March 2019

21Mar

The Retirement Crisis Is Much Worse Than You Think

Are you sitting down for this? According to a recent survey, one in five American adults have nothing saved for retirement or emergencies. A further 20 percent have squirreled away only 5 percent or less of their annual income to meet certain financial goals. Less than a third of all Americans have saved at least 11 percent or more. The survey, conducted by Bankrate in late February and early March, is just the latest indication that the U.S. faces...

March 21, 2019
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21Mar

Portugal’s pension system needs to prepare for rapid population ageing

Portugal needs to reform its pensions system to address the challenges of a fast-shrinking workforce and high levels of old-age inequality, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Reviews of Pension Systems: Portugal says the country’s rapidly ageing population, a result of low fertility and rising life expectancy, is putting pressure on pension finances. The total population recently started to shrink and is projected to fall below 9 million by 2050 from a peak of 10.7 million in...

March 21, 2019
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21Mar

When natural disasters and emergencies strike: Retirement plans & hardship distributions

Plan sponsors wanting to offer hardship distributions to employees need to be aware of the complexity associated with this benefit. When natural disasters or other personal emergencies strike, employees may seek financial relief by tapping into their retirement plans. Enter the hardship distribution. Read more @Benefits Pro

March 21, 2019
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21Mar

Fund managers turn up heat on UK companies over diversity, pensions, audit

Britain’s big public companies will face a grilling by asset managers over their track record on diversity, excessive pension payouts to bosses and poor quality audits when they hold annual shareholder meetings over the coming weeks. A committee of 15 asset managers at the Investment Association has picked the three issues that annoy investors the most to try to increase pressure for change. It is the first time the IA has specifically set out what changes it wants to...

March 21, 2019
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21Mar

How biomaterials will support China’s ageing population

Chunying Chen remembers the first nanomedicine conference held in China, which took place in 2015. “It was small. Just 500 people,” she says. “Three years later, it had almost tripled in size.” In the past decade, the chemist has also seen her budget for research into how to use nanomaterials to diagnose and treat malignant tumours triple. Her country is investing increasing amounts of money into materials research that relates to health care. Areas such as drug delivery, bone regeneration...

March 21, 2019
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20Mar

A first step towards justice for South African pensioners

Between 2007 and 2013, more than 6,000 pension funds in South Africa were cancelled in a process littered with errors and oversights. Today, Open Secrets has written to five of the country’s largest pension fund administrators to demand swift action to reinstate pension funds that have been incorrectly cancelled. This is the first of many necessary steps of ensuring accountability for a shameful decade in pension fund administration that has harmed many vulnerable pensioners. The regulatory body that is...

March 20, 2019
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20Mar

China. Gov’t raises basic pension of seniors

The government has increased basic aged-care pension by 5 percent for retired personnel, according to a news release by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Wednesday. The policy, effective Jan 1, is projected to benefit 118 million employees of companies, government departments and public institutions. According to the release, increasing the basic aged-care pension will help secure retired people a happier life against the backdrop of price hike and a sustainable pension insurance fund. Read more...

March 20, 2019
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20Mar

US. It just became easier for employers to dump retirees’ pensions

Traditional pensions are disappearing in America, and the federal government just made it easier for employers to get rid of them. With no fanfare in early March, the Treasury Department issued a notice that allows employers to buy out current retirees from their pensions with a one-time lump sum payment. The decision reverses Obama-era guidance, issued in 2015, that had effectively banned the practice after officials determined that lump-sum payments often shortchanged seniors. Now, advocates for the elderly worry...

March 20, 2019
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20Mar

What Japan Can Teach Us About The Opportunities Of An Ageing Society

Prime Minister Abe’s recent visit to the UK was a chance for the two countries to talk about common issues affecting their future. Let’s hope one of the topics they discussed was how to deal with an ageing society. In the 1970s and 1980s the world looked to Japan to learn about lean manufacturing. After the 2007-8 global financial crisis it looked to Japan to see how to deal with the aftermath of a financial crisis. Japan is a...

March 20, 2019
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20Mar

‘No change to France retirement age’ after backlash

There will be no change to the minimum retirement age in France, the health minister has confirmed, despite having previously suggested that “a lengthening in the duration of work” may be possible. The move has been described as a “backtrack”, after health minister Agnès Buzyn had previously appeared (on Sunday March 17) to suggest that a new minimum retirement age would be proposed. When questioned by MPs on the topic this week, however, Ms Buzyn said: “No change to...

March 20, 2019
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