April 2026
01Apr

U.S. retirement savings hit alarming low

Median savings reveal stark reality New analysis from the National Institute on Retirement Security finds that U.S. workers aged 21 to 64 have a median of $40,000 in defined contribution plans, but when including those without savings, the median plunges to $955. This underscores a widening gap between retirement needs and actual savings, exacerbated by the decline of pensions. AARP data shows 20% of adults over 50 have no retirement savings, and 61% believe they lack enough for their later...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

The Global Centenarian Surge: How 4 Million People Over 100 Will Reshape Markets and Policy

A demographic shift is quietly underway: the population of people aged 100+ is set to jump sharply this century. US centenarians are projected to rise from about 101,000 in 2024 to roughly 422,000 by 2054, while globally the cohort could swell from ~722,000 today to nearly 4 million by mid‑century. That growth will affect pension systems, healthcare spending, workforce patterns, consumer markets and political influence, with hotspots in China, the US, Japan, India and Thailand. The article outlines the...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Dutch pension funds cut US exposure as rebalancing drives shift to Europe

Dutch pension funds were net sellers of US assets last year, reallocating capital towards Europe, according to figures from regulator DNB. On balance, funds sold €30bn of US equities and bonds, while purchasing €23bn of European securities. In 2025, pension funds sold €18bn of US government and corporate bonds and €12bn of equities. The decline was largely driven by civil servant scheme ABP, which divested more than €10bn of US government bonds. While US debt securities were predominantly sold, flows into European fixed...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Iran war may increase mortgage payments for extra 1.3m households, says Bank of England

The US-Israel war on Iran could end up increasing monthly mortgage payments for more than one million more UK households, the Bank of England has predicted, adding that the conflict had dealt “a substantial negative supply shock” to the world economy. Financial market jitters over the conflict in the Middle East have resulted in banks pulling about 1,500 mortgage products, with many banks raising interest rates on their remaining 7,000 home loan products in recent weeks, the Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) said. The increases,...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Gold’s worst month in years tests its role as a pension hedge

Gold just posted its worst month in more than a decade even as prices bounced on Tuesday, underscoring how the Iran war, inflation fears and higher‑for‑longer rates are hitting one of the most widely used hedging assets. Reuters said that the spot gold rose 3.2 percent to $4,652.31 per ounce by 1:31 pm EDT, the highest level since March 20, while US gold futures settled 2.7 percent higher at $4,678.60. CNBC reported that gold futures still fell more than 10 percent in March, marking their biggest monthly decline since June 2013...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Nigeria. Informal sector workers protest, seek urgent pension, health reforms

Informal workers under the aegis of the Federation of Informal Workers Organisations of Nigeria (FIWON) staged a protest at the National Assembly, demanding reforms of the pension and health sub-sectors. The General Secretary of FIWON, Gbenga Komolafe, who led the protest, said over 93 per cent of Nigeria’s workforce operates outside formal employment and contributes an estimated 65 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). He explained that such workers deserve social protection who are presently underserved. Komolafe warned that the country...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

UK. Why younger retirees are earning more from their pensions

Data on pensioner incomes were published last week, and it made for interesting reading. Pensioner incomes have remained stable over recent years, with average income after housing costs hitting £455 per week. However, looking a bit deeper there’s some interesting trends to pick out. Female pensioners continue to have lower pension incomes than men; single pensioner households get by on less than half of their coupled-up counterparts, and younger pensioner households have higher incomes than older ones. There’s also interesting data...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Italy’s population stops shrinking after 12 years, thanks to migration

Italy's population has stabilised after 12 ‌years of decline, with immigration almost entirely offsetting a shrinking number of births, while life expectancy continues to rise, national statistics agency ISTAT said on Tuesday. Preliminary data showed the ​resident population stood at 58.94 million on January 1 this year, virtually ​unchanged from a year earlier, ISTAT said in its annual ⁠demographic report. "Italy remains a country where only very positive net migration can offset ​a largely negative natural change and where the population...

April 1, 2026
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March 2026
31Mar

US issues draft rules on private assets in 401k plans

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday issued long-awaited proposed new rules intended to clarify how trustees can add alternative assets ranging from private ​equity to cryptocurrencies to 401(k) retirement plans. The measure, which is intended to ‌ease long-standing barriers to incorporating these less liquid assets in American retirement nest eggs, follows an executive order by President Donald Trump last summer and could clear the way for alternative ​asset management firms to tap a large and potentially lucrative new source ​of capital. Shares...

March 31, 2026
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31Mar

UK. PMI: Why a new pension system needs a new regulatory approach

The latest of the Pensions Management Institute’s (PMI’s) regular columns says the question is no longer how we regulate schemes, but how we regulate a system. For years, policymakers and the industry have anticipated defined contribution (DC) consolidation. That future has now arrived. Master trusts now dominate both DC membership and assets, smaller schemes continue to exit the market, and the landscape is increasingly shaped by a small number of large providers. Yet our regulatory framework still reflects an earlier,...

March 31, 2026
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