May 2018

14May

Kenya. Civil servants’ Oct pay cut 7.5pc for pension

Civil servants will from October be deducted 7.5 per cent of their salaries for their pension contribution, lowering benefits of the pay increase that took effect last July. Treasury secretary Henry Rotich has informed Parliament that the delayed civil service pension scheme will start in October as Kenya struggles to meet rising public servants retirement costs. Public servants do not contribute to their retirement upkeep, a move that will increase taxpayers’ pension burden to Sh86.2 billion in the year starting July...

May 14, 2018
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14May

Nicaragua under pressure, as violence continues

Nicaragua was rocked again by protests in 10 different cities on Saturday and Sunday. Two people died during a day-long struggle between security forces and protesters, bringing the total death toll in month-long anti-government demonstrations to 51. Mass mobilizations in Nicaragua began on April 17, as students took to the streets to reject a planned pension system reform that would have increased taxes and reduce pensions. The response that followed left dozens dead and hundreds injured. The backlash forced President...

May 14, 2018
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14May

Battle to Survive in Congo Republic as Wages, Pensions Stop

If it wasn’t for two sons in France sending money, pensioner George Kimbembe says he’d have joined the ranks of the dead in the Republic of Congo’s capital, Brazzaville. That foreign cash is a lifeline for the 76-year-old former civil servant who hasn’t received his pension for 13 months. It’s a shortfall emblematic of a fiscal crisis engulfing the oil-producing central African country that was battered by lower crude prices, owes creditors more than $9 billion and is seeking an...

May 14, 2018
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11May

Study: Workers are now focusing on retirement benefits over health-care plans

If you’ve been budgeting for a better employee health-care plan for your company, you may want to change your tactics. A new study says that employees are now more focused on retirement benefits than on health-care benefits. According to a survey of almost 5,000 U.S. employees released this week by the consulting firm Willis Towers Watson, 66 percent of respondents were willing to have more taken from their paychecks each month to support larger and more generous retirement benefits. Only...

May 11, 2018
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11May

New Zealand. Strong opposition to changing retirement system

New survey reveals strong opposition to changing retirement system, despite rising costs. A new survey has revealed New Zealanders don’t want further changes to the retirement system, despite an acceptance of growing costs to support our ageing population. The results expose the difficult position politicians are in when it comes to addressing retirement issues. Read More: Scoop

May 11, 2018
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10May

UK’s Retired Sun Seekers Risk Losing Pensions After Brexit

As a long-term resident of Spain, British ex-pat John Barlow had no hand in his country’s decision to leave the European Union. That doesn’t mean he’ll escape the consequences. Like thousands of British retirees living in European Union countries, Barlow, 72, could lose access to his private pension unless UK and European negotiators reach a deal that allows the payments to continue after Brexit. With less than a year before the official exit date, the two sides haven’t even started...

May 10, 2018
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10May

US. Increase In Number Of Teenagers Exploring Labor Market Offers Exciting Retirement Benefits

With a historically low unemployment rate, more and more businesses across the country are turning to teenagers to help fill the gap. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The 12-month average unemployment rate for teens in March was 13.9%, the lowest year-round average since 2001 and about half that in 2010." A competitive job market is drawing a growing number of workers who have been out of the workforce back in, including teenagers. Some companies are even dropping age...

May 10, 2018
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10May

UK. TPR launches their corporate plan for regulating pensions

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published its corporate plan setting out how it is taking a clearer, quicker and tougher approach to driving up standards in the pensions sector. The corporate plan for 2018 – 2021 outlines how TPR will focus on key areas of activity, including: driving up standards of trusteeship and stewardship across all pension schemes authorising master trust schemes ensuring employers meet their automatic enrolment duties ensuring defined benefit (DB) schemes are effectively regulated working with government to implement the proposals set...

May 10, 2018
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09May

Canada. B.C. finance minister defends public pension investments in Kinder Morgan

B.C.’s finance minister says there’s nothing hypocritical about the province’s public sector pensions investing in Kinder Morgan while the government fights the company’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. B.C. public sector pensions –including those of the public service, B.C. teachers and BC Hydro employees — are administered by a Crown corporation called the BC Investment (BCI) Corporation. It has 1.12 million Kinder Morgan shares, and has added some 21,000 in recent months. The investment is worth about $18 million of the $135.5...

May 9, 2018
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09May

Canadian pension funds invest $25 billion in Asia

Canada’s largest pension funds are fixing their gaze on Asia Pacific to fund the beachfront retirement dreams of today’s workers, says a new report. The report, released by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC), found that between 2003 and 2017, Canadian pension funds invested $25 billion in the region, with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is the top three investors. Read More: Asian Pacific Post

May 9, 2018
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