March 2021

Many over-55s could be heading for retirement income shortfall, says survey

Many over-55s who are approaching retirement risk exhausting their pension savings early, a survey suggests. A quarter (25%) of those aged 55 to 64 who are still working said they were only budgeting for their retirement income to last 10 years or less, Standard Life found. One in eight (12%) are planning for their retirement income to support them for just one to five years. Three in 10 (29%) over-55s expect to need the same amount of cash each year throughout their...

January 2021

Olivia S. Mitchell, PhD: Calibrating Retirement Planning with Current Conditions

By Olivia S. Mitchell In September 2020, Robert Powell, editor-in-chief of the Retirement Management Journal, Jason Fichtner, PhD, senior lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University; and Anna Rappaport, FSA, MAAA, chair of the Society of Actuaries Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks, spoke with Mitchell about how longer lifespans and prolonged retirement periods are requiring adjustments to Social Security benefits, employee pension plans, and individual retirement savings. Source: SSRN

Technology, Labour Market Institutions and Early Retirement: Evidence from Finland

By Naomitsu Yashiro, Tomi Kyyrä, Hyunjeong Hwang, Juha Tuomala There are two major barriers to increasing employment of older workers. First, older workers engaged in codifiable, routine tasks are particularly prone to the risk of being displaced by computers and robots. Second, several countries have in place various labour market institutions that encourage early retirement, such as exceptional entitlements or looser criteria for unemployment and disability benefits applied to older individuals. We present evidence that these two factors reinforce...

There is no escape from late retirement

European countries face the challenge of the economic and social consequences of an aging population. In particular, pension systems have to adapt to the changes taking place, maintaining, on the one hand, the financial stability related to the balancing of contributions receipts and pension expenditure, and at the same time the adequacy of benefits related to the protection of pensioners from poverty and the provision of an adequate income after leaving employment. One of the key instruments...

November 2020

China’s plans to hike retirement age from 60 fuels public discontent

China is making a new push to raise one of the world’s lowest retirement ages as it tries to cope with a rapidly aging population, a move that’s already fueling public discontent and will test the Communist Party’s ability to implement reforms. The ruling party alluded to the change earlier this month when it released an outline of its five-year economic plan, which included a recommendation to “implement postponing the retirement age.” Specific measures in the plan are due...

Malaysia is ageing, raise retirement age to 65 gradually, says World Bank

Rapid ageing will be one of the most crucial megatrends affecting Malaysia in the coming decades, raising policy challenges in areas such as employment, income security, health care, and aged care, the World Bank has said. In its report titled “A Silver Lining: Productive and Inclusive Ageing for Malaysia”, it said a gradual increase of the retirement age to 65 was needed as the country’s institutional framework for providing income security for older persons remained largely unchanged in...

French Senate passes social security draft budget, revives pensions polemic

Before the modifications in the Senate, the bill passed the National Assembly with 190 votes in favour, 106 votes against and 50 abstentions. As France deals with the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, senators voted to increase health provisions overall. Retirement age, again The Senate is dominated by a right-wing opposition and has re-introduced a proposal to extend the retirement age in order to balance the pension system. It recommends both pushing back the legal retirement age to 63...

October 2020

Young people in the UK expect to retire before turning 64

On average, young people between the ages of 18 and 34, expect to retire at the age of 63 and eight months, while one in eight are looking to retire by 55, new data has shown. A survey by Opinium for investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown said that in contrast, those over 55 expect to retire on average at 67 and 11 months, with 20% aiming to stop work after 70. The current average age of retirement in the UK...

Ireland. State pension age will not rise in January, Minister confirms

The state pension age will not rise to 67 next January, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath confirmed in his budget speech. “I can confirm to the House that, in line with the Programme for Government commitment, the planned increase in the pension age to 67 on January 1st, 2021 will not proceed,” the Minister said. He said that a Pensions Commission would be established in line with the Programme for Government and the Government would...

September 2020

One in five retirees is under 65

More than one in every five pensioners in Greece is under the age of 64, according to the figures of the Helios pensions database for September. The Labor Ministry’s register has 2,486,053 retirees, of whom 559,079 or 22.48% are aged up to 64, thanks to the favorable retirement status granted to them by several social security funds and early retirement opportunities. The figures also showed that the average monthly main pension in Greece this month amounted to 726.70 euros,...