March 2026
03Mar

Reform unlocks China’s sil­ver dividend

In a tech­no­logy park in Shang­hai’s Xuhui dis­trict, 58-year-old Zhang Wei is fine-tun­ing a drone used for agri­cul­tural inspec­tion. With 35 years of exper­i­ence as an air­craft mech­anic, he remains one of the most reli­able tech­ni­cians in the fact­ory. Under China’s pre­vi­ous retire­ment frame­work, however, Zhang would soon be expec­ted to step aside, begin draw­ing a pen­sion and leave the work­force. But Zhang is not ready to hang up his boots. “This is when exper­i­ence mat­ters most,” he says. “If...

March 3, 2026
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02Mar

Voluntary pensions are launched in Moldova

This event launches the private pension savings market, which was previously virtually non-existent in the country, despite a number of previous unsuccessful attempts to introduce voluntary pensions in Moldova. With the appearance of the first private pension fund, citizens have the opportunity to save for their old age on their own, in addition to the state pension. Contributions are exempt from taxation and will be capitalized to generate additional income in the future. Until now, Moldova’s pension system relied solely on...

March 2, 2026
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February 2026
27Feb

Population Aging and Pension Reforms in China

By Boele Bonthuis, Yongquan Cao & Christoph Freudenberg China is experiencing rapid population aging and a declining workforce, posing significant economic and fiscal challenges, especially to the pension system. This paper examines the evolution of China’s pension system, assesses its gaps relative to international peers, and evaluates the macro-fiscal implications of population aging and various pension reforms. Using a calibrated overlapping generations model that explicitly incorporates the rural–urban disparities, we project that population aging alone can slow annual GDP growth by...

February 27, 2026
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26Feb

Germany’s retirement savings shake-up: What banks need to know

Germany is overhauling its state-subsidised retirement savings framework, and financial institutions have a firm deadline to prepare for. The federal government approved a pension reform law in late 2025, with parliamentary proceedings underway in 2026. If passed — which appears near-certain — the legislation will bring the Altersvorsorgedepot (AVD), or retirement provision depot, into force from 1 January 2027. From that date, no new contracts under the old Riester model will be permitted. fincite, which offers an end-to-end digital asset...

February 26, 2026
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23Feb

Nigeria. Ogun introduces fresh pension benefit to boost CPS confidence

The Ogun State Government has introduced an Additional Pension Benefit (APB) to address stakeholder concerns following the full implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the state. Approved by Governor Dapo Abiodun, the initiative was announced after consultative meetings with organised labour, the State and Local Government Pension Administration Committees, and the Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Dapo Okubadejo. The CPS became fully operational in Ogun State on July 2, 2025. The APB is a one-off payment at retirement designed to...

February 23, 2026
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20Feb

Retirement Under Policy Uncertainty

By Piera Bello, Vincenzo Galasso & Alessandro Izzo This paper examines how policy uncertainty influences retirement decisions. We develop a simple model in which individuals face a one-time choice between immediate retirement and continued employment until the statutory retirement age. In the absence of policy uncertainty, retirement decisions depend solely on the standard income–leisure trade-off. When future pension reforms are uncertain, however, individuals also take into account the perceived risk of increases in the retirement age or reductions in benefit...

February 20, 2026
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16Feb

What Trump’s Australian-style retirement program would look like in the US

Although pensions have largely disappeared thanks to tax code changes in the 1970s, today individuals have more options than ever to save for retirement with a variety of IRA and employer-sponsored plans to choose from. But Americans may soon have another account option for to retirement savings. In early December, CNN reported that President Donald Trump's administration is considering implementing an Australian-style retirement program in the U.S. Put simply, an Australian-type retirement program comprises an employer-sponsored retirement plan, which in Australia is commonly known...

February 16, 2026
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January 2026
16Jan

How our fear of aging is speeding it up

After I turned 60 last October, I became consumed with thoughts of mortality. I worried that I was now on a fast track toward ill health, retirement blues and forgetful conversations filled with non-sequiturs. It’s not hard to see why. In 2023, the American Psychological Association wrote that “ageism is one of the last socially acceptable prejudices” in American culture. From shelves lined with anti-aging products, to punchlines about getting older to workplace bias, the message is clear: entering...

January 16, 2026
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15Jan

Without pension reform, China is leaving its rural elderly out in the cold

“Rural heating problems in Hebei cannot wait any longer” declared a recent report in Farmers’ Daily. It described a disturbing reality in parts of northern China: elderly villagers who would rather shiver through freezing temperatures than turn on their heaters, because they simply cannot afford the cost. For many urban readers, this may sound implausible. For millions of rural elderly, it is routine. On the surface, the problem appears to be a side effect of China’s well-intentioned environmental reforms. Beginning...

January 15, 2026
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12Jan

Nigeria. Driving growth with recapitalisation

With macroeconomic headwinds still blowing, regulatory shakeups underway, and citizens demanding more value for their trust, Omobola Tolu-Kusimo writes on whether 2026 could be the year these industries either break new ground or stay stuck in the cycle of unrealized potential. The year 2025 ended with increased premiums, improved regulatory oversight, and renewed investor interest following NAICOM’s enforcement of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, 2025 (NIIRA 2025).reforms and recapitalisation efforts. However, insurance penetration remains below 1per cent, a stubborn reminder...

January 12, 2026
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