October 2025
31Oct

Ghana. SSNIT is financially viable despite past challenges – Director

Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kwesi Afreh Biney, says his outfit is financially viable despite past challenges. According to him, the entity managing contributors’ funds pays over 257,000 pensioners each month. Mr. Biney explained that while SSNIT, as an institution, had faced hurdles in the past, it has also seized opportunities to strengthen its operations, thus making the Trust financially viable and sustainable. Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM on Thursday, October 30, ahead of...

October 31, 2025
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31Oct

More Australians living off superannuation than the pension in retirement

More Australians are using superannuation as their primary retirement income source, with reliance rising to 35% for men and 23% for women aged 45+ in FY25, replacing the pension as the main income source. The trend is part of a larger increase from 20% to 28% for retirees relying on superannuation between 2014-15 and 2024-25, driven by more baby boomers reaching preservation age and gaining access to their money. Australia's Retirement Standard suggests a 'comfortable' retirement requires $690,000...

October 31, 2025
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30Oct

UK. Reeves urged to cut pension lump sum withdrawals to £100k

A pressure group of which Rachel Reeves is a member has urged her to cut the tax-free pension lump sum to £100,000. At present, most savers can take 25pc of their pension pot tax-free once they reach the age of 55, up to a maximum of £268,275. However, the Fabian Society, a prominent Labour-associated think tank, has suggested cutting the allowance by two-thirds at the Budget on Nov 26 in an attempt to raise £2bn. It claimed that pensions were “systemically” under-taxed and...

October 30, 2025
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30Oct

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund returns 5.8% amid AI optimism

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund — the largest of its kind in the world — on Wednesday reported a 5.8% return during the third quarter, powered by strong stock market gains and AI optimism. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) manages the fund on behalf of the Norwegian population. Set up in the 1990s to invest excess revenues from Norway’s oil and gas industry, the enormous Government Pension Fund Global is currently invested in assets across 70 countries, including almost 9,000 companies. Its...

October 30, 2025
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30Oct

US. State Pension Funding Levels Stayed Stable Despite Volatility

The reported funding gap for state pension plans—the disparity between promised benefits and available assets—was $1.32 trillion in 2023, according to 50-state data collected by The Pew Charitable Trusts. This represents a $44.7 billion increase over 2022, driven primarily by increases to liabilities from benefit changes and differences between what plans assumed for salaries, longevity, and similar workforce and demographic trends and what actually happened. However, even amid volatile markets, state funds showed signs of resilience. The overall funded ratio—the...

October 30, 2025
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30Oct

Is it right to have 25% of DC pensions invested in just seven companies?

Yesterday, Nvidia became the first company in the world to reach a market value of $5trn (£3.8trn). The US chipmaker's valuation growth has been stellar – with it reaching a market value of $1trn (£758bn) for the first time in June 2023 and $4trn (£3.03trn) just three months ago, all on the back of the AI-boom. Nvidia's value is now about half the size of Europe's entire benchmark equities index, the Stoxx 600, and dwarfs all 350 constituents of the FTSE...

October 30, 2025
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30Oct

Risks escalate for U.S. retirement plans due to unregulated private credit funds and new rules opening them up to retirement savings accounts

When the privately owned auto parts manufacturer First Brands Group earlier this month began to be unable to service its $6.1 billion debt load, the financial press began to pick up on the story—not because it was so unique or important to the U.S. economy, but rather because various financial institutions, including the Swiss banking giant UBS Group AG, were admitting that their exposure to the company was higher and more complicated than they had previously shared, through their...

October 30, 2025
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29Oct

Mexico’s Retirement Savings Grow, Inclusion Gaps Persist

Mexico has experienced a significant shift toward formal savings and greater use of digital financial tools. Between 2021 and 2024, the share of adults with a retirement account rose from 35% to 42%, while adoption of online savings accounts and digital payment solutions tripled, according to the latest joint study by México, ¿Cómo Vamos? and Vanguard. This reflects broader progress in financial inclusion, as the share of adults with at least one formal financial product (savings account, credit, insurance, or AFORE)...

October 29, 2025
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29Oct

US. After 4 Weeks, How the Government Shutdown Is Affecting Retirement Plans

On Tuesday, Day 28 of the government shutdown, federal agencies and departments were unable to make important updates that, if delayed much longer, could affect retirement plans and their participants. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, operated as normal in the early days of the shutdown, but eventually needed to furlough employees and to further reduce operations as the government closure dragged on. As it stands now, the agency is unable to publish critical information that normally would be released in fall....

October 29, 2025
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29Oct

Pensions UK calls for triple lock review amid rising state pension cost

Pensions UK has proposed replacing the triple lock with a more sustainable uprating mechanism once the state pension reaches a “clear adequacy benchmark”, ensuring it provides minimum income standards for a decent retirement. In its response to the government’s third state pension age (SPA) review, the trade body acknowledged the triple lock’s role in protecting pensioners’ incomes in real terms - particularly given ongoing concerns about the adequacy of retirement outcomes from defined contribution (DC) schemes. However, Pensions UK pointed to Office...

October 29, 2025
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