January 2019

Nigeria. 7 million aged people beg FG to create Ageing and Elderly Commission

No fewer than seven million aged people in the country have appealed to the Federal Government to establish a commission for Ageing and Elderly Persons with a view to addressing their current plights and sufferings. The ageing Nigerians said the creation of the Elderly couple in happy mood. commission would provide an environment which will encourage and promote active living for all aged groups, thus fostering social capital and a sense of community living. They also called on...

UK. On pensions, the government has placed freedom over protection – but will it make us better off?

Many are choosing cash over annuities because they don’t think they will live long enough to get good value from an annuity, even though many would. In short, lots of people are making a financial mistake The “pushmi-pullyu” in the 1967 film of Doctor Dolittle was a double-headed llama, with one head facing forward and the other back. Pensions policy in the UK in recent years has borne a resemblance to this contradictory animal. In 2012 the government introduced...

Warning: Many Seniors Face Nearly Impossible Financing 30 Years Of Retirement With 40 Years Of Work

Many workers are facing a nearly impossible challenge: financing 30 years of retirement with only 40 years of work, two National Bureau of Research economists warned today. “If a couple (in their early 60s) retired today, the survivor of the couple would have about a 40 percent chance of living an additional 30 years,” Robert Clark and John Shoven said in a report to a Brookings Institute symposium on the elderly in the workplace. With the Baby Boomer...

Most Companies Plan to Get Rid of Their Pension Liabilities

Plan sponsors are increasingly turning to options like annuity buyouts to eliminate their pension obligations. More U.S. companies are considering transferring away their pension liabilities, according to a new survey by MetLife. Roughly two-thirds of the 102 plan sponsors polled by the insurance company last year stated that they were interested in conducting an annuity buyout, up from 46 percent in 2015. Interest in pension buyouts among American companies has increased as Fortune 500 companies like FedEx and Raytheon...

South Africa. ‘Despicable’ – ANC slams DA’s latest ad claiming pensions and homes will be taken

The ANC condemned the DA for its latest pre-election campaign - an advertisement that claims the ruling party will take away citizens' houses and pension fund money. "Spreading disinformation as an election tactic is not only despicable, but it also undermines the intelligence of the voters. We reject these insinuations with the contempt they deserve," ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said on Wednesday. He labelled the campaign shallow and said it rode on the back of disinformation. The advertisement...

Another Swedish Pension Fund Makes Huge ESG-Focused Divestment

Selling of nukes, tobacco, coal and oil sands holdings follows new law, plus actions of sister fund. Closely following its sister fund, in accordance with new legislation, Swedish pension fund AP1 has divested from several environmentally harmful categories. The $1 billion AP1, one of four pension funds that manage the retirement assets of the nation, said it has removed allocations to nuclear weapons, tobacco, coal, and oil sand companies from its investment portfolio “since the beginning of the year.”...

UK. Stay at home parents risk losing thousands from their state pension if they don’t register for Child Benefit

The Government’s information about state pensions clearly isn’t up to scratch. It needs to put this right urgently When new parents are thinking about their household finances, many will consider claiming Child Benefit. Many will not, however, think about National Insurance credits. Yet registering for Child Benefit builds up entitlement to the state pension for parents of children under 12 who don’t build up National Insurance contributions for another reason, such as through work. Put simply, a stay-at-home parent...

Retirement? Boomers aren’t ready yet

This generation isn’t just staying in the workforce — some who left are coming back Retirement isn’t for everybody — or at least not every baby boomer. The generation closest to retirement isn’t ready to leave the workforce, according to an Express Employment Professional poll of 1,500 U.S. workers between 54 and 72 years old, conducted by Harris Poll. Some have decided to extend their careers, others are dipping their toes into retirement by shifting to part-time work and...

UK’s world-famous Beefeaters on strike over pensions

Workers at the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace — including some of London's famed Beefeaters — are on strike in a dispute over pensions. The historic attractions, among London's most popular, remained open Tuesday despite the work slowdown, which is the second in the last two months. The dispute is between workers and Historic Royal Palaces, which operates a number of prominent sites in Britain. Union officials say a recent settlement offer was not good enough. The...

ILO report on the future of work calls for people-centered approach

As unprecedented changes in the world of work due to artificial intelligence (AI), automation and robotics reshape industries and jobs, a new report has recommended a human-centred strategy to cushion the impact of the new order. The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) global commission on the future of work, which is co-chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, says the pro-people agenda will be based on investing in people’s capabilities, lifelong learning, institutions of learning,...