February 2024
22Feb

Ghana. Teachers unions angry over unsettled tier-2 pensions, others

Teachers' unions across the nation are growing increasingly frustrated about the government's failure to fulfil their tier-2 pension contributions dating back to April 2023. The outstanding amounts owed to these unions reportedly reach into millions of Ghana cedis. Despite deductions being made by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), sources within the education sector say that these funds have not been transferred to the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pensions Scheme (GISOPS). The government's decision to seek a bailout from the International...

February 22, 2024
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22Feb

Is This Big Risk Lurking in Your Social Security Claiming Math?

By: John Manganaro     ThinkAdvisor published the latest in an ongoing series of Social Security claiming case studies earlier this month, finding the optimal claiming scenario for the sample married couple at hand would be to draw their benefits earlier than the maximum claiming age of 70. That result, based mainly on the fact that the couple had a highly uneven earnings history and a small but meaningful gap in longevity expectations, surprised some readers, and it sparked a number of insightful discussions with both...

February 22, 2024
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21Feb

US state pensions risk “hard earned savings” by ignoring climate risks

The global cost of extreme weather attributable to climate change is estimated at $143bn per year over the past 20 years, according to a 2023 study in scientific journal Nature. Despite this, US state pension funds are “not taking adequate steps to reduce climate-related financial risks”, finds a new report from three environmental organisations. “Far too few state pensions are taking adequate steps to address climate-related financial risks and protect their members’ hard-earned savings, raising serious concerns about their execution of fiduciary duty – the obligation...

February 21, 2024
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21Feb

Majority of UK pension providers have ‘inadequate’ climate plans, says MMMM

A majority of the leading defined contribution (DC) pension providers in the UK have “inadequate” or “poor” plans to tackle climate change, research from Make My Money Matter (MMMM) has shown. The ethical pension campaign's Climate Action Report, developed in collaboration with sustainability research provider Profundo, carried out assessments of the 20 largest workplace DC pension providers who hold a combined £500bn in assets under management with more than 15 million active members. The research, carried out between September and December...

February 21, 2024
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21Feb

4 new bills passed by parliament – with big changes for pensions in South Africa

The National Assembly has passed four Bills, with one having a significant impact on South Africa’s pension system. NA has passed the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, the Plant Health (Phytosanitary) Bill, the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill, and the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill. The Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, the Plant Health (Phytosanitary) Bill and the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill will head to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. On the other hand, the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment...

February 21, 2024
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20Feb

UK. Pension transfers leaving savers at risk of being worse off in retirement

Retirees could be left more than £70,000 worse off in their retirement due to a lack of awareness around fees and charges when transferring their pension, research from People’s Partnership finds. The research, conducted by the provider of The People's Pension, which provides the pension to 6.5 million people across the UK, surveyed 1,000 defined contribution (DC) members aged between 18 and 65 who had consolidated a DC pension in the last two years, without the assistance of a financial adviser....

February 20, 2024
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20Feb

How South Korea Is Tackling Its Demographic Crisis

Some 24.5% of South Koreans aged 70 and above were still working as of January, local media reported Monday, as officials increasingly look to keep more elderly in the workforce to address a demographic crisis. Elderly employment figures have seen a steady increase since the country’s statistics authority started to collect the data in 2005. Among these workers, half of whom are aged 75 and above, 42.1% are considered “simple laborers” by authorities, referring to workers with jobs that are not specialized and require...

February 20, 2024
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20Feb

Swiss actuaries back initiative to increase retirement age

The Swiss Actuarial Association – Schweizerischen Aktuarvereinigung – is backing an initiative in favour of increasing the retirement age in line with life expectancy in a referendum that will take place on 3 March. The longer it takes to adjust and automate the mechanism to increase the retirement age, the greater the loss will be for the pension system in terms of financial sustainability and even more drastic steps will be necessary in the future, the actuaries said in a...

February 20, 2024
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20Feb

Ghana. 71,000 Self-employed enrolled onto Tier 1 pension scheme — SSNIT

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has enrolled over 71,000 informal sector and self-employed persons onto the state-run Tier One pension scheme. The significant increase of contributors from 14,200 to 71,000 as of May last year followed the implementation of a self-employed enrolment drive (SEED) initiative. “The initiative has made it possible for artisans, carpenters, masons, tailors, auto-mechanics and traders to contribute towards their pension. “SSNIT has targeted to enrol about 10 per cent of the 3.6 million self-employed Ghanaians...

February 20, 2024
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19Feb

US. Legislators approve 50% pension increase for themselves

Two news stories last week proved New Mexico has a working class and a ruling class. The first story was about Santa Fe's minimum wage, which will increase to $14.60 an hour March 1. That's a bump of 4%, or 57 cents an hour. The second story was shorter, almost a footnote. It mentioned New Mexico state senators and representatives approving a bill with the harmless title of "Legislative Retirement Changes." A more accurate heading would be: "50% pension increase for sitting...

February 19, 2024
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