December 2018

11Dec

UK in push to consolidate defined benefit pension schemes into ‘superfunds’

The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation into the prospect of consolidating defined benefit (DB) pension schemes into so-called ‘superfunds’ to improve security for members. The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation into the prospect of consolidating defined benefit (DB) pension schemes into so-called ‘superfunds’ to improve security for members. The consultation paper (68 page / 688KB PDF) suggests that encouraging a well-managed superfund sector could be a more effective way...

December 11, 2018
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11Dec

Ageing poses particular problems for LGBT people

From dealing with transphobia and social isolation to the difficulties in accessing vital medical care, Caomhán Keane gets the inside story. Statistics from the Visible Lives study in 2011 showed that 40pc of the older people surveyed were not 'out' to their health care provider and many feared that healthcare staff would not understand or would discriminate against them because they were LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender). There is little evidence to show that that figure has improved following the...

December 11, 2018
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10Dec

Zimbabwe. IPEC endorses policyholder security

The proposed Policyholder Protection Fund for the insurance and pension industry is a welcome development as it will help assure policyholders that they will receive compensation due to them upon the occurrence of an insured event, the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) has said. The insurance and pension industry regulator said given the critical role played by insurance in the growth of the economy, it is critical that the market is stable against any market shocks or failure. IPEC’s remarks come...

December 10, 2018
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10Dec

Financing decent pensions: a challenge for European states

Some 70,000 people took to the streets of Brussels on 28 May 2018. And tens of thousands demonstrated once again in several Belgian cities on 2 October. The trade union mobilisation against the reform of the pension system in Belgium attracted nationwide attention. But this protest movement did not emerge from nowhere. It is, rather, the culmination of many years of discontent. The federal government undertook to reform the entire pension system, to cope with Belgium’s ever-ageing population, from the...

December 10, 2018
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10Dec

Nigeria. Pension: PenCom Adopts Risk-based Supervision To Promote Risk Mgt

The National Pension Commission (NAICOM) has adopted a risk-based supervision approach to promote better risk management in pension sector of the nation’s economy. Acting director-general, PenCom, Mrs. Aisha Dahiru-Umar, who stated this at the Compliance Officers Forum held in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State recently, disclosed that the commission moved to a more risk based approach to supervising pension operators by aligning its supervisory framework with that of the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC). Stating that risk management is essential to the...

December 10, 2018
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10Dec

Nepal needs a rights-based approach to transform unequal social structures, not piecemeal schemes

The Nepal government’s announcement of a social security scheme for formal sector workers this month has once again thrust social protection policy into the political spotlight. While such schemes can be important social policy instruments, significant concerns have been raised about this scheme and previous policies, particularly regarding government’s ability to fund and implement them. Now more than ever, it is important that social protection policies and programs effectively address issues of marginalisation and vulnerability that undergird social insecurity and...

December 10, 2018
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10Dec

US. 401(k) plans are 40 years old. To celebrate, here’s a look at how they could be better

It's clear that 401(k) plans have been huge successes in the 40 years since they were authorized, amassing more than $5 trillion in assets and becoming investment mainstays for millions of Americans through workplace-benefit programs. But 401(k) plans and similar defined-contribution programs haven't worked out well for everyone, and criticisms linger. As the 401(k) concept marks the 40th birthday from its creation in the Revenue Act of 1978, here's a look at some of the shortcomings: These programs aren't pensions Perhaps the...

December 10, 2018
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07Dec

Why Retirement Is Broken And Needs To Be Reinvented

Retirement is the #1 financial worry with 65% of Americans worried about it and a majority thinking about it 4 times per week. The core problem is uncertainty - people have no idea how much they need, because we have created a system around building assets instead of income. We spend our lives saving up a big pile of money in an effort to secure our future against a bewildering set of future risks including market returns, inflation, healthcare and...

December 7, 2018
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07Dec

Brits living in the EU risk having their pensions frozen

Britons living in the EU, who qualify for a state pensions uprate, could lose the guarantee after disorderly Brexit. The British government has today outlined the ways how it intends to protect rights of its citizens living in the EU in the case of “no-deal Brexit.” As one of the protections, the Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay pledged to keep uprating state pensions of UK nationals living in the EU – but only if the EU reciprocates. If the EU as a bloc...

December 7, 2018
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07Dec

Canadian taxpayers subsidize government pensions to the tune of $22 billion a year

Government employees don’t pay the full cost of their defined-benefit pensions. Taxpayers provide a $22 billion annual subsidy by assuming undisclosed investment risks for which they are not compensated, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. “The issue is not whether government employees should have defined-benefit pensions, but rather how much they should pay for these pensions,” said Philip Cross, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Risk and Reward...

December 7, 2018
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