July 2019

08Jul

European elections 2019: will the UK’s new MEPs get pensions even if they only work a few months until Brexit?

MEPs get their pension from the age of 63 The European Parliament is known to have a fairly attractive pension scheme for candidates who win election. But Brexit has raised questions about what will happen to MEPs’ pensions after Britain leaves the EU and whether any candidates from the May elections will benefit. Will new UK MEPs get a pension? The UK MEPs who are elected for the first time this year are unlikely to be entitled to a pension from the European...

July 8, 2019
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08Jul

1 in 4 Americans don’t plan to retire despite realities of aging

Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals’ retirement plans and the realities of aging in the workforce. Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they’d like. According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 23 percent of workers, including nearly 2 in 10 of those over 50, don’t expect to stop working....

July 8, 2019
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08Jul

Australia. Pension payments could increase with change to deeming rate

More than half a million Australians could have their pension payments increased with the government on the cusp of making a significant change. Labor claims if the government lowers the deeming rate by the same amount the Reserve Bank has lowered interest rates, some part-pensioners will be anywhere between $62 and $3875 a year better off.The government is unlikely to lower it by that much because it would almost wipe out its surplus but hundreds of thousands of pensioners...

July 8, 2019
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08Jul

Greater percentage of Ghanaian pensioners live in penury

Lesley Dwight Mensah, an economist at the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), a local economic policy think tank explained to Xinhua that the reason for this condition was the lack of monthly pension payment for most people after the end of their service. “Only about 14 percent of Ghanaians in retirement age (population of 60 and above) receive a pension. As of the end of 2018, there were 1.9 million people in Ghana aged 60; and just about 270,000...

July 8, 2019
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08Jul

Irish pension funds diversify amid uncertain outlook

Pension funds here have lowered their exposure and diversified into property, infrastructure and hedge funds according to a new report from Mercer. The survey of 876 institutional investors across 12 countries managing assets of around €1 trillion found average equity allocations for Irish defined benefit schemes have fallen and now stand at just 28% compared to 34% in 2018 The Mercer's 2019 European Asset Allocation survey also found that bond allocations remain broadly at 50%, while allocations to alternative...

July 8, 2019
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05Jul

Pension fund left thousands of Russians without pensions

The Pension Fund of the Russian Federation did not include part of the pension to 170.5 thousand Russians, Life reports. Refusal to pay a pension is most often associated with informal employment, in which the employer did not make contributions to the Pension Fund. Another reason for the shortfall in payments is the loss of data on work experience. Due to legal illiteracy, people often make mistakes themselves - they submit applications for the accrual of fee ahead of time, or they...

July 5, 2019
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05Jul

Indian government warns of ageing population; says retirement age should rise, schools merge

The Indian government on Thursday warned in a study that its population is going to start to age and it needs to be prepared to merge schools and raise the retirement age. While India should be set to benefit from the so-called “demographic dividend” over the next decade as its working population is set to increase by about 9.7 million a year between 2021-31, that will quickly fade as the nation’s fertility rate plunges below replacement level. The conclusions in the...

July 5, 2019
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05Jul

Chile watchdog reports decade-high pension savings returns

Assets under management in Chile’s private pension, or AFP, system hit a record of nearly US$219bn at the end of June following strong returns. The sum is equivalent to 77% of GDP. Three of the system’s five risk-based funds registered their best performances in a decade in H1, watchdog SP said in a statement. Each of the country's six AFPs manages five funds - A, B, C, D and E - which their members can choose from, with A being the highest risk and E the...

July 5, 2019
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05Jul

Pension reform prospects lift Brazil’s real, stocks

Brazil's currency and stocks rose on Thursday after a congressional committee in charge of analyzing the government's pension reform bill approved its main text. The draft bill, which analysts say is critical to improving Brazil's fiscal health and economy, could now be put to a lower house plenary vote before recess on July 18. Brazil's real hit a more than three-month high, while the Bovespa stock index surged 1.7% to...

July 5, 2019
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04Jul

Australia’s Biggest Pension Fund Says Get Ready for Low Returns

Australia’s biggest pension fund has told investors to prepare for low, or even negative returns, as the economic growth cycle nears an end. The warning that the good times can’t last forever comes after AustralianSuper posted its 10th straight year of gains, with its default investment option returning 8.7% in the 12 months ended June 30. The gains helped lift assets under management to A$160 billion ($113 billion). The weak Australian dollar boosted returns on overseas assets, while infrastructure, property and...

July 4, 2019
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