August 2025

Nigeria’s wage and pension crisis

By Shu’aibu Usman Leman   Earlier this month, the United States government released a sobering assessment of Nigeria’s human rights record in its 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Among the stark revelations was the shamefully low national minimum wage of ₦70,000—a figure described as “woefully inadequate” amid rising inflation, a weakened naira, and an ever-worsening cost of living. At just $47.90 per month by current exchange rates, this wage is not merely insufficient—it is an affront to human dignity. In...

IORPs in Focus Report 2024

By European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority This report outlines the latest market developments in the occupational pensions sector, with a focus on IORPs and their cross-border arrangements. A factsheet summarizing the key findings accompanies the publication, providing a visual overview of the main trends in Europe's IORP sector for interested readers. Get the report here

Reforming the Pension System in Nepal: Sustainability, Adequacy, and Coverage

By Dilip Raj Paudel Pension systems ensure financial security during retirement, especially in developing countries like Nepal. The sustainability, adequacy, and coverage of pension systems are critical for ensuring social security after retirement, particularly in developing countries like Nepal. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Nepal's pension framework, examining contributory and non-contributory schemes to identify their strengths, limitations, and areas for reform. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, primary data from 384 respondents and secondary sources, including reports from international organizations,...

Pensioners on the frontline of Argentina’s fiery politics

For sure, these veteran "militants" are vocal. Sometimes they are even feisty. But they are also gray-haired, wrinkled and at times struggle to keep their balance. "For God's sake!" 87-year-old Ricardo Migliavacca shouted during a recent police advance that nearly toppled him. "How disgraceful!" He recovered only with the help of his sturdy blue Zimmer frame. Migliavacca is just one of hundreds of pensioners who have taken part in weekly protests against Argentina's right-wing President Javier Milei. They want a pension increase to soften...

One in Three Older Households Is Cost Burdened

The recently released State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report highlights worrying trends in housing affordability for older households (those led by someone age 65 or over). In 2023, over a third (34 percent) of older households were cost burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing. This represents a new high of over 12.4 million households and an increase of nearly 2.3 million households just since 2019. More than half of these households, 6.7 million, pay over...

Boosting Retirement Income through Dynamic Withdrawals

By Ravi Saraogi Dynamic withdrawal strategies, extensively researched internationally, remain underexplored in India. This paper bridges this significant research gap by rigorously evaluating popular dynamic withdrawal methods using Indian data. Employing simulations based on historical equity, debt and inflation data from the Indian market, we compare 10 different adaptive and dynamic withdrawal strategies. The study demonstrates that dynamic strategies can improve withdrawals and sustainability compared to static withdrawal methods. However, this improvement comes at a significant cost of volatility in...

Argentinians protest vetoes to pension and disability funding

Argentinians on Wednesday gathered outside the country’s Congress to protest President Javier Milei’s decision to block raises in pension and disability funding. Milei on Monday vetoed three bills which had previously been approved by lawmakers. The first would have seen a 7.2% increase for all pensions, and would have raised the monthly bonus to 110,000 pesos (approximately USD $80). The second would have permitted women over 60 years old and men over 65 years of age to retire, even if they had not completed...

Argentina. Milei vetoes pension increases in bid for fiscal balance

President Javier Milei on Monday vetoed a law approved by Congress to increase pensions for the elderly and the disabled, arguing it undermined his attempts to balance Argentina's budget. It was the second time since August 2024 that Milei – a self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" – has prevented a pension increase. In a notice published in the government's Official Gazette, Milei also scrapped a provision that had temporarily allowed pensions for people who had not contributed to the system for the required 30 years. More than...

July 2025

Why do many Swiss people choose to emigrate in old age?

Having worked their entire lives, paying into the system and forgoing vacations, some Swiss are shocked to discover they can't afford life in Switzerland after retirement. More and more retirees are choosing to leave their homeland – not in search of adventure, but out of sheer necessity. "After working hard for so many years, pensioners are being pushed to the margins of society. When it comes to its own people, I no longer see Switzerland as a social country." State pensions...

Developing Retirement Living Standards

By Matt Padley & Claire Shepherd The Retirement Living Standards (RLS), first published in 2019 and funded by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), set out what the public agree is needed to retire at two living standards above a minimum standard of living, based on extensive research with members of the public. The research uses the established approach to defining minimum living standards pioneered at CRSP and describes in detail what the public agree single and partnered retirees...