May 2026

US. Aging in place comes with major financial hurdles

More than 75% of older Americans say they want to “age in place,” or live in their home for as long as possible. Sounds reasonable. But 40% have doubts about whether that's possible, according to a survey by AARP. For many, financial constraints will force them to downsize, relocate to a less expensive city or state or move in with family or into an independent retirement or assisted living community. Money issues such as the cost of age-proofing a home, the...

US. Inflation is at a 3-year high. This is the ‘triple threat’ that retirees now face because of it

Plus, here’s how retirees can smartly deal with the secondary impacts of inflation. For retirees, inflation can hit especially hard thanks to three factors that interact with these rising costs: increased withdrawals, taxes and how those parlay into depleting savings, says Jay Sharifi, CEO of Legacy Wealth Management. Indeed, inflation can trigger a chain reaction, as it can necessitate larger withdrawals so retirees can afford their life. Those withdrawals then inadvertently create larger tax bills — and that may in...

March 2026

Pensions get selective as geopolitical risk, energy shocks hits global markets

As geopolitical turmoil continues to shape markets, pension investors are being forced to adjust their portfolio playbook accordingly. But David Kletz, lead portfolio manager at Forstrong Global Asset Management, warns that complacency remains a dangerous undercurrent across institutional portfolios. He sees a disconnect between the scale of geopolitical turmoil and how markets are responding to it. And despite significant moves in asset prices, global equity markets have not priced in the possibility that current conflicts could escalate further "I think there's...

February 2026

India. Report shows retirement plans can face inflation and longevity risks: How to prepare

A new analysis by OmniScience Insights Labs shows that traditional retirement strategies in India may fall short in sustaining income over long retirements. The report highlights how structural design, rather than corpus size alone, determines whether retirees can maintain their lifestyle amid rising costs and market volatility. Inflation risk: Even stable nominal income erodes purchasing power over decades. For example, ₹1 lakh monthly expenses today could rise to nearly ₹1.8 lakh in 10 years at a 6% inflation...

Liability-Driven Portfolio Choice for Pension Funds under Regime-Switching Inflation

By Myung Jun Kim, Hyeontae Jo & Bong-Gyu Jang This paper studies optimal portfolio choice for a pension fund with inflation-linked liabilities under regime-switching market dynamics. We consider a fund manager who invests in stocks, inflation-indexed bonds (IIBs), and a risk-free asset to maximize expected utility of the terminal funding ratio, subject to a Value-at-Risk (VaR) constraint. Asset returns and inflation expectations follow a two-state Markov chain representing high and low inflation regimes. The main methodological challenge is solving the...

October 2025

UK. Savers back pension reforms despite cost-of-living strains

Despite the cost-of-living strain, most savers are continuing to save into their pension, research from Pensions UK has found, with 4 per cent of savers having reduced pension contributions. The research showed that many are struggling, as 44 per cent of people say their financial situation is worse than 12 months ago, up from 34 per cent in 2024. As a result, many are cutting back on everyday spending, including eating out (39 per cent), takeaways (35 per cent), holidays (32...

September 2025

Social infrastructure law in the UK, EU and US

By Ewan McGaughey What should be the goals of social infrastructure, and the best means to achieve them? Social infrastructure is a new term to describe the welfare state, whose conceptual foundations were laid in Lord Beveridge’s Report, Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942). A good government, said Beveridge, should tackle five evil ‘giants’, namely disease, ignorance, squalor, idleness, and want. These could be overcome with a universal free health service, public education, public housing, full employment, and income insurance...

August 2025

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...

May 2025

Pension Gaps and Inflation: The struggle for a secure Nigerian retirement

Across the African continent, the aspiration for a peaceful and financially secure retirement has remained a common dream for generations. For many today, particularly in Nigeria that vision is becoming increasingly difficult to attain. The harsh realities of the current economic landscape, defined by soaring inflation, a continually rising cost of living, and limited access to pension schemes for millions of workers, especially those in the informal sector, have made retirement planning more complex and uncertain than ever. In Nigeria, as...

April 2025

Unequal Inflationary Effects of Tariffs across Socio-Demographic Groups

By Hakan Yilmazkuday This paper investigates the heterogeneous effects of U.S. tariffs on inflation across socio-demographic groups, utilizing a structural vector autoregression model that controls for oil prices, output growth, policy rates, and exchange rates. The aggregate tariff pass-through to inflation is estimated at 0.51, with tariffs accounting for approximately 17% of overall inflation volatility. Disaggregated analysis reveals significant variation, where tariff pass-through ranges from 0.38 to 0.55 across income percentiles, with higher income groups experiencing greater pass-through and a...