September 2023

Minimum eligibility age for social pensions and house hold poverty: Evidence from Mexico

By David Escamilla Guerrero, Clemente Avila Parra & Oscar Gálvez Soriano This paper examines the impact of social pensions on old-age poverty. To achieve causal identification, we leverage the reduction in the minimum eligibility age of Mexico's flagship non-means-tested social pension program. We find that the program's expansion significantly reduced extreme poverty, mainly among indigenous seniors and in rural areas. However, it had negligible effects on labor force participation, suggesting that social pensions were not effective in ensuring minimum...

August 2023

US. IRS Postpones Rule That Hit Older, High Paid 401(K) Savers-And Their Employers

The IRS is again pushing off a start date for new legislation by introducing a transition period. Earlier, the IRS declared a one-year delay in the new reporting requirement for Forms 1099-K. The IRS has now announced an administrative transition period for the new catch-up contribution requirements under the SECURE 2.0 Act. The new rule requires older, higher paid 401(k) participants to make their catch-up contributions into after-tax Roth accounts, instead of pre-tax traditional accounts. Congress meant for it to take...

Zimbabwe: Pensioners Drown in Poverty As Companies Hold on to $47 Billion Deductions

HAVING grown up in the rural community of Chiriseri in Bindura South, Backdoor Mhunza says he witnessed the disgusting twist of circumstances which can ensue one in his old age due to reduced incomes. From experience, Mhunza could tell how chronic diseases may end up escalating among the aged who find themselves helpless and struggling to meet their basic needs, let alone paying for their medical treatment. Such childhood lessons left lasting impressions and since primary school Mhunza vowed that the...

Aging Is Trending On TikTok – Lean In To Inspire Gen Z’s Retirement Goals

Coastal grandmother and grandmillennial may be popular design trends on TikTok but getting younger generations to financially plan for those years is more of a challenge. Nearly a third of Gen Z workers are not are not saving for retirement, according to a recent Bankrate survey, and roughly the same amount report feeling behind on their planning. While the Gen Z cohort, which includes workers between the ages of 18-25, has the benefit of time to build the foundations of...

$1.2m benefits from NSSF remain unclaimed in Kenya

Retirees failed to claim Ksh166.83 million ($1.2 million) in benefits due from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) by the end of June 2022, the Auditor-General has revealed, with the fund coming under the spotlight over failure to remit the funds to the unclaimed assets authority. The unclaimed benefits were part of accrued payments of Ksh3.6 billion ($24.9 million) at the end of the period, which the state-owned pension fund continually pays out to retirees at the end of their working...

Uncovering the profile of low earners in the UK and the potential for pension saving through automatic enrolment

By Pensions and lifetime savings association  In the realm of pensions policy, there exists a significant knowledge gap when it comes to understanding and addressing the needs of low earners in the United Kingdom. While various segments of the population have been subject to extensive research, individuals with low incomes who are still engaged in employment have remained relatively understudied. This group represents a complex demographic, comprising diverse subgroups, who may be earning modest incomes for varying reasons and circumstances. The...

July 2023

US. Many Gen-Xers have zero retirement funds. What can we do to address America’s retirement crisis?

Gen-Xers, those born between 1965 and 1980, are falling behind when it comes to saving for retirement. The typical household holds only $40,000 in retirement savings, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security. The issue is exacerbated when you break down savings by income level and race. The bottom half of earners only have a few thousand in savings, while 40% of Gen-Xers have retirement savings accounts with zero balances. The report explained that Gen-Xers have...

US. ERISA Advisory Council Highlights Trends in Pension Risk Transfers

Shaun O’Brien, the chair of the ERISA Advisory Council, summarized many of the trends in the pension risk transfer market and commonly expressed concerns from pension fiduciaries and stakeholders at a hearing the council hosted Tuesday at the Department of Labor. The hearing was held to discuss possible changes to Interpretative Bulletin 95-1, which requires that pension fiduciaries select the safest annuity providers when executing pension risk transfers. Considering modifications to IB 95-1 was required by Section 321 of the...

Illusory Policy Implications of Behavioral Law & Economics

By Terrance O’Reilly Behavioral law and economics has achieved notable policy influence promoting soft paternalism—using nudges to encourage better choices without limiting options. Recently, some behavioral scholars have suggested that positive behavioral models actually support hard paternalism—imposing mandates. This article challenges the insinuation that behavioral law and economics supports mandates. Despite regular suggestions to the contrary, positive economic models do not entail distinct normative consequences. The article illustrates its thesis in the case of retirement savings, a key concern of behavioral...

Kenya. Civil service pension funds leap to Sh41b in 18 months

Some 368,795 civil servants have contributed over Sh41 billion in 18 months to the Public Service Superannuation Scheme (PSSS), a new data show. The scheme’s membership shot from 330,318 in its introductory month in January 2021 when the government introduced PSSS as the preferred savings and retirement scheme in the public service sector to facilitate free movement of staff in and out of the sector Under this scheme, public service workers contributed two per cent of their gross pay towards retirement...