September 2021
06Sep

South Korea. State pensions face mounting calls for reform

Calls are expected to grow for the reform of four state-run pension funds, as nearly 60 trillion won ($51 billion) will be allocated for public spending next year, up 6.2 percent from this year's 55.8 trillion won. The year-on-year increase will require a greater amount of taxpayers' money to slow the hemorrhaging of the funds, as a rapidly aging society and overall decrease in labor productivity cause government welfare expenditures to snowball. Mandatory spending by law cannot be curbed unless a...

September 6, 2021
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03Sep

U.S. corporate pension funding rises in August – 2 reports

Funding ratios for U.S. corporate pension plans increased in August, according to reports from Legal & General Investment Management America and Wilshire. LGIMA found in its monthly pension solutions monitor that the funding ratio of a typical corporate pension plan increased by 1.6 percentage points to 90.8% in August primarily due to strong performance from global equities. LGIMA estimated U.S. Treasury rates rose 3 basis points while credit spreads widened by 2 basis points, resulting in the average discount rate rising...

September 3, 2021
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03Sep

UK. Pension contributions hold up well despite Covid

Workers kept up with payments into their pension funds last year, confounding fears that many people might scrap or cut their contributions because of pandemic pressures, according to government data. Annual savings from eligible savers rose to £105.9bn, from £100.4bn in 2019, said the Department of Work and Pensions in a report on Thursday. That extends the increases posted since 2012, following the introduction of auto-enrolment into work-based pension schemes to boost retirement saving. The DWP said a fall in employee...

September 3, 2021
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03Sep

Why pensions engagement can’t wait for your retirement

Prospect pensions officer Stewart Mott looks ahead to the events that Prospect will be holding to mark Pensions Awareness Day later this month and explains why, even though your retirement might seem far off, it is still important that you start engaging with your pension now. It’s easy to neglect our pensions, we save for retirement over many years, and often don’t have a reason to engage with our pension unless we are moving to a new employer. Pension Awareness Day...

September 3, 2021
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02Sep

More Than 4 Billion People Have No Social Protection as COVID-19 Wreaks Havoc

The International Labor Organization reports more than 4 billion people globally have no social protection at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc upon their lives and livelihoods. Read also World Social Protection Report 2020–22 The ILO's World Social Protection Report 2020-2022 reveals the extent to which COVID-19 has devastated the world of work. It exposes the inequality between the rich countries that are beginning to rebound from the economic distress of the pandemic and the developing countries that...

September 2, 2021
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02Sep

South Africa. Govt revokes proposal to force employees to contribute to state-run pension fund

Mandy Wiener interviews Isobel Frye, Director at the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute. The Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute is disappointed that the government has withdrawn the green paper proposing mandatory contributions to a pension fund It says the response to the green paper by organised business was not “in good faith” Read also Plan for early pension access in South Africa could do more harm than good, authorities warn "There were far too many wide-ranging and negative impacts...

September 2, 2021
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02Sep

UK. Draft CDC regulations hampered by poor definitions, industry warns

The government’s consultation into draft regulations governing collective defined contribution schemes requires more work on definitions if these pension funds are to be properly implemented, with the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association warning it could create a “back door” for unscrupulous employers. In a CDC scheme, contribution rates for employers and employees are set in advance, and members pool investment and longevity risk. These pension funds provide income in retirement, though the rate of increase varies and pension reductions are...

September 2, 2021
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02Sep

Can Insurers Be a Pension Safety Net?

Pensions are complicated enough without employers passing the buck onto someone else, but increasingly, that is what's happening. In exchange for buying a group annuity, employers are transferring their pension-paying obligations to life insurance companies, who pay the pension. The practice, known as pension risk transfer or de-risking, has implications for how pensions are protected and whether the payments are off limits to creditors. About 33 million Americans still participate in private pension plans, according to the federal Pension...

September 2, 2021
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02Sep

US. Suburban residents risk losing homes over rising pension costs

By Amy Korte Patricia Hill grew up in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood dreaming of one day owning a home. She and her husband accomplished that dream in 2003 when they moved to the suburb of Matteson to raise their two daughters. They bought a two-story home in a quiet neighborhood for $315,000. Her property taxes were $7,800 for 2004. But Hill’s home is now worth less than she paid for it back in ’03. Meanwhile, her property taxes have done anything...

September 2, 2021
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01Sep

US. Many Teacher Pension Plans Get Failing Grade: New Report

Roughly three-quarters of states offer teachers a retirement plan that isn’t making the grade, according to a ranking released Tuesday. Just 13 states received either a B or a C grade overall in Bellwether Education Partner’s latest look at teacher retirement plans. None received an A. South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, Utah and New York scored closest, topping the nonprofit organization’s new ranking. Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kentucky New Jersey and Illinois rounded out the bottom five states. Most teachers are enrolled in a defined-benefit...

September 1, 2021
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