November 2024
25Nov

Pensions reform is vital to raise the UK’s dismal savings rate

No area of policymaking suffers more from “muddling through” than pensions. Pension arrangements shape national prosperity and individual security over multiple generations. “Long-termism” is the only sane approach. Yet what the UK has done is, alas, the opposite. As I noted in a column published in June 2023, this short-sightedness ended up by putting people working in the private sector into one of two “corners”. In one corner are defined benefit schemes, which offer guaranteed pensions, with investment and longevity...

November 25, 2024
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11Nov

Gen X slip between DB and DC pension cracks

The tail-off in defined benefit (DB) pension provision around the millennium and a lack of compulsion around defined contribution (DC) saving until 2012 has had a lasting impact according to Standard Life’s Retirement Voice report. • Majority of Gen X (54%) are worried their finances won’t cover their retirement – compared to 31% among Baby Boomers • 45% Gen X expect their living standard to be worse in retirement compared to 29% of Millennials • Gen X most likely...

November 11, 2024
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08Nov

Journal of Labor Economics

By Peter Kuhn This is volume 42 issue 4 of Journal of Labor Economics. Founded in 1983 as the first journal devoted specifically to labor economics, the Journal of Labor Economics (JOLE) presents international research on issues affecting social and private behavior, and the economy. JOLE’s contributors investigate various aspects of labor economics, including supply and demand of labor services, personnel economics, distribution of income, unions and collective bargaining, applied and policy issues in labor economics, and labor markets and...

November 8, 2024
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07Nov

US. Employers offering better retirement plan benefits — Willis Towers Watson

Employers are becoming more generous with their retirement plan benefits, according to Willis Towers Watson’s 2024 U.S. Defined Contribution Survey. While the median employer contribution to defined contribution plans remained at 7.1% of pay, the gap in overall retirement benefits offered by the most and least generous employers narrowed significantly between 2000 and 2020, the survey found. In 2020, the most generous employers — those in the 90th percentile — provided retirement benefits that were 10.9% of pay, whereas the least...

November 7, 2024
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04Nov

US. IRS Announces 2025 Retirement Account Contributions Limits

On November 1, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service released the 2025 retirement plan contribution limits and other key numbers for investment accounts. While contribution limits for employer sponsored plans like the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) are increasing in 2025, IRA contributions will remain the same as 2024. The increasingly popular tax-free Health Savings Account contribution limits are also increasing in 2025. For the first time, TSP participants turning age 60, 61, 62, or 63 in 2025 will be able...

November 4, 2024
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October 2024
31Oct

Would a ‘lost decade’ derail your retirement plans? Not necessarily.

'If you feel like you're behind if you don't get 12%-plus returns every year, then maybe you need to re-evaluate your plan' If the U.S. stock market drifted into a "lost decade" in which returns stagnated in comparison with the stellar run of recent years, would retirees and those nearing retirement be doomed? The market has been very kind to workers' 401(k) plans in recent years. This year, the S&P 500 SPX is poised to post returns of more than 20%,...

October 31, 2024
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30Oct

What Are the Top Retirement Planning Questions Among Boomers?

Not surprisingly, “how much money will I need to retire comfortably” and “is it possible I could outlive my savings” were the top responses among Baby Boomers who were asked to select their top three “burning questions,” but another important issue was also on their minds. And that is the issue of long-term care, according to the latest findings from Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning and Progress Study. Perhaps because of their proximity in age to retirement, Boomers included long-term care concerns...

October 30, 2024
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25Oct

2024 Defined Contribution Pension and Savings Report

By Stuart Arnold & Claire Murray This year’s survey reveals the immediate focus and priorities that employers, plan sponsors and pension trustees have for their defined contribution (DC) retirement plans. In this edition, in response to the growing concern surrounding retirement adequacy, we look at the views and actions of employers concerning the outcomes that employees can expect from their retirement provision. What are the main priorities for employers in retirement provision, what steps are sponsors taking, and what opportunities should...

October 25, 2024
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23Oct

U.S. retirement preparedness is lacking: Morningstar

A new study from Morningstar focused on U.S. retirement readiness illustrates that while there has been some improvement over time, general retirement preparedness is lacking. Using data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, Morningstar researchers analyzed data from 3,442 households before projecting 1,000 possible “life paths” for each of them. The company used savings rates, withdrawal patterns, job turnover and health care expenses to reach its conclusions. The authors previously published two separate papers on their findings earlier this year. The bottom line, they say, is...

October 23, 2024
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22Oct

BlackRock’s Fink says U.S. needs to discuss retirement system issues, national debt

The two biggest issues facing the U.S. that don’t get discussed enough are the nation’s retirement system and mounting federal government debt, according to BlackRock Chair and CEO Larry Fink. Millions of Americans don’t have retirement savings and are frightened that they won’t be able to save enough to retire with dignity, Fink said Oct. 21 at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s annual meeting in New York. "We as a country refuse to talk about, 'Do we have the adequate...

October 22, 2024
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