response, the federal government...

November 22, 2024
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21Nov

US. Soaring Corporate Pensions Boost Retirement Security

Corporate pensions in the United States have been experiencing their strongest performance in over a decade. According to data from Aon, pension plan funding has consistently improved since the Great Recession. As of September 21, the pension-funded ratios of public companies on the stock index averaged 102%, signifying that pension funding had reached its highest point since late 2011, when the ratio was approximately 78%. A funded ratio is used to assess the health of a pension plan by...

November 21, 2024
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