January 2026
28Jan

US. When Texas messes with pensions, firefighters, teachers and cops get burned

Twenty years ago, I entered the service feeling like most rookie firemen: invincible. The furthest thing from any new recruit’s mind is retirement, but before long, the high stress, heavy lifting, hazardous conditions and 24-hour shifts begin to catch up with even the strongest among us. For all our emergency preparedness training, the fire academy does not teach financial management, leaving most firefighters ill-equipped to plan for retirement. And with the average firefighter retiring in their fifties — significantly before the average...

January 28, 2026
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26Jan

US. 3 Retirement Changes to Watch in 2026: Tax Edition

You could be in for surprise taxes if you're planning for retirement in 2026. And we're not talking about common tax pitfalls, like taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) that force withdrawals from your individual retirement accounts (IRAs). (Though those certainly are important). Several new federal policy changes could hike your retiree tax bill this year. For instance, under the 2025 Trump/GOP tax and spending bill, your "senior bonus" deduction may be lower than expected due to income phase-outs, indirectly resulting in an overall...

January 26, 2026
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23Jan

Artificial Intelligence and Retirement Planning

By John Cutler, J.D Any views and ideas expressed in the essay are the author’s alone and may not reflect the views and ideas of the Society of Actuaries, the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, Society of Actuaries members, nor the author’s employer. The premise for this essay is that retirees (and pre-retirees) are unlikely to have had experience with artificial intelligence (AI) to any great degree. If you think about most advanced technologies, individuals learn about them in the workplace...

January 23, 2026
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16Jan

Pension Wealth and the Timing of Retirement

By Jonas Maibom, Torben M. Andersen & Anne Katrine Borgbjerg We analyze how pension wealth influences retirement timing using 25 years of Danish administrative panel data on wealth and labor market status. Exploiting early-career variation in firm-specific mandatory pension contribution rates, we study labor supply decisions from age 55 onward. Greater pension wealth accelerates labor market exit: at age 63, the elasticity is about 0.3 — an additional 100,000 DKK (15,000 USD) at age 55 reduces earnings by 1% at...

January 16, 2026
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16Jan

UK. Most self-employed and freelancers failing to save for retirement, Aviva research finds

New research from Aviva reveals a worrying gap in retirement planning among the UK’s self-employed, freelancers, and digital nomads - groups that are increasingly shaping and driving the modern workforce. Just over a third (34%) of digital nomads – those who use technology to work remotely while travelling and living in various locations, rather than being in a single office – are actively saving into a pension or retirement plan.  The picture is only slightly better for the self-employed (38%)...

January 16, 2026
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07Jan

Retirement Planning Without Kids Demands Attention to Long-Term Care and Estate Strategies

Not having kids might mean fewer financial obligations, but it doesn’t automatically make retirement planning easier. In fact, flying solo as you age comes with its own set of complexities, from health care costs to estate decisions. Here’s what child-free adults should know when planning for life after work. More Freedom to Take Financial Risks Without children, many adults have fewer day-to-day expenses and more discretion over how—and when—they spend their money. “For most clients without kids, legacy planning is not a concern,” said Alex Caswell, founder of Wealth Script Advisors....

January 7, 2026
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December 2025
23Dec

Millennial Dilemma: Home ownership or retirement security?

Millennials are facing an unprecedented financial squeeze: 58% of them feel as if they must choose between homeownership and retirement security, according to an Advisor Authority study, powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute. The survey pointed out that as housing prices accelerate ahead of median income wage growth, millennials face a fundamentally different financial environment from their parents, resulting in their adopting different approaches to wealth building. Millennials’ wealth-building approaches Unlike prior generations, said Juan Jose Perez, president of Nationwide Corporate Solutions,...

December 23, 2025
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22Dec

Over half of UK savers relying on non-pension assets for retirement

Over half (57 per cent) of UK pension savers are building up retirement savings outside of their pension, with a heavy reliance on cash, raising concerns about long-term outcomes, research from Interactive Investor has revealed. The investment platform found that adults were saving for retirement outside of a pension, using a mix of cash savings, stocks and shares ISAs, buy-to-let property and other investments to build long-term wealth. While the trend points to broader engagement with retirement saving, the findings highlighted...

December 22, 2025
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19Dec

Retirement by the Numbers: How participant behavior and glide path design can drive stronger retirement outcomes

By JPMorgan  How are participants interacting with their defined contribution retirement plans, and what are the implications for target date fund glide path design? For more than two decades, J.P. Morgan Asset Management has closely examined this question, analyzing real-world saving and spending patterns to provide actionable insights into how to help more people achieve the retirement they’ve earned. Retirement by the Numbers offers a unique view of how participants save, invest and spend throughout their working lives and retirement, leveraging...

December 19, 2025
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18Dec

Pension discussions with family and friends remain rare

Just a third (33 per cent) of people have spoken to their family about pensions in the last year, research from Standard Life has revealed, as engagement with pension savings remains low. The research showed that this was far lower than the proportion of people discussing household bills (48 per cent) or inflation (41 per cent), highlighting how long-term financial planning is still something many households shy away from. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Standard Life found that there are significant generational differences when...

December 18, 2025
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