April 2019

02Apr

Older Workers: Countries’ Experiences with Phased Retirement

“Phased retirement” lets you work less than full-time before you fully retire. This can help keep skilled people working longer while easing pressure on national pensions (e.g. Social Security). The U.S. workforce is aging, but there are few formal phased retirement programs here. We looked at 4 other countries to potentially inform a U.S. strategy. We found program designs that could work under the unique institutional conditions here. For example, many of the programs were designed to work with...

April 2, 2019
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02Apr

Pakistan Introduces Crypto Regulation

The Pakistani government will now regulate local cryptocurrency firms under new legislation. Local news outlet The Express Tribune reported that the government of Pakistan will introduce Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) regulations based on the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The FATF is an intergovernmental organization based in France that creates policies for combating money laundering and other threats to the integrity of the global financial system. It has reportedly been working on international regulations for cryptocurrencies....

April 2, 2019
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01Apr

UK. Accountant jailed after regulator uncovers pension scheme fraud

An accountant who fraudulently took over £290,000 from a pension scheme has been jailed for more than three years. Roger Bessent was trustee and administrator for the Focusplay Retirement Benefit Scheme – the pension scheme for the accountancy business he was a director of. Savers’ money was transferred into new business ventures that he, his family and a client attempted to run. Bessent also used the money to buy himself and his wife a house to rent out as...

April 1, 2019
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01Apr

Kenyan, U.S. pension fund managers mull infrastructure investment

Kenyan and U.S. pension fund managers are in Nairobi evaluating the investment potential and opportunities in infrastructure in the East African nation. The World Bank said the three-day meeting, which kicked off on Monday, will see the Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium (KEPFIC) host 30 representatives of major U.S. pension and asset management funds to discuss investment opportunities with KEPFIC and its membership of 12 Kenyan fund managers, which currently manage 200 billion shillings (2 billion U.S. dollars) in...

April 1, 2019
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01Apr

Protecting The Aging And Infirm From Financial Abuse: Practical Steps To Take Now

People are aging and the incidence of elder financial abuse, and the permutations it can take are growing as well. There is lots of talk of these issues but what you need to do, for yourself if applicable or for loved ones that might be affected, is take action. There are a number of specific steps that might prove helpful and protective. First, let's look at some of the many forms this exploitation can take. A recent article in...

April 1, 2019
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March 2019

29Mar

Nigeria. PenCom launches Micro Pension Plan and invests N6.5tr in securities as Buhari promises retirees better deal

•Contributory scheme hits N8.74 trillion in January Acting Director General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), Aisha Dahir-Umar, has said N6.51 trillion, representing 73 per cent of the agency’s total assets, has been invested in Federal Government securities issued to finance various projects.Of the sum, N95.3 billion went for infrastructure while N7.19 billion was committed to the N10.67 billion Green Bond of the government. Speaking at the launch of the Micro Pension Plan (MPP) yesterday in Abuja, she...

March 29, 2019
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29Mar

Is Pension Reform on the Ballot in Argentina’s Election?

With the fastest-aging populations in the world, Latin American countries are under the gun to overhaul pension systems. Argentina is no different. President Mauricio Macri passed a reform in December 2017, which was met with protests, along with a number of legal hurdles that have kept the legislation from bearing fruit. The latest came on March 26, 2019, when Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to tax pensioners. The administration has been mute on the issue, avoiding an...

March 29, 2019
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29Mar

Why ageing China won’t overtake the US economy as the world’s biggest – now or in the future

In 2010, China replaced Japan as the world's second-largest economy. Many economists believe it is just a matter of time before China dethrones the United States as the world’s biggest economy – some have argued that it could happen before 2030. They have cited the history of other Asian economies as evidence to back the claim. The nominal per capita gross domestic product of China was just a sixth of America’s in 2018 – a level similar to...

March 29, 2019
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29Mar

Lessons From the UK’s Retirement Plan Auto Enrollment Requirement

The United Kingdom has recently completed a nationwide phased rollout of a requirement that employers automatically enroll employees into a retirement plan, with the ability to opt out, and researchers from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College say the results provide lessons for the United States. Following the UK’s initiative, participation rates have jumped to around 90% at medium and large employers (those with 58 or more workers), 74% at employers with 50 to 57 employees, 67%...

March 29, 2019
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