July 2024

Singapore faces increasingly aging society with dropping birth rate

The number of elderly Singaporean residents living alone in households more than doubled from 35,160 in 2013 to 78,135 in 2023, according to the Family Trends Report issued by the Ministry of Social and Family Development on Monday. The number of residents aged 65 and above living in resident households increased from 413,117 in 2013 to 708,656 last year. More than 80 percent of the elderly people lived with their families. People aged 65 and above accounted for 19.1 percent of...

US. The $25 Trillion System of Retirement Savings Needs Fixing

Few Americans today know much about Studebaker or Packard automobiles. Classic car aficionados recall their sleek, innovative designs, but the brands are also a reminder of another bygone era: the traditional defined benefit pension. Studebaker and Packard merged in 1954 and later went out of business. Their pension plans were terminated, leaving thousands of workers without their expected benefits. That, along with other pension plan failures, prompted efforts to make retirement savings safer, culminating in federal legislation that has shaped much...

Pensions policy under the UK’s new Government

The Labour Party returned to office for the first time in 14 years after the UK general election on 4 July 2024. Our briefing note collates what Labour politicians said about pensions policy in the heat of the election campaign, in the run-up to it, and during their first few days in government. Pension investments/consolidation: Like her predecessor, the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has indicated that she wants more pension assets to be invested in UK “productive capital”, and lists this...

Over 60% of Hong Kong elderly with children living abroad at ‘high risk’ of social isolation, survey finds

Feelings of loneliness among elderly people who have children not living in Hong Kong were common, according to a survey by the Hong Kong Christian Service (HKCS). A total of 63 per cent were at high risk of social isolation, while close to 50 per cent showed signs of depression. The figures were an improvement from last year, when almost 80 per cent were found to be at high risk of social isolation, and nearly 70 per cent showed signs...

World population projected to peak at 10.3 billion in 2080s, new United Nations report says

The world's population is expected to grow to an estimated 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s, according to a new report from the United Nations. That's up from the current global population of 8.2 billion people. The United Nations report identified the following population trends: The estimated size of the world’s population at the end of the century (2100) is now expected to be 6% smaller than estimated a decade ago. Across the globe, one in four people lives in a country...

US. DOL may review ‘derisking’ pension risk transfers, says congressional report

A recent Department of Labor report to Congress reaffirming current fiduciary standards for selecting annuity providers in defined benefit pension plans also includes notice that it may review the increasingly common, and controversial, practice of companies transferring pension risks to life insurers, commonly known as “derisking.” The report by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), which was mandated by 2022’s SECURE 2.0 Act, reviews its 1995 Interpretive Bulletin 95-1 that outlined the responsibilities of fiduciaries under the Employment Retirement Income Security...

UK. State pensioners issued major update over DWP starting to ‘means testing’

State pensioners have been told the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) State Pensions payments "can't be means tested". A former DWP employee says means-testing will never happen due to the complexity of the contributory benefit. The insider told the Daily Record: “What is overlooked is the fact that people pay cash into the State Pension scheme in the form of Voluntary Contributions. So you are not going to pay cash into a scheme unless you are entitled to the payment of...

South Asia’s ‘youth bulge’ masks aging population

Zahirul Islam, a 52-year-old cafe manager in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has worked all his life supporting his family, with little to save for old age. Facing retirement at 59, Islam expects to work for another seven or eight years before holding down a job becomes unfeasible. "Then, it may not be possible to continue working," he said in an interview with VOA. In eight years, Islam turns 60, joining Bangladesh's growing population of older people. With little savings and no pension plan, he...

Unfunded U.S. public pension liabilities fall for fourth year in a row — Moody’s

Unfunded liabilities for U.S. state and local pension plans fell for a fourth year in a row to around $2.5 trillion as of June 30, a plunge of almost 60% from a historic high of $6 trillion in 2020, according to a July 9 report from Moody’s Ratings. Strong market returns for the latest year contributed to that progress, with investment gains of almost 11% topping public fund target returns of between 6.75% and 7.25%. But higher interest rates did the...

70% of U.S. employers say benefits critical to attraction, retention efforts: report

Nearly three-quarters (70 per cent) of U.S. employers say their company’s benefits package is critical to attracting and retaining the best workers, according to a new report by LIMRA. It found half (51 per cent) of employers believe their company will be offering more benefits in the future than it does today and another six in 10 (61 per cent) said their employees will expect a wider variety of benefits options. Indeed, many employees — especially middle-income workers, younger workers and those...