October 2026
20Oct

US. Retirement confidence gaps widen for homeowners approaching 65

A new national survey from Longbridge Financial finds that retirement confidence among US homeowners ages 55 to 64 lags behind every other age group examined. Where a household holds its wealth — not just how much it holds — is the sharpest driver of that divide. Published as “The Retirement Confidence Divide,” the second volume of the 2026 Longbridge Financial Home Equity Confidence Index draws on responses from 2,021 US homeowners age 55 and older, surveyed by Morning Consult between...

October 20, 2026
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15Oct

US. Are employers looking at pensions through an outdated lens?

For much of the past two decades, defined benefit (DB) pensions were treated as liabilities to wind down rather than tools to deploy. Plan sponsors spent years focused on risk reduction, driven by weak funded positions and volatile markets that left little room for anything else. But improved balance sheets and persistent gaps in retirement security are forcing a different conversation, one that asks whether the assumptions guiding pension strategy still hold, according to Royce Kosoff, senior managing director, head...

October 15, 2026
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07Oct

US. Gen X and millennials are rethinking retirement as pensions disappear

Pensions are fading, Social Security confidence is eroding, and a new survey shows two generations are scrambling to fill the gap. A Harris Poll survey conducted on behalf of West Des Moines, Iowa-based retirement solutions company Athene found that more than eight in 10 Gen X and millennial respondents (83%) say their generation faces retirement challenges that prior generations did not encounter. The survey, which polled 2,022 U.S. adults ages 40 to 61 with at least $100,000 in investable assets and...

October 7, 2026
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September 2026
17Sep

UK. Integrated retirement journeys could drive 60% guaranteed income take-up

Integrating guaranteed income into the retirement journey could produce annuitisation rates of between 55 per cent and 60 per cent without removing member choice, research from Nuveen and the TIAA Institute has suggested. The report, Beyond auto-enrolment: International lessons for converting UK retirement savings into lifetime income, drew on evidence from 11 countries, with a particular focus on Switzerland, Chile and TIAA’s experience of voluntary annuitisation in the US. It found that around 55 per cent of Swiss retirees select full...

September 17, 2026
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11Sep

Pensions and Turbulence: Automatic Adjustment, Risk, and Fairness in Long-Term Pension Design

By Peter A. Diamond Public pension systems are long-term social contracts operating under persistent economic, demographic, and political uncertainty. Periods of turbulence, marked by financial shocks, changes in longevity, and shifting labour markets, test the capacity of pension institutions to adapt while maintaining adequacy, equity, and legitimacy. Building on earlier joint work on pension economics and reform with Nicholas Barr, this chapter analyses the role of automatic and semi-automatic adjustment mechanisms in public pension design. Drawing on comparative experience from...

September 11, 2026
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08Sep

Switzerland. Retirement Planning: High Expectations for Benefits in Old Age

How much does one need to live on in retirement? For the sixth time, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, in collaboration with VorsorgeDIALOG, examined the financial and retirement planning knowledge of the Swiss working population. This year’s focus was on the expectations of actively insured individuals regarding retirement planning. The study focused on the level of retirement benefits deemed necessary from the insured individuals’ perspective, the preferred method of receiving retirement funds, and their assessment and...

September 8, 2026
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August 2026
26Aug

UK. A dynamic value-based framework for retirement

My mother spent much of her working life as a home-help organiser, helping other people remain independent and supporting families who needed care. When she eventually needed help herself, however, that lifetime of contribution gave her no particular claim on the care she required. She simply had to pay for it. That always struck me as odd. We are very good at recognising, storing and exchanging financial wealth, but much less good at recognising other forms of value that people...

August 26, 2026
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24Aug

South Korea. Elderly income up 80% in a decade, but pension gap triples

South Korea's elderly are moving away from relying on allowances from their children, with public pensions — the national pension and the basic pension — becoming the primary source of income in old age. Annual income per elderly person rose roughly 80 percent over the past decade driven by public pensions, and the share of seniors receiving both the national pension and the basic pension nearly doubled. Yet the income gap between those receiving the national pension and those dependent solely...

August 24, 2026
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19Aug

UK. Inflation-proofing retirement income: are clients overlooking a valuable annuity opportunity?

We’ve seen a significant cost of living shock since 2020, with prices rising sharply over the past six years. While there were hopes inflation was easing, geopolitical uncertainty earlier this year has already had knock-on effects, with energy bills rising again this month. After many years of relatively modest price rises, inflationary pressures have been a defining feature of this decade. Prices have risen by 42%1 since 2020, once the cumulative impact of inflation has been considered, according to...

August 19, 2026
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13Aug

U.S. DC pension plan sponsors enhancing support for members, but gaps remain: survey

The survey, which polled more than 500 DC plan sponsors, found employers are asking their DC plans to deliver more than ever, including enhancing the employee experience (69 per cent) and improving retirement outcomes (63 per cent). Three in four ranked retirement savings as a core or top priority within total rewards. However, the survey found many plans are still measured, governed and delivered for a different era, leaving a gap between what employers expect and what their plans are...

August 13, 2026
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