October 2019

Ireland. Plans to auto-enrol workers in pension schemes announced

The Government is to introduce a system of pension auto-enrolment on a phased basis from 2022. Read also Irish pensions need urgent reform, industry specialist says The details have been published by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Under the system, a worker will be automatically enrolled in a pension scheme when they start a job. Read also UK. Watchdog hails success of auto-enrolment pensions It will apply to all employees aged between 23 and 60 earning more than €20,000 a year...

September 2019

Australia. A simpler system would be super

In the past year, reports by the Productivity Commission and the banking and financial services royal commission have prompted intense and commendable consideration about the direction of Australia’s retirement and savings policies. Superannuation should not be as cruelly complex as it is. While the system’s basic concept is elegant – providing workers with a compulsory employer-paid super contribution equivalent to at least 9.5 per cent of salary – the confounding rules, layers of costs, tax benefits and snags are...

US. Financial Fails in Retirement Planning

Big or small, missteps with our money can harm our financial future. Here are some of the most common financial fails, and how to avoid them. 1. Failing to Save We used to think of retirement planning like a three-legged stool. Retirees could rely on a pension from their employer, Social Security from the government and their own retirement savings. Those three legs created a nice nest egg. Now, with pensions becoming a thing of the past and the...

Australia. Indexation brings age-pension bonus for retirees

All pensioners, whether they receive a full or part pension, will receive one if not two pension bonuses this month. They will receive more on a fortnightly basis as a result of Friday’s indexation of the pension rates and thresholds. The maximum single age pension has increased by $7.20 a fortnight to $933.40 and, for couples, to $703.50 a fortnight each. Department of Human Services general manager Hank Jongen said that the first payments to include the indexation increase...

Ukraine has launched a mobile app “Pension Fund”

Thus, Ukrainians have the opportunity of access to the electronic services Fund in a convenient format using smartphones and tablets, reports the Chronicle.info with reference to itc.ua. The project “Pension Fund of Ukraine in the smartphone” designed with the purpose of realization of development of the system of electronic services “E-pension”. In the first phase the application is available for owners of Android smartphones (version 4.4 and above, download from the link), and later will be released version for...

What ‘Retirement’ Means Now

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2028 there will be 43 million people 55 and older in the work force — nearly one-quarter of all workers. Yet even as they age, the word retirement is becoming less and less clear. For starters, people have the potential to live well into their 70s and 80s and beyond, which often makes a plan of retiring in one’s 60s less necessary or desirable. “Gone is the traditional vision of retiring,...

Property v Pension – What’s The Best Retirement Plan?

Choosing how to grow your money for a comfortable retirement is a vexing question for many investors – and there doesn’t seem to be a correct answer. Picking the right investment horse to back is tricky and can have lifestyle changing repercussions when you reach retirement age. The favourites are property and pensions, but which one, if either, is best for you? Independent money mag Which? has looked at both and concludes striking a balance between the two rather...

Estonian average pension to exceed 500 euros after indexation

The average Estonian pension will after the spring 2020 indexation surpass 500, the country’s Finance Ministry has stated. Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports that on Monday, September 9, the Estonian government’s summer economic forecast presentation has been held. Pensions increase annually in April as a result of indexing, with the change coming into effect on the first day of the month. In the second quarter of 2019 the average Estonian old-age pension was nearly EUR 485. In 2020, a...

$200 trillion in global debt at risk if trust falters: OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned almost $200 trillion in public and private debt could be the catalyst for another global economic crisis if trust in government and financial institutions deteriorates. In a report overseen by former Australian Securities and Investments Commission chief Greg Medcraft, the OECD also said the destruction of trust following the global financial crisis (GFC) had contributed to the rise of crypto-currencies, which themselves were exacerbating the globe's economic risks. The...

UK. Are we away with the fairies on our pension expectations?

WOULD you like a job that pays £1.3 million a year? That is just the average expected salary among children aged eight to 15, when they get their first job, according to a new survey by Halifax. It's equal to nearly 38 times the average wage in the UK this year, proving that, unfortunately, our children are away with the fairies. They also believe that schoolteachers, firefighters and postmen are earning well over £100,000 a year. Wouldn't we all...