November 2024
08Nov

US. Corporate pension funding improves in October after discount rates rise for the first time since April

Milliman analysis: Corporate pension funding improves in October after discount rates rise for the first time since April Milliman PFI funded ratio climbs to 103.4% after discount rates increase by 35 basis points Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the results of its latest Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI), which analyzes the 100 largest U.S. corporate pension plans. During October, the Milliman 100 PFI plans’ funded ratio improved from 102.5% at the end of September to...

November 8, 2024
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06Nov

86% of Americans say all workers should have a pension, not just public workers

Americans' views on retirement are shifting. Many employees are increasingly worried about retirement and they see a return to pension as a way to restore the American Dream of retirement, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security's (NIRS') new survey, What Do Americans Think About Pensions for Public Employees? NIRS finds strong support among Americans for retirement benefits provided to state and local government employees: 86% of Americans say all workers, not just those employed by state and local governments, should...

November 6, 2024
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05Nov

US. Boeing workers vote to accept deal, end strike

Striking workers at embattled plane maker Boeing voted Monday to accept the company’s most recent offer, ending the costliest strike in the United States in more than 25 years. The International Association of Machinists (IAM) said rank-and-file members voted by 59% to approve the deal. IAM members had voted almost unanimously against Boeing’s first offer on the eve of the start of the strike, and then 64% voted against the second offer less than two weeks ago, extending the strike. “I’m...

November 5, 2024
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01Nov

UK. Autumn Budget 2024: Implications for pension schemes

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP, has presented her Autumn Budget 2024 to Parliament. The most significant change for occupational pension schemes is the announcement that most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will be brought into a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. Currently, most lump sum death benefits are not chargeable to inheritance tax. The government has published a technical consultation on the processes required to implement this change...

November 1, 2024
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01Nov

US. The union fight to resuscitate the Boeing pension is a battle over the American dream

Machinists at aerospace giant Boeing have been on strike for nearly seven weeks. The union members want larger pay increases and improved retirement benefits, and the two sides have made some headway on the terms of a new contract. But there is one issue where they remain far apart: the revival of the company pension plan. The work stoppage has shuttered Boeing’s  BA 3.68%  production in the Pacific Northwest and contributed to a recent $6 billion loss for the company,...

November 1, 2024
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October 2024
28Oct

At the heart of the Boeing strike, an emotional fight over a lost pension plan

At a rally here this month, machinists union vice president Gary Allen addressed a hall full of striking Boeing workers. “When I'm out on the picket line, I ask everybody, what is the strike about to you?,” he said. Allen didn’t even have a chance to answer his own question before the machinists in the room interrupted. “Pension! Pension! Pension!,” they chanted. Pensions are a major sticking point between Boeing and the union. The machinists want the company to restore the traditional pension...

October 28, 2024
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07Oct

UK. Royal Mail launches collective defined contribution pension plan

Royal Mail has launched a collective defined contribution (CDC) pension plan to provide its more than 100,000 employees with a cash lump sum and an income in retirement. Along with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and Unite CMA, the employer designed and implemented a pension arrangement for its workforce that was affordable for itself and its employees. Every employee with at least one year of service is eligible to join, with the majority joining automatically. The plan pools members’ contributions and provides staff...

October 7, 2024
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August 2024
22Aug

US. Reduction in Pension Benefits Leads to Wider Income Inequality, Study Finds

The continuing decline of the number of defined benefit pension participants in the U.S. is widening America’s income equality gap, which in turn is stunting economic growth, according to a recent study from the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. The study also found that public policies aimed at cutting public costs by reducing pension benefits or switching to defined contribution plans may actually increase the need for public spending due to “the dynamic interrelationship between pension reforms, income inequality, the...

August 22, 2024
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June 2024
17Jun

​Sweden eases rules on occupational pension payout phase, allowing pauses

Sweden’s government has decided to introduce more flexible rules for the payment of occupational pensions — following agreement on the issue by the cross-party pensions group last October. During the first five payment years, it will be possible for individuals to pause payments and extend the payment period, according to an announcement from the ministries of finance and social affairs last week. Elisabeth Svantesson, the Swedish finance minister, said: “Sweden’s pensioners should be able to choose how they want to set...

June 17, 2024
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14Jun

3M to transfer pension-payment obligations for 23,000 U.S. retirees

3M to book a charge of nearly $1 billion as it transfers some of its pension obligations to Met Tower Life 3M Co. said Thursday it will transfer about $2.5 billion of its pension-payment obligations to Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Co. The consumer- and industrial-products company (MMM) said the transfer, which will affect the pension payments of about 23,000 U.S. retirees, won't change the amount of the monthly benefit payments. The only change is who is making the payments. 3M, which makes...

June 14, 2024
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