March 2018

26Mar

US. Revamped hybrid retirement plan proposed for rank-and-file state workers

Revamping the pension plans for future rank-and-file state workers will better serve the needs of younger employees and lower the state’s debt risk, according to officials with the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System. The Senate Retirement Committee, chaired by Sen. Barrow Peacock, R-Bossier City, is expected to consider Senate Bill 14 on Monday. The legislation, authored by Peacock, is a hybrid retirement plan that would apply to rank-and-file state employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2020. The monthly pension...

March 26, 2018
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26Mar

US. Battered by Great Recession, underfunded public pensions to persist

Ten years on from the financial crisis, many U.S. state and local public pension systems are still the worse for wear. Investment returns have been uneven and funding levels have yet to recover. Many pension funds have meanwhile attempted to boost returns by loading up on alternative investments to levels unheard of a decade earlier. “Some just cannot grow their way out of it. We have had several years of stellar (stock market) returns and it barely improved the underfunding situation,”...

March 26, 2018
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26Mar

UK pensions gender gap widens in past decade, figures show

The gender gap in UK retirement incomes has widened dramatically over the last decade, with the average single woman now £85 a week behind her male counterpart, according to new data. The findings come as companies and organisations continue to report the difference between what they pay male and female staff ahead of the 4 April deadline set by the government, and suggest that gender pay inequalities do not stop after people retire. Steve Webb, the former Lib Dem pensions minister,...

March 26, 2018
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23Mar

US. How ‘easy’ target-date funds can endanger your retirement

Americans love “set and forget it” products. Like rotisserie roasters and slow cookers that prepare delicious dinners while we’re miles from the kitchen, any approach that takes out complexity is beloved in our harried, overworked society. That’s why index funds are growing so rapidly. Why pay an adviser good money to pick stocks when the data show that the market SPX, -0.02% return slays actively managed funds? That’s good. But “set it and forget it” is also the driving force behind...

March 23, 2018
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23Mar

Australia. Pension pay rise kicks in but deeming rates disappoint retirees

PENSIONERS have received a pay rise this month, pushing their fortnightly rate above $900 for the first time. However, deeming rates are again unmoved, annoying hundreds of thousands of retirees who Centrelink judges to be earning more income than they actually are. Deeming — the threshold used by the pension income test when measuring financial assets such as cash or shares — is still at 1.75 per cent for the first $52,000 of a single pensioner’s assets and 3.25 per cent...

March 23, 2018
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23Mar

The ECB recommends delaying the retirement age in the euro area

The European Central Bank recommends delaying retirement age in eurozone to cope with ageing of population resulting from a low fertility rate, increased life expectancy and baby boom retirement. In Spain, this will increase progressively to reach 67 years in 2027. The ECB stresses that many pension reforms have been approved, more intense especially in countries that have undergone adjustment programs like Spain, he says. But in his latest economic bulletin he points out that more is needed. "These recent...

March 23, 2018
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22Mar

Will FOMO Ruin Retirement For Millennials?

I’ll be the first to admit it; I’ve rolled my eyes at some of the things my Millennial children spend their money on. When I see what they bring home, I often wonder how their generation (more than 75 million strong) will navigate their financial future in a world where everything they desire is available with one swipe. Will FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) ruin their retirement in the future? Millennials are constantly faced with financial detours — the options...

March 22, 2018
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22Mar

Amazon is working with AARP to develop new tools for ageing populations

At present, there are over 960mn people worldwide who are over 60. By 2050, this number will have soared to 2bn, where approximately 400mn will be over 80 years of age. It is therefore no surprise that Amazon is looking to develop new digital tools and solutions and tap into this rapidly growing market. CNBC has reported that Amazon’s health team has been working with the US non-profit organisation AARP to look at new tools and solutions which will attract older...

March 22, 2018
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22Mar

US. Investment trusts gobble assets; retirement plans retreat from active funds

US retirement plans pumped billions of dollars into investment trusts last year, helping asset managers offset some of the heavy cash outflows from their pricier actively managed funds. Assets in collective investment trusts, or CITs, run by T. Rowe Price Group Inc soared 54 percent last year to $88.9 billion. And assets in 16 CITs managed by Fidelity Investments rose 31 percent to $85.6 billion, according to a Reuters analysis of US Department of Labor reports. Read More: Reuters

March 22, 2018
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22Mar

India. Aadhaar obstacle depriving widows of pensions in Uttar Pradesh

Aadhaar, the Indian government’s bid to create the world’s biggest biometric database, has become a victim of “mission creep.” What began as a project to create a foolproof identification system to weed out duplicate and fake beneficiaries from public-welfare programs has morphed into a vast bureaucratic net that threatens to ensnare every citizen, rich or poor. In the process, its original purpose seems all but forgotten. In the rush to make Aadhaar mandatory for everything from opening a bank account...

March 22, 2018
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