October 2025
30Oct

UK. Reeves urged to cut pension lump sum withdrawals to £100k

A pressure group of which Rachel Reeves is a member has urged her to cut the tax-free pension lump sum to £100,000. At present, most savers can take 25pc of their pension pot tax-free once they reach the age of 55, up to a maximum of £268,275. However, the Fabian Society, a prominent Labour-associated think tank, has suggested cutting the allowance by two-thirds at the Budget on Nov 26 in an attempt to raise £2bn. It claimed that pensions were “systemically” under-taxed and...

October 30, 2025
News, Uncategorized,
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23Oct

Ageing populations to reshape the future of life insurance: Swiss Re

Swiss Re, the reinsurance company based in Zurich, reports that demographic changes are set to transform the life insurance industry over the coming decades. In its latest sigma publication, the company highlights that by 2050, around one quarter of people in advanced economies will be aged 65 or older. This development, often referred to as the “Silver Economy”, is expected to redefine the types of protection and financial solutions needed as societies age. According to Swiss Re, the combination of longer...

October 23, 2025
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15Oct

Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index 2025 released.

The retirement systems of the Netherlands, Iceland and Denmark once again are the top three systems worldwide, according to the 2025 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index. The same three topped Mercer’s 2024 report. For the first time in the 17-year history of the index, Singapore’s retirement system also received an A, the only country in Asia to achieve a rating at that level and the No. 5 system overall. Israel ranked fourth for the second consecutive year. A-grade countries offer...

October 15, 2025
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07Oct

Reimagining pensions for Gen Z

Two recent Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) reports shed light on the shifting landscape of UK retirement. The concerns of Gen Z explores the financial realities of the youngest working cohort, while the generations deep-dive in the UK Pensions Framework 2025 provides a system-wide assessment of adequacy, sustainability and fairness. Together they reveal that, despite reforms such as automatic enrolment (AE), younger adults face structural obstacles that could leave them with lower retirement incomes than previous generations. Many Gen Z workers begin their...

October 7, 2025
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03Oct

Pension Design and General Public Finances: Beyond Baseline Actuarial Neutrality

By Didier Blanchet & Gilbert Cette The design of pension benefits cannot be considered in disconnection from the constraints related to the general public finances. A change in the average retirement age has an impact not only on pension funding, but also on resources available for other public spending. Incorporating this externality implies penalties/bonuses for earlier/later retirement that are much higher than those designed to balance the pension system alone. Source SSRN

October 3, 2025
Articles, Pension design, , ,
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September 2025
23Sep

Nigeria. Micro pension surges nine-fold as tech drives adoption

The Micro Pension Plan (MPP), otherwise known as the Personal Pension Plan (PPP), has grown nine-fold in four years, driven by technology and increased awareness. The plan grew from N168.63 million in 2021 to N1.46 billion in 2025, according to data from the National Pension Commission (PenCom), reflecting that Nigerians are taking steps to secure their future. This trend has also been seen in the voluntary contributions segment under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), where participation grew steadily from...

September 23, 2025
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19Sep

Pensions UK urges small pension pot consolidation by 2030

The pensions industry should drive small pension pots consolidation by 2030, trade body Pensions UK has urged. In its Small Pots Feasibility Review, the organisation looked at how to resolve the issue of small pensions pots. It pointed out that small pension pots are costly to deliver and confusing for savers. Torsten Bell, Minister for Pensions, said: “With more small pots than pensioners in the UK, too many people are losing track of their hard-earned savings. This is bad for pensions savers...

September 19, 2025
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August 2025
28Aug

Financial regret at older ages and longevity awareness

By Abigail Hurwitz & Olivia S. Mitchell To investigate financial regret among older Americans, we conduct a controlled experiment in the Health and Retirement Study. We document that many older people regret not having bought longevity protection or long-term care insurance, as well as having retired and claimed social security benefits too early. This is especially true for women, Black, and less wealthy older individuals. Additionally, we find that informing participants about objective survival probabilities boosts regret by 43% regarding not...

August 28, 2025
Articles, Savings, ,
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July 2025
25Jul

Greener Pensions, Greener Choices: Linking Investments to Sustainable Behavior

By Olga Balakina, Charlotte Christiansen & Malene Kallestrup Lamb This paper examines how offering sustainable investment options influences sustainable consumption behavior. We combine a natural experiment in which individuals receive an option to switch to a pension plan with a strong sustainability profile with detailed household register data. This sustainable option improves sustainable consumption, as reflected in electric vehicle adoption and reduced vehicle emissions. The effect is primarily driven by individuals who do not choose the sustainable plan. We show that...

July 25, 2025
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08Jul

PensionBee: Gig workers need automatic pensions

More than a million UK gig workers are unable to save for retirement, according to fresh data from PensionBee, a leader in the consumer retirement market, prompting renewed calls for a ‘universal pension’ system to ensure every worker, regardless of income or employment status, has automatic access to a pension. The findings, launched alongside PensionBee’s Invisible Worker campaign on National Freelancers Day, highlight the challenges faced by freelancers, unpaid carers and those on zero-hours contracts who are not auto-enrolled into...

July 8, 2025
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