December 2018

14Dec

India. Senior Citizens Should Get Meaningful Pension: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that senior citizens should get a meaningful pension to live with dignity, and not just the equivalent of Rs 92 at current value. The apex court said the State was "obligated to ensure" that the right to live with dignity that includes reasonable shelter, health care, clothing and meaningful pension for elderly people without any means was "not only protected but are enforced and made available to all citizens". Noting that in real terms the...

December 14, 2018
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12Dec

Pension savings withdrawal made 100% tax free in India

The government has made the NPSmore tax friendly by offering complete tax exemption to the 60% of the corpus that an investor can withdraw on maturity. When they retire, NPS investors have to use 40% of the corpus to buy an annuity and can withdraw the remaining 60% of the corpus. Till now, only 40% of this withdrawn amount was tax free, while the remaining 20% was taxed. Last week, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to enhance the tax exemption limit to...

December 12, 2018
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03Dec

India. Why pension funds are a good bet for investors

They are regulated by India's Pension Fund & Regulatory Development Authority Q: Investment in pension funds is becoming quite popular. As I am returning to India for good this year, I want to know how safe and secure these funds are and whether they are properly regulated? A: Pension funds are regulated by the Pension Fund & Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA). This authority exercises control over pension fund managers (PFM). The PFMs are permitted to invest only in corporate bonds which...

December 3, 2018
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November 2018

02Nov

India low on global pension index; proactive regulation can bring meaningful change

A study says steps like introducing minimum level of support for the poor can lead to increase in India’s index value The pension and retirement income system in India has figured in the lowest category in the world, according to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2018, published by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm, along with Australian Centre for Financial Studies and Monash University. The other countries in this category along with India are Japan, South Korea, China, Mexico and...

November 2, 2018
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September 2018

19Sep

India. PFRDA caps MF investment by NPS; Kotak Pension most hit

A recent circular from PFRDA says pension fund managers of NPS can invest only 5% of corpus in mutual funds The pension regulator has finally taken cognizance of the fact that pension fund managers (PFMs) under the National Pension System (NPS) shouldn’t outsource fund management to mutual fund companies. A circular issued by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on 20 August puts a cap on the amount of corpus the PFMs can invest in MFs to manage...

September 19, 2018
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07Sep

India. RINL unions flay move to cut contribution to pension fund

Various staff unions of the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) on Wednesday criticised the management’s move to contribute just two percent towards the pension fund for the non-executive employees. ‘Agreement violated’ In a memorandum to RINL Chairman-cum-Managing Director P. Raychaudhury on Wednesday, the unions including the recognised ones said the move was in contrary with the terms of the National Joint Committee on Steel Agreement reached in July 2014 wherein it was decided to contribute six percent of salary by the...

September 7, 2018
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06Sep

What are the retirement ages around the world?

Retirement ages, or the age when some sort of government pension can be received, varies around the world. The OECD average for a normal pension age is currently 64.3 years for men and 63.7 years for women. While life expectancy has risen in many countries and governments grapple with ageing populations, any attempts to make people wait longer to collect benefits are usually met with fierce opposition, as Russia and Australia found out recently. Read more sbs

September 6, 2018
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August 2018

23Aug

India. Explained: National Pension System recent changes make NPS more subscriber-friendly; 10 points

National Pension System (NPS): Over the years, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has undertaken several measures to make the NPS  more beneficial for the subscribers. The recent notification, which was issued in July, makes the NPS (also popularly referred to as National Payment System) more subscriber friendly. Until last month, there were 11,758469 NPS subscribers in the country with assets under management of Rs 2,50,758 crore! Most of the subscribers are government employees, the number of subscribers...

August 23, 2018
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July 2018

30Jul

The Winning Combination of Surviving Together: Poor and Their Resilience Built Through Relationships

By Arun Keshav (Amity University, Rajasthan) Social capital happens to be one of the most important assets that poor possess. It is this safety net on which they fall upon at time of crisis and also draw security to reduce their vulnerabilities to several risks but what strength lies behind this social capital? Why poor invest so much in their social relations? In this article the author tries to understand what lies behind these and the winning combination of surviving...

July 30, 2018
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May 2018

04May

NPS subscribers allowed to partially withdraw fund for education, setting up business

The pension fund regulator PFRDA today said that NPS subscribers now have the option to partially withdraw funds from their accounts for pursuing higher education or setting up a new business. The decision was taken at the board meeting of the Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) last week. "Partial withdrawals will now be allowed to National Pension System (NPS) subscribers who wish to improve their employability or acquire new skills by pursuing higher education/ acquiring professional and technical qualifications,"...

May 4, 2018
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