June 2022
03Jun

How the U.S. retirement system shortchanges the middle class

America has a vast and elaborate system of public policies supposedly designed to help us all save for retirement and avoid the catastrophe of a penurious and poverty-stricken old age. But does this system end up shortchanging the middle class that is the backbone of the country and the economy? That’s the accusation of a new report from the National Institute for Retirement Security, a nonpartisan think-tank. It’s hard to argue they’re wrong. Read also Governance Issues Loom Over US Pension...

June 3, 2022
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May 2022
30May

India. Donate-a-pension retirement plan finds few takers

The government's Donate-a-Pension initiative to build up a retirement kitty for unorganised workers, including domestic helps, has failed to garner enough responses. The number of beneficiaries enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM) scheme has slowed considerably in fiscal year 2022-23, strengthening the case for a major revamp of the initiative. Only 14,518 unorganised workers enrolled under the scheme between April 1 and May 25, government data showed, bringing average enrolment in a month to a little over 7,000....

May 30, 2022
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Why are LGBTQ+ investors different?
26May

Why are LGBTQ+ investors different?

By Matthew Carter &  Paul Donovan The obvious question when writing about LGBTQ+ investment is why the LGBTQ+ community would need to invest differently from the cis-gendered heterosexual community? The answer is that full legal and social equality does not exist anywhere in the world. When different groups face different social or legal environments, they need to invest differently to deal with the challenges that they face. While the main concerns of investors are the same, regardless of gender or sexual...

May 26, 2022
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26May

The National Landscape of State Retirement Benefits. How Good Are Public Retirement Systems at Putting Employees on a Path to Retirement Income Security?

By Jonathan Moody & Anthony Randazzo  Retirement security is ultimately about retirement income. Families and individuals want to know that during their retirement years they will have enough weekly, monthly, or annual income to live comfortably and meet their basic needs. Of course, many people aspire to more than just the basics. Ask even a handful of individuals about how they want to live in retirement, and you’ll hear a wide range of preferences. Expenses can vary from family-to-family, too,...

May 26, 2022
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25May

A Comfortable Retirement Appears Out of Reach for Most in the U.S.

American workers say it will take $1.1 million on average to retire comfortably — but less than one in four figure they’ll be able to save that much. Just 22% of people approaching retirement age said they’ll have enough money to maintain a comfortable standard of living, according to the 2022 Schroders US Retirement Survey, down from 26% a year ago. The survey of 1,000 workers was conducted in mid-February, when the S&P 500 Index was higher than it is...

May 25, 2022
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24May

Bangladesh. Is a Universal Pension Scheme viable?

The role of an inclusive pension system in any society is increasingly important to ensure that future retirees will have sufficient funding to retain their standard of living at the end of their working life. However, the newly proposed Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) in Bangladesh, result of Awami League's 2018 election manifesto, is simplistic and grossly discriminatory. The scheme does not consider Bangladesh's unique financial and socio-economic context and will create further strain on the government's fiscal management. Even...

May 24, 2022
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People and Investor Attention to Climate Change
19May

People and Investor Attention to Climate Change

By Mauro Aliano, Franco Fiordelisi, Giuseppe Galloppo & Viktoriia Paimanova This paper empirically studies whether people and investors globally really see climate change as a major threat, as defined by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Our identification strategy aims to investigate two research questions: (1) whether people attention to Climate Change varies depending on local natural disasters and (2) how does the climate change attention affect the stock price of local firms and, thus, the investors’ trading behavior....

May 19, 2022
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19May

UK. MPs urged to consider state auto-enrolment credits to combat gender pensions gap

State auto-enrolment (AE) contribution credits for career breaks could “radically change” the framework of occupational pensions and help reduce the inequality of the widening gender pensions gap, Hymans Robertson has said. In an open letter to the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Hymans Robertson partner, Chris Noon, argued that whilst the introduction of AE contribution credits would be a "significant cost" to government, time away from work is the biggest contributor to the gender pensions gap and needs to be...

May 19, 2022
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18May

How Healthcare Costs Can Affect Retirement Planning

People in their 50s, 60s and 70s wear many hats: taking care of elderly parents, financially supporting grown children, working full- or part-time and volunteering in their communities—all while managing their growing healthcare needs. Baby boomers have redefined retirement, and today it looks completely different than it did a generation ago. There are reasons for that: People who are of retirement age now face a greater number of post-work years because we’re living longer. Retirement might last decades. Americans who...

May 18, 2022
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18May

Arab Pensions Conference grows into key regional platform

An eminent line-up of speakers from global think-tanks, government pension funds, regional financial institutions, actuaries, asset managers, insurers and HR leaders will take part in the Arab Pensions Conference in September. The sixth edition of the conference will be held on September 28 and 29 and hosted in Sharm El-Sheikh this year, in a move  that will see the event, which first started in Bahrain, shifts to a different city within the Arab  world  every year. A one-of-a-kind event organised by...

May 18, 2022
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