January 2018

08Jan

Thailand. Ageing population gives rise to worries over pensions

Amid concerns about the sustainability of the Social Security Fund (SSF) due to an ageing population, the Social Security Office (SSO), which oversees the SSF, continues to lock horns with labour networks over how best to address the issue. The SSO's approach is to raise the cap of base salary for payroll deductions from 15,000 baht to 20,000 baht a month. This means the maximum deduction, which would be funnelled to the SSF, would rise from 750 baht to 1,000...

January 8, 2018
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08Jan

New Zealand. Pensions paid to thousands after death

The Ministry of Social Development has released figures which show it overpaid almost 7000 deceased people for a month or more over the past five years. In a statement, a spokeperson said the Ministry was formally notified of a person's death by the Department of Internal Affairs. "In some circumstances, this can be some time after the actual date of death." The Ministry also double-checked the information was correct before stopping any payments which also contributed to a slight lag. Read more...

January 8, 2018
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08Jan

Pension risk as US watchdog warns savers of bitcoin ‘scammers’ and ‘bogus investments’

The US-based Utah Division of Securities has released information warning savers that cryptocurrency schemes may target individuals' retirement savings. The Division of Securities works to protect the investing public and promote confidence in the capital markets. And the warning comes after Merrill Lynch, the investment arm of The Bank of America, decided to block access to all funds connected to bitcoin after concerns were raised by bank chiefs over the "suitability and eligibility standards of this product”. Keith Woodwell, director of...

January 8, 2018
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05Jan

US. Pension Fund Members Don’t Know Their Plans Are Underfunded: Study

U.S. public pension fund members are generally unaware that their pension is underfunded and of the risk this poses, according to a survey released Thursday by Spectrem Group. The study also reveals a wide gap between how members want their pension funds managed and the actual approach many managers take. The survey, conducted online in the second half of November, compared CalPERS and NYC Retirement Systems (NYC Funds) against a “national” group, comprising individuals from the New York State Common Retirement...

January 5, 2018
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05Jan

Canada. Aon survey finds financial health of defined benefit pension plans ends 2017 near decade-long highs

Aon’s Median Solvency Ratio at end of Q4 2017 stood at 99.2% Pension plans’ financial strength positions them well to manage liabilities in 2018 Capping a year that saw the financial health of Canadian defined benefit pension plans reach levels not seen in more than a decade, plan solvency in the fourth quarter of 2017 maintained the trend and remained near the post-recession high set in Q3, according to Aon’s latest quarterly Median Solvency Ratio survey. Read more @GloblalNewswire

January 5, 2018
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05Jan

Deciding Between a Lump Sum or Monthly Pension Payments

Retirement planning was not always as complicated as it is today. There was a time when 30 years of service was rewarded with a golden watch and a lifetime pension. Today fewer and fewer employers are offering pensions and the ones who do are looking for ways to reduce the long-term obligations associated with pension plans. One of the strategies that employers are using to reduce these long-term obligations is lump sum buyouts. A lump sum buyout is an offer...

January 5, 2018
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05Jan

US. How to out-fox Congress when it comes to retirement savings

There’s plenty of stressful news these days, and by and large I’m used to hearing or reading about unpleasant developments. But I was particularly alarmed by a report this fall that Congress was considering drastic cutbacks in the contribution limits to 401(k) and similar retirement plans. Currently, the maximum annual contribution to such plans is $18,500 ($24,500 for workers age 50 and older). These contributions are tax-deferred, meaning the money isn’t taxed until it is withdrawn, presumably after retirement when workers...

January 5, 2018
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04Jan

China. More provinces mull entrusted pension investment: official

Three provinces and one autonomous region are planning for entrusted pension investment to deal with mounting payment pressure, a social security official said Wednesday. Gansu, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces as well as Tibet Autonomous Region are considering entrusting some of their pension funds, totaling 150 billion yuan (23.05 billion U.S. dollars), to the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) for professional investment, according to Tang Xiaoli, an official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. China is facing...

January 4, 2018
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04Jan

Canadian pensions fared well in 2017 on stock markets’ strength: Mercer

Defined-benefit pension plans in Canada generally ended 2017 in better financial condition than they've experienced for most of the past decade, according to figures released Wednesday by Mercer. The international pension consulting firm's Canadian index of pension health – based on a hypothetical, representative fund – stood at 106 per cent on Dec. 29, up from 102 per cent at the beginning of the year and a dismal 70 per cent after the 2008-09 financial crisis. "Equity markets had crashed and...

January 4, 2018
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04Jan

US. Tax Reform Results in Only Minor Changes for Retirement Plans

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made significant changes to the tax code and will have a significant impact on businesses and individual taxpayers. However, although initial proposals included potentially significant changes to employer-sponsored retirement plans, the impact of the final bill on employer sponsored retirement plans will be relatively minor. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act), which was signed into law on December 22, 2017, represents the most sweeping overhaul of the tax code in decades and...

January 4, 2018
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