July 2018

17Jul

US. How Hidden Costs Can Dent Your Retirement Income

For millions of retirees, hidden costs creep up on them. Just when they thought they were covered by Medicare and Social Security, they get clobbered. While Medicare does pay for the bulk of hospital-related expenses after age 65, there can be thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. You have to plan for them. According to a report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, retirees, on average, face $4,300 in annual out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Those bills can eat...

July 17, 2018
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17Jul

Nigeria. Anchor Pensions Asset Base Exceeds N80bn

With the nation’s pension fund growing day-by-day, the pension Assets Under Management of IEI-Anchor Pension Managers Limited has now exceeded N80 billion. Managing director/CEO, IEI-Anchor Pensions, Mr. Glory Etaduovie, who stated this during a media parley at company’s head office in Abuja, last week, said, the company has made tremendous progress to penetrate pension industry in the last three years, stating that its excellent and friendly customer service delivery has persuaded both individuals and companies to trust in the capacity...

July 17, 2018
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17Jul

One of the biggest — and often costliest — retirement mistakes investors are making today

Target-date funds are all the rage among retirement investors, making it easy to spread money among stocks and bonds and to rebalance as conditions change. Total assets in this sector topped $1.1 trillion at the end of 2017, up from $158 billion at the end of 2008, according to Morningstar. But is this too much of a good thing? Vanguard Group, the fund giant, reported recently that 51 percent of investors in 401(k) plans with the firm put all their money...

July 17, 2018
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16Jul

Ghana. Public urged to use tax reliefs to plan for retirement

The Head of Finance and Compliance at Enterprise Ghana, Yaw Kusi-Acheampong, has stressed the need for Ghanaians to capitalise on the tax reliefs government has given to plan seriously toward retirement, by engaging in additional savings. “Plan your investments and projected income to meet your expenses by investing more, and implementing lifestyle changes to reduce cost,” he said. According to him, many people stay healthy and active for 15 years or more after they retire, with estimates suggesting that retirees will...

July 16, 2018
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16Jul

China’s ageing population problem worsens as birth and marriage rates fall

China’s ageing society problem appears to be worsening, with the latest official statistics revealing that both its birth and marriage rates have dropped significantly. The country is facing huge challenges with its new births in decline and a quarter of the population expected to be aged over 60 by 2030, according to a cabinet plan. Its rapidly ageing population pushed Beijing to end the notorious one-child policy – introduced in 1979 to control population growth – in 2016, and couples can...

July 16, 2018
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16Jul

Ireland. USC billions for pensions abyss

The Government's long- promised plan to merge USC and PRSI could be used to offset the growing risk posed to the country's financial stability by the pension time-bomb, the Sunday Independent can reveal. Senior Government sources believe a significant amount of the €4bn raised annually from USC could be combined with PRSI to fill the black hole in the country's pension fund. Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty is understood to be eager to dramatically increase the amount of funding her...

July 16, 2018
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16Jul

UK. MPs call for collective defined contribution pensions

MPs have encouraged the government to seek innovation and the “great potential gains” of collective defined contribution pension schemes, a report published this morning by the work and pensions committee says. The committee says the schemes, which are already highly successful in Denmark and the Netherlands, offer advantages of a middle ground between defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. CDC pensions – which are not yet available in the UK – offer regular retirement income but in the form of...

July 16, 2018
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16Jul

US. Retirees rally for pensions as committee considers Sen. Brown’s bill to bolster pension program

From Utah to Alabama and points in between, retirees rallied at the Ohio Statehouse to demand actions to save their pensions last week. The pensions of more than 60,000 Ohioans and more than 1 million Americans are at risk, making times difficult for retired steelworkers, coal miners, tobacco workers, teamsters and more. The pension funds are slowly collapsing as they have been since the Wall Street crisis of 2008. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown says he has a plan to save the...

July 16, 2018
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13Jul

US. Brown University Retirement Plan Lawsuit Advances

Brown University staff can advance some of their claims in a challenge over how the elite college managed their retirement savings. The workers can move on with their claims related to record-keeping services, including that Brown acted imprudently by using more than one record-keeper, not employing competitive bidding in its selection, and allowing the plans to pay excessive administrative fees, Chief Judge William E. Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island held July 11. The workers...

July 13, 2018
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13Jul

Japan pension funds raise alternatives exposure to record high in 2017 survey finds

Japanese pension funds raised their allocation to alternative investments to a record 17.1% of total assets last year in a bid to boost returns, according to findings from a survey by JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). At the same time, their allocation to Japanese government bonds (JGBs) declined to an all-time low as the central bank’s prolonged negative interest rate took a toll on return targets. JPMAM polled 123 Japanese defined-benefit pension funds and mutual aid pension funds between March...

July 13, 2018
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