November 2025

UK retirement confidence falls to lowest level yet

Retirement confidence in the UK has dropped to its lowest level since tracking began, according to new research from Nucleus. The third annual Nucleus UK Retirement Confidence Index finds that only one in four adults (26%) are confident they will have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, down from 34% last year. The overall confidence score has fallen to 4.2 out of 10, compared with 4.6 in 2024 and 6.9 in 2023. The report, based on YouGov...

Trans troops sue United States Air Force over revoked pensions after 15–18 years of service

A group of trans veterans, lead by Master Sergeant Logan Ireland, 37, (pictured) is suing the United States Air Force after being stripped of retirement benefits they say were promised to them following years of honourable service. The lawsuit, filed on 10 November in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, involves 17 former Air Force and Space Force members who each served between 15 and 18 years. Under the Temporary Early Retirement Authority (TERA), they were initially granted early retirement in June, only for the Air Force to...

UK. Government to rethink rejection of Waspi compensation

A decision to reject compensation for women hit by changes to the state pension age will be reconsidered by the government. Campaigners say 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not properly informed of the rise in state pension age to bring them into line with men. Last year, the government apologised for a 28-month delay in sending letters, but rejected any kind of financial payouts. A document was not shown to Liz Kendall, who was Work and Pensions Secretary...

The role of insurers helping create sustainable pension systems

Ensuring a sustainable income in retirement is an enduringly knotty problem and one that continues to preoccupy national pension systems and their asset manager partners the world over. At the Fiduciary Investors Symposium Oxford, panellists explored how different countries are innovating to ensure their pension systems’ sustainability. Like NEST, the UK’s biggest defined contribution (DC) master trust, which plans to enter the bulk annuity market as part of a new, post-retirement solution and is about to partner with an insurance...

Millennial Small Biz Owners Most Ready to Offer a Retirement Plan

There is a generational gap and gender divide among small business owners when it comes to retirement plan readiness and the perceived importance of offering a plan, according to a new survey. The Capital Group, in partnership with C&C Multicultural, conducted an online survey from April 4–30, 2025, among 1,000 U.S. small business owners (and full-time employees) to gather their views on their outlook and readiness to offer retirement benefits and what they believe are the most important aspects to...

Mexico. Retirement Savings Consolidate Their Weight in the Economy: They Now Amount to 22% of GDP

The AmAfore 2025 meeting will take place on November 12 and 13, and its program confirms the growing prominence of retirement savings in the global conversation on investments, private credit, and infrastructure. With the participation of international leaders such as Scott Kleinman (Apollo), Michael Rees (Blue Owl), Michael Smith (Ares Credit Group), and Kirk Smith (GTCR), the event highlights Mexico’s role as a bridge between local institutional capital and major global asset managers. The presence of the AFOREs, along with Banxico, Hacienda, and CONSAR, reflects the interest in strengthening the sophistication...

UK. Chancellor looking to cap salary sacrifice contributions to £2,000 in Autumn budget

The chancellor is planning to use the budget to limit the amount of someone’s salary that can be sacrificed through pension contributions without incurring national insurance (NI) payments to £2,000 a year. Reports in The Times and Financial Times this weekend said the chancellor would target pension salary sacrifice arrangements to raise up to £2bn a year and help fill a £30bn gap in public finances. At present there is no limit on the amount that an employee can put into their pension under salary...

Pension fund contributions overlooked by employers in South Africa

Some employers in the nation have a concerning tendency to deduct employees' pension contributions without transferring the funds to the pension fund account. This is against the law and unethical. When the sun sets, workers depend on this hard-earned money to get by. A few years ago, the African National Congress came under fire for failing to make contributions to workers' pension funds. The sheer scale of this problem is deeply troubling. As of March 31, 2025, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority...

The rise of solo aging: How people in the US are preparing to grow older alone

The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute recently published a series of guides designed to assist solo agers with key financial and retirement decisions. In addition, the SOA published survey findings on the growing phenomenon of “solo aging” in the U.S. Solo agers are individuals who, as they grow older, navigate life and retirement without the traditional support network of close family members or partners. The consumer survey includes responses from Americans aged 50 or older who identify as solo agers. It provides insights into aging,...

European nations have no choice but to raise retirement ages – our case study shows why

In early October 2025, with his political future hanging by a thread, France’s resigned-and-reappointed prime minister Sébastien Lecornu pledged to suspend unpopular pension reforms until 2027, when presidential elections will be held. Socialist MPs declared victory. The French business community groaned. The S&P downgraded France’s credit rating, citing budget concerns. With France kicking inevitable reforms at least two years down the road, and many European countries facing pension crises of their own, it is worth considering how to design pension reforms...