October 2025
10Oct

Nigeria. PenCom reintroduces gratuity for federal civil servants

The National Pension Commission has disclosed that it has deployed a framework to restore gratuity for Federal Civil Service under the Contributory Pension Scheme. Director-General of PenCom, Omolola Oloworaran made the disclosure in Abuja on Thursday at a Stakeholders' Conference on the Workings of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) for Employees and Pensioners of Federal Government Treasury-Funded Ministries, Departments and Agencies Represented by the acting commissioner, Technical at the commission, Hon. Hafiz Kawu Ibrahim, the DG said, 'Working with the office...

October 10, 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
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02Oct

US. How Government Shutdown affects benefits & retirement

With a possible government shutdown looming, federal employees and retirees are asking questions of how it affects their pay, leave and annuity payments. Below are a some frequently asked questions from the Office of Personnel Management’s most recent Guidance for Shutdown Furloughs. Federal Benefits 1. What happens if agency employees responsible for processing Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) or Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) transactions are furloughed? A. Agencies will continue to process FEHB and FEGLI transactions during a lapse in appropriations....

October 2, 2025
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September 2025
15Sep

Nigeria. PenCom moves to improve welfare of police retirees, assures payment of arrears

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has reassured retired officers of the Nigeria Police Force of the federal government’s commitment to addressing their pension concerns and improving their living conditions. The Federal Commissioner, Inspectorate Department of PenCom, Chief Sam Chigozie Uwandu, gave the assurance during his maiden official visit to police retirees in Enugu State. Chief Uwandu disclosed that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, plans are underway to clear all outstanding arrears owed to police retirees. He further revealed that the federal government...

September 15, 2025
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10Sep

Ghana. Retired Officials Face Scrutiny Over Dual Salary Entitlements

Ghana grapples with constitutional questions as debate intensifies over whether retired public officers should receive full compensation when appointed to new positions, potentially earning combined monthly payments exceeding ₵115,000. The controversy centers on retired Chief Justices who collect ₵65,000 monthly pensions while earning ₵50,000 as Council of State members, creating what critics call an unsustainable fiscal burden during economic uncertainty. U.S.-based legal scholar Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare has emerged as a prominent voice challenging the practice. The academic has questioned why...

September 10, 2025
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03Sep

US. Public Pension Fund Returns Beat Their Benchmarks

U.S. public pension funds’ returns were well beyond their targets for the third consecutive year, reporting a median investment return of 11.3% for the fiscal year ended June 30, according to investment consulting firm Callan. All of the major asset classes reported gains for the year ending June 30, 2025. The plans’ returns, which left their average assumed rate of return of 7.0% in the dust by 430 basis points, were led by foreign equities and domestic equities, which gained 17.7%...

September 3, 2025
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August 2025
21Aug

Treasury Outlines Plan to Pay Retirement Benefits to Former Kenya Railways Staff

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, John Mbadi, has revealed how the government plans to pay the retirement benefits owed to former Kenya Railways staff. Appearing before the Labour and Social Welfare Committee on Wednesday, August 20, Mbadi revealed that the government had a plan set in place to pay the money owed to the Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme (KRSRBS). The CS claimed that the delayed payments had been caused by the fact that the scheme did not have any monetary...

August 21, 2025
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July 2025
25Jul

Unintended Consequences: How Scaling Back Public Pensions Puts Government Revenues at Risk

By National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems The argument that taxpayers cannot afford public pensions has gained traction despite a woeful lack of empirical evidence to support it. Legislators across the nation are contemplating options for the future funding of public-sector worker retirement benefits at a time when competition for finite state and local resources is fierce. The reasons are familiar: the lingering effects of recession and misguided budget priorities have taken a toll. Time and again, defined-benefit pensions...

July 25, 2025
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25Jul

US. NCPERS Warns of Risks From Dismantling Public Pensions

In its 2025 update of its 2018 report, “Unintended Consequences: How Scaling Back Public Pensions Puts Government Revenues at Risk,” the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems found that public pensions produced $445.2 billion more in state and local revenues than taxpayers contributed in 2023. According to the update, state and local public pensions are a “powerful economic engine,” generating more than $660 billion and contributing nearly $3 trillion in economic output in 2023. While policymakers grapple with decisions...

July 25, 2025
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04Jul

US. Asset Gains for 100 Largest Public Pensions Surge $98B in May; PRT Costs Decline

The 100 largest public defined benefit plans in the U.S. raked in $98 billion in asset gains during May thanks to a 2.4% investment gain during the month, according to Milliman’s Public Pension Funding Index. It was the funds’ best monthly market performance in more than a year. The consulting and actuarial firm said the strong gains boosted their estimated funded level to 81.1% from 79.6% a month earlier. It also said that the deficit between the estimated plan assets and liabilities...

July 4, 2025
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