April 2023

UK. ‘The current pensions system is not fit for purpose’

By Stephanie Hawthorne The death knell for defined benefit pension provision has been tolled many times, even if the final 'coffin nail’ has not quite yet been hammered into its lid. Millions of ordinary workers, from journalists, railway workers to shop assistants in WH Smith, enjoyed DB pensions without appreciating just how good a perk they were, until it was almost too late. What a failure in communications. Sadly, we have almost reached a tipping point when there will be no return...

February 2023

US pension funds are on the brink of implosion – and Wall Street is ignoring it

By David Sirota As public officials across America prepare to funnel even more of government workers’ savings to private equity moguls, an alarm just sounded for anyone bothering to listen. It is a warning that Wall Street executives, busy skimming fees off retirement nest eggs, want you to ignore. The longer the warning goes unheeded, however, the bigger the financial time bomb may be for workers, retirees and the governments that pay them. Earlier this month, PitchBook – the go-to news...

October 2022

Ghana. NPRA calls for more collaborations with stakeholders to increase coverage and growth

The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) is urging stakeholders in the industry to enhance collaboration that would inure to the benefit of Ghanaian workers during retirement. Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regions manager of the Authority, William Ohene Adjei, said it is only through effective collaboration that there would be a widening coverage and subsequently rope in more informal workers. He said as part of the Authority’s 5-year strategic plan, they intend to work towards increasing pension coverage and pension income. “It...

Don’t Count on Sunak to Protect Your UK Pension

Liz Truss lasted only 44 days as UK prime minister. But her legacy in respect of your pension will almost certainly endure for decades. It is important to understand how this might affect you and how best to respond. One of Truss’s last acts as PM was to reaffirm the government’s commitment to raise the state pension each year by the higher of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. The more fiscally hawkish new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been more circumspect...

Abu Dhabi Pension Agency: Employers are obligated to register citizens within 10 working days of their joining the service

By The Bharat The Abu Dhabi Pension Fund has called on the employers registered with it not to delay in registering the new employees who have joined them. He stressed that registering and subscribing to the fund on behalf of citizens working in the public and private sectors is a mandatory procedure for all employers that have their headquarters in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, within the framework of complying with the requirements of the fund and the retirement law...

UK Pension Fund Near-Collapse Is A Warning For America’s Pensions

Autor: Edward Siedle Around the world, there are millions of workers and retirees who are counting upon pensions set up by corporations and governments to provide for their retirement security. These individuals believe they have been “promised” certain benefits and that promises made will be kept. Unfortunately, many pensions are severely underfunded, i.e., not enough money has been set-aside to pay benefits promised. Further, the money in these pensions is all-too-often grossly mismanaged—what I refer to as “gross malpractice generally practiced.” That’s...

September 2022

Argentina. Reconversión laboral: la crisis de los sistemas de pensión podría extender la edad jubilatoria

“El Fondo de Sustentabilidad de los jubilados tenía 24 meses de pago hace una década, hoy estamos con menos de 4 porque se invirtió en bonos estatales defaulteados”, aseguró Andrea Falcone, abogada previsional. El crecimiento de la población mundial se está desacelerando y, según la ONU, se estima que en apenas 15 años habrá más adultos mayores de 60 años que menores de 10. En consecuencia, las empresas junto a los gobiernos comenzaron a trabajar en la reconversión laboral de...

Hispanic Americans deserve retirement security

By Maria French Originating in 1968 and enacted into law in 1988, National Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate Hispanic Americans’ history and contributions and the influence they have had on American culture and society and to consider the future of the Latino community. Throughout modern history, Hispanic labor leaders like Cesar Chavez and Santiago Iglesias Pantin have contributed vastly to the labor movement by organizing workers and advocating for better pay and working conditions. Today, Americans with ancestry...

U.S. This is how much Social Security benefits are likely to rise next year

By Brett Arends Social Security beneficiaries could be looking at a very welcome bump of 8.7% in their benefits starting in January next year, if current trends continue. That hike would be the biggest since 1981, and would be worth an extra $144 a month for a retiree on the average monthly benefit of $1,656. These numbers are the latest projection from the Senior Citizens League, a nonprofit, and are based on the government’s inflation data over recent months. These are only projections,...

México. Reflexiones sobre el movimiento “Fire” (I)

La semana pasada decidí probar algo nuevo y preguntar en twitter qué temas les gustaría que abordara en mi columna. Recibí un par de propuestas muy interesantes. Esta es una de ellas. Lo seguiré haciendo: no hay nada mejor que escribir sobre lo que a mis lectores les interesa. Hace aproximadamente un año expliqué en este espacio lo que es el movimiento “FIRE”, que es el acrónimo de “Financial Independence, Retire Early”, en español “Independencia Financiera, Retiro Temprano”. Como su nombre...