February 2018

16Feb

Investing for retirement: a long-term game many workers aren’t even playing

As a bullish 2017 stock market continued its steady rise to record breaking levels, President Trump and others took the opportunity to highlight these gains for retirement savers and their 401(k)s. But that record-breaking streak came to end in early February as the stock market finally tumbled, reminding us that what goes up usually comes down. The lesson from this: highlighting short-term gains to retirement portfolios can do more harm than good to long-term retirement savings and can weaken the...

February 16, 2018
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16Feb

US. Judge certifies class action against NYU in pension management case

A federal judge in Manhattan has certified a class of approximately 20,000 members in a lawsuit accusing New York University of mismanaging its employees’ pension plans. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest on Tuesday said the case is appropriate for class treatment because the facts that will ultimately prove or disprove the claims about the plans’ management are the same for every individual class member. Read More: Reuters

February 16, 2018
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16Feb

Ghana. BEIGE launches a nationwide campaign to educate informal and formal workers on Pensions

The ‘EveryDayPension’ retirement plan allows subscribers to save at least GH50 a month to enable them to secure comfortable financial future. Speaking at a forum Thursday before the launch of the scheme at the Holiday Inn in Accra, Director of Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Ernest Amartey-Vondee, said due to a lack of proper pensions planning, many Ghanaians receive very meagre pensions during retirement. Citing recent figures from the Social Security and National Insurant...

February 16, 2018
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15Feb

Steel pensions scheme victim to ‘major mis-selling scandal’

In 2017 the Indian firm announced a restructuring of the £14bn fund to keep its UK loss-making operations afloat. But the government, Tata and regulators failed to protect 124,000 members from a "major mis-selling scandal", the Work and Pensions Select Committee said. The UK government has yet to issue its response to the "neglect" claim. Read More: BBC News

February 15, 2018
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15Feb

Investing for retirement: a long-term game many workers aren’t even playing

The swift rise in U.S. bond yields in February may be whipsawing some stock market portfolios but it may bring relief to corporate America’s largest pension plans. For pension funds, rising interest rates can generate more investment income to cover their obligations to pay pensioners. The prolonged low-rate, low-volatility environment since the 2008 financial crisis posed a challenge for pension fund managers. Not only were returns on bonds low, but the market value of their liabilities was rising, reducing the so-called...

February 15, 2018
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14Feb

There’s another option when the answer to ‘can I retire’ is ‘not yet’

It is pretty safe to assume that if you are reading this you have an interest in knowing whether you can retire now. The question may have been thrust upon you by an employer who decided that your services were no longer required. Or maybe health issues forced you out of the workforce earlier than expected, or are making life unbearable while working. You may badly want to retire. Yet when you face financial reality, the answer to the retirement question...

February 14, 2018
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14Feb

Rising U.S. bond yields offer relief to corporate America’s pension plans

The swift rise in U.S. bond yields in February may be whipsawing some stock market portfolios but it may bring relief to corporate America’s largest pension plans. For pension funds, rising interest rates can generate more investment income to cover their obligations to pay pensioners. The prolonged low-rate, low-volatility environment since the 2008 financial crisis posed a challenge for pension fund managers. Not only were returns on bonds low, but the market value of their liabilities was rising, reducing the so-called...

February 14, 2018
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14Feb

State Lawmakers Say New Pension Bill Is Coming This Week

Republican leaders of the state legislature say a new proposal to overhaul the state’s public retirement systems will be unveiled later this week. Kentucky’s pension systems are among the worst-funded in the nation and Gov. Matt Bevin, along with many in the Republican-led legislature, wants to change how much state workers earn in benefits in order to reduce the state’s pension liability in the future. It’s unclear what will be in the new proposal, but lawmakers have hinted that it won’t...

February 14, 2018
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13Feb

EU regulators warn Bitcoin investors of ‘pricing bubble’

The European Union's top banking, securities and pensions watchdogs have all warned cryptocurrency investors could lose all their money as Bitcoin enters a "pricing bubble". Bitcoin soared in value in recent months before losing more than half its value, leaving investors who bought in at the highest prices out of pocket. Prices increased to as high as $20,000 in December, before falling to under $7,000 last week. The trio of regulators - the European Banking Authority, European Securities and Markets Authority,...

February 13, 2018
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13Feb

UK regulators working on joint pensions strategy

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator said they intend the strategy to set out how they will work together "to tackle the key risks facing the pensions sector" over the next five to 10 years. "As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the sector works well for consumers and workplace pension savers, we are working together on a pensions strategy which will look at how we will work together, and with stakeholders, in the coming years,"...

February 13, 2018
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