February 2021

US. Women’s Retirement Savings Especially Affected by the Pandemic

By Amanda Umpierrez The pandemic has aggravated financial insecurity for millions of American workers, but data shows it’s affected women more severely than men. A study by Nationwide found that among 297 women with investable assets of $100,000 or more, 72% believe the pandemic had a negative impact on their retirement savings. Additionally, women listed losses from the pandemic as their top financial concern last year. Other worries involved protecting assets, health care costs and longevity risk during retirement. “With women, when...

México. ASF halla deficiencias de control en pagos a 82,870 beneficiarios de Pensión para Adultos Mayores

La Auditoría Superior de la Federación (ASF) halló deficiencias de control en pagos a un total de 82 mil 870 beneficiarios del programa Pensión para el Bienestar de las Personas Adultas Mayores. Lo anterior resultó en un monto por aclarar de casi mil millones de pesos del presupuesto ejercido por la Secretaría del Bienestar en el primer año de gobierno del presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador, de acuerdo con la Tercera Entrega de la Cuenta Pública 2019. La Auditoría fiscalizó la...

Swiss scheme assets expected to drop by 2035 if fossil investments kept

Swiss pension funds will experience on average a 10% loss in assets in the next 15 years if they continue to invest in fossil fuels and industries with high CO2 emissions, according to a report by Climate Alliance, a group of civil society organizations. Pension funds with an above-average share of foreign equities and bonds in their portfolios carrying high climate risks could see assets declining by 18%. The study predicted funding ratios to sink to 90% with assets falling...

British Airways defers £450m of pension payments as Covid cuts flights

British Airways has struck a deal to delay £450m of pension deficit contributions as the company struggles through Covid travel restrictions that have left most of its planes grounded during the pandemic. The carrier’s owner, International Airlines Group (IAG), has also reached a final agreement over a £2bn loan that will give the company a larger financial cushion until Covid restrictions are eased. BA, which usually pays £37.5m a month into the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), has struck a deal...

US. 3 Retirement Myths, Debunked: Social Security, The Stock Market And Savings

Retirement should inspire thoughts of mixed drinks on the beach and long afternoons with the grandkids. But for many people, just mentioning the word spurs anxiety. Younger Americans are waiting too long to put money away, middle-aged workers rarely make up for lost time and people approaching retirement hope to hold onto their jobs long enough to save just a few dollars more. Most people know they should be doing more to save for retirement, yet too few of us are...

Forget bitcoin — fintech is the ‘real Covid-19 story,’ JPMorgan says

Bitcoin is an “economic side show” and fintech innovation is the story that will dominate financial services, according to JPMorgan. Analysts at the bank said that despite bitcoin’s monster rally, the cryptocurrency is still beset by a number of issues that may prevent it from becoming a mainstream asset. “Bitcoin prices have continued their meteoric rise with Tesla, BNY Mellon and Mastercard’s announcements of greater acceptance of cryptocurrencies,” JPMorgan said in a research note last week. “But fintech innovation and increased demand...

10 puntos que debe cubrir el mejor sistema de pensiones

Delinear pilares que soporten un sistema ideal de pensiones es útil para contrastarlos con los esquemas de pensión reales. Algunas de estas comparaciones las ha hecho la Consar para el sistema de pensiones de México. El de las pensiones es un tema que preocupa a todos los países. De acuerdo con la Oficina Internacional del Trabajo, alrededor de 90por ciento de la población económicamente activa del mundo no se encuentra cubierta por programas de pensiones que le den un ingreso...

México. Temen que la reforma eléctrica afecte a las Afore

Ante la inminente aprobación, sin modificaciones por parte del Legislativo, de los cambios en el sector eléctrico promovidos por el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador, al menos 41 mil 904 millones de pesos de recursos de las Afore invertidos a través de bonos de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) se verían impactados, en un efecto que llevaría a minusvalías o menor apetito de inversionistas. De acuerdo con un reporte de la Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el...

U.S. Retirement Crisis Hits Black Americans Hard

Kimberly Owens doesn’t know if retirement will ever be a reality for her. A well-educated project coordinator in her late 40s, she has pulled from her retirement funds for emergencies twice in 20 years. Her 401(k) balance is in the low-five figures. “I’m going to be working until I am 75 at this rate,” said Ms. Owens, who works for the New Haven, Conn., campus of a medical-device company. “I’m not anywhere close to where I thought I was going...

Albania. Deficit in State Pension Scheme Deepening

The decit in the state pension scheme reached Dollar 506 million at the end of 2020, reaching the highest level since the start of the implementation of the new reform in this area. Government spending on pensions amounted to Dollar 1.34 billion, 2.2% more than in 2019, while contributions for social security payments fell for the rst time since 2016. Economic experts link this phenomenon to the eects of the Covid-19 pandemic, where many people lost their jobs, and in many...