February 2025
04Feb

Hong Kong. HSBC warning as thousands locked out of pensions with no access to savings

HSBC is refusing to transfer £978million in pension savings belonging to thousands of Hong Kong exiles who have fled to Britain. The FTSE 100 bank is withholding funds from tens of thousands of former Hong Kong residents who sought refuge in the UK following pro-democracy protests and the introduction of national security laws. The banking giant, which has its headquarters in London but maintains significant operations in China, claims legal barriers prevent it from releasing the pension funds to those who...

February 4, 2025
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January 2025
09Jan

Vietnam. Benefits of paying pensions and benefits without using cash

Thuan Duc Commune (Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh) became the first locality in Dong Hoi City to achieve 100% of pensioners and social insurance benefits receiving through bank accounts (ATM cards). In the middle of December 2024 month, with the last cases receiving pensions and social insurance benefits in cash switching to receiving them via e-commerce, Thuan Duc commune officially closed the list of social security payments via ATM cards at a rate of 100%. As one of the people on...

January 9, 2025
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December 2024
20Dec

Pensioners of Radio Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan demand overdue benefits

Last week, a determined group of retired employees from Radio Pakistan marched through the streets of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB), voicing their frustrations over delayed retirement benefits and pensions that remain unpaid despite years of service. The demonstrators, a coalition of former staff who dedicated decades of their lives to the national broadcaster, gathered to demand immediate action from the government, shedding light on the financial hardships they currently face. Organised by a committed faction of people who have retired, the lively...

December 20, 2024
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02Dec

Unpaid pension funds rise to Sh47.16 billion, leaving Kenyan retirees at risk

Kenyan workers are at risk of financial struggles when they retire, as unpaid pension contributions by public universities and county governments increased by 12.3 per cent to reach Sh47.16 billion in the year ending June 2024. According to the latest report by the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), the amount of money deducted from workers' salaries for their retirement savings but not sent to pension schemes grew from Sh42 billion. This puts many pensioners at risk of having insufficient funds for their...

December 2, 2024
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September 2024
02Sep

US. Annuities gain traction with middle-market consumers

Middle-income Americans will have a more difficult time managing their longevity risk in retirement now that fewer of them have defined benefit plans. Making matters more complicated is that many of these middle-market investors may have saved thousands of dollars throughout their careers in their employer-sponsored defined contribution plans but may not know how they can be certain their money lasts throughout the retirement. LIMRA’s Retirement Investor Study, published earlier this year, examined middle-income investors’ views of their retirement risks...

September 2, 2024
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August 2024
30Aug

A Two-Generation Model with Altruism for Reverse Mortgage Demand

By Yunxiao Wang, Katja Hanewald, Zilin (Scott) Shao, Hazel Bateman Reverse mortgage markets remain relatively small internationally, with one frequently cited reason being bequest motives. We study the role of reverse mortgages in intergenerational financial planning as a tool for families to bring forward bequests. We develop a new two-generation lifecycle model with parental altruism to compare the welfare gains of bequests and early bequests (inter vivos gifts) for homeowning parents and adult children seeking to purchase their first home....

August 30, 2024
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30Aug

A Two-Generation Model with Altruism for Reverse Mortgage Demand

By Yunxiao Wang, Katja Hanewald, Zilin (Scott) Shao & Hazel Bateman Reverse mortgage markets remain relatively small internationally, with one frequently cited reason being bequest motives. We study the role of reverse mortgages in intergenerational financial planning as a tool for families to bring forward bequests. We develop a new two-generation lifecycle model with parental altruism to compare the welfare gains of bequests and early bequests (inter vivos gifts) for homeowning parents and adult children seeking to purchase their first...

August 30, 2024
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July 2024
30Jul

Scammers are targetting older americans and their retirement savings

For nearly three months, Barry Heitin, a 76-year-old retired lawyer, thought he was part of a government investigation that felt like something out of the movies. He was actually assisting criminals in stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars — of his own money. Last fall, he spent just about every weekday doing the legwork and making withdrawals from his bank accounts as part of an intricate scam: He believed he was helping the feds safeguard his money and catch thieves...

July 30, 2024
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29Jul

UK. Lifetime annuity rates rise to over 7% in June

Lifetime annuity rates have continued to improve in 2024, rising to 7.08 per cent in June for a healthy 65 year old, according to the Standard Life Annuity Rate Tracker. This is around a 4 per cent increase from the average rate of 6.81 per cent in January and a 2.64 per cent improvement from 6.9 per cent in March. This would add an extra £3,659 to the average total lifetime income for a 65 year old man and £4,059 to...

July 29, 2024
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25Jul

The decumulation challenge

As people continue to live and work longer, the challenge of longevity – running out of money too soon into retirement - is hanging over many Canadians’ retirement plans. According to research from CCP Investments, only 45% of Canadians actually have some sort of plan in place for their retirement, with 53% admitting they don’t know how much money they’ll need to retire. Part of this anxiety stems from a change in the last decades in the retirement plan landscape, as...

July 25, 2024
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