August 2025
19Aug

US. New Portable Benefits Bill Aims To Help Gig Workers, But Worker Classification Still Matters

Senator Bill Cassidy (R- IL) uncovered the Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act to prevent gig worker misclassification. Under this legislation, companies will be able to voluntarily offer portable benefits without employing gig workers and having to pay for unemployment insurance, overtime pay, and workers' compensation. For some time, there has been a disagreement between labor advocates and large companies like Uber or Lyft over portable benefits. Gig workers have been advocating for worker protections, while larger companies have fought back, deeming them...

August 19, 2025
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19Aug

UK. Time for a course correction: How pension sustainability reporting must evolve

In June, the Department for Work and Pensions launched a consultation on UK sustainability reporting standards and corporate disclosure requirements – adding it would also consider whether to update the current rules for pension schemes. In this article, Tegs Harding takes a look at the current TCFD framework and asks how it could be improved. There's no doubt that the introduction of the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regime was a milestone; It pushed climate risk onto trustee agendas...

August 19, 2025
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19Aug

Big tax changes for these retirement funds in South Africa

South Africans with foreign retirement funds and foreign nationals who become South African tax residents face a major shift from 1 March 2026. This follows a proposal from the National Treasury, which wants to scrap the current exemption and give SARS taxing rights over foreign retirement income. This was explained by Tax Consulting SA’s cross-border taxation legal manager, Delano Abdoll, and team lead, John-Paul Fraser. Abdoll and Fraser stressed that retirement planning is a crucial financial component for South African expatriates and...

August 19, 2025
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19Aug

US. Working longer to afford retirement is a risky plan, economists say — but some employees are counting on it

As Americans live longer and worry about outlasting their money in retirement, a growing number are counting on one strategy for their future financial security: working longer. Roughly 70% of U.S. workers who haven’t retired yet have considered pushing back their retirement date, according to a recent survey from F&G, an insurance company. Nearly half of the 2,000 adults surveyed said they’re afraid they won’t have enough money to retire. Some people have gone beyond considering the strategy. “Two in 10 workers adjusted their target retirement age...

August 19, 2025
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19Aug

Life Behind the Cart in Sierra Leone’s Informal Sector

On any given day, through the dusty or muddy streets of Shell New Road, Freetown, you’ll find Hassan Sesay, 43, pushing his heavy cart, navigating potholes and broken roads, hustling to deliver goods that don’t even belong to him but upon which his entire livelihood depends. Sesay was born along Lunsar Road in Makeni to a builder father and a trader mother. Life was hard. His parents could not afford to send him to school, and his childhood dream of...

August 19, 2025
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18Aug

How Many Americans Have Retirement Savings? The Answer May Surprise You.

Given the choice, most Americans would probably rather spend their extra money on entertainment, vacations, or home improvements than contribute to an IRA or 401(k). But without retirement savings, you risk struggling financially once your career comes to an end and you stop collecting a steady paycheck. If you're an average earner, you can expect your Social Security benefits to replace about 40% of your wages, assuming the program doesn't have to move forward with cuts. But it's typical for retirees to...

August 18, 2025
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18Aug

UK state pension age could rise to 70 amid triple lock concerns

State pension reform has returned to the centre of political discussion as the nation's growing financial burdens have prompted experts to forecast that a rise in the retirement age to 70 could arrive earlier than anticipated. Further demands have been made for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reassess the triple lock policy. The state pension age currently stands at 66, scheduled to climb to 67 by 2028, with additional rises planned for subsequent decades. Financial advisers and think tanks are advocating...

August 18, 2025
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18Aug

Turkey is heading towards a demographic shift. An aging society versus the lowest number of children

The latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜIK) reveals a striking demographic shift in the country, as the number of children declines to unprecedented levels alongside a noticeable increase in the elderly population, raising concerns about the future of demographic balance. The figures show that the number of children under the age of four has decreased this year to about 4.9 million children only, the lowest number recorded in Turkey's history. In contrast, the number of those over the...

August 18, 2025
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18Aug

China. Will retirees be job market winners as China targets social insurance dodgers?

Increased scrutiny of businesses in China that evade their social insurance obligations looks set to further boost the employment of retirees, prompting widespread concerns as a record number of university graduates tries to find work. It all came to a head recently when recruitment notices put out by the McDonald’s fast food chain, which has been employing retirees for years, sparked an emotional response on Chinese social media platforms. “The logic behind it is simple – hiring retirees means companies don’t...

August 18, 2025
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15Aug

UK hospital workers vote for historic NHS strike over pay inequality

Nearly 400 essential facilities staff at St Helier and Epsom hospitals in the UK have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over pay and conditions, delivering what their union has described as a “historic” ballot result. The United Voices of the World (UVW) members – most of whom are from migrant and minority ethnic backgrounds – recorded an 81% turnout, with 98% voting in favour of industrial action. They are employed directly by the National Health Service (NHS) but...

August 15, 2025
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