March 2023

Legal & General U.S. Gig Economy study

By Sir Nigel Wilson, John Godfrey & Edyta Borowy (Legal & General) The data was collected via online survey fielded to individuals sample sourced from YouGov’s US panel. The survey scripted and hosted on Gryphon, YouGov’s proprietary survey scripting platform and the field work took place between August 19 and 31, 2022. 1,044 surveys of freelancers and self-employed workers between 18 and 60 years old, non-student/non retired drawing 60% or more of their income from gig work were completed. Key...

The Influence of Financial Literacy on Retirement Planning in South Africa

By Nyasha Tapiwa Dhlembeu, Mamekwa Katlego Kekana & Mpinda Freddy Mvita Background: A shift in the retirement planning and pensions landscape has created an enormous responsibility for individuals to plan for their retirement provision actively. Very few South Africans reach the average retirement age of 65 years with sufficient funds to sustain themselves during their retirement. Purpose/objective: Using secondary data from the 2011 South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), this study aims to examine the influence financial literacy has on the...

Nigeria. Pension Fund Assets Increase By ₦568.33b – PenCom Boss

It appears that are days of enjoyment waiting Nigerian pensioners and the stories of months of wait pay will be over. The pension fund in Nigeria is real growing. There is something that the Director-General (DG) of Pension Commission Aisha Dahir-Umar, wants you to know. It is about the pensioners money that is now available. He says the Pension Fund Assets under Management (AuM) increased by ₦568.33 billion from ₦14.42 trillion as at September 30 to ₦14.99 trillion as at December...

A Leveraged Gender Gap: The Combined Effect of Longevity Risk (Mis)-Perception and Financial Risk-Taking

By Giovanna Apicella & Enrico G. De Giorgi Financial risk and longevity risk are the main risks affecting pension income. This paper analyses gender differences related to how financial risk taking and survival expectations are correlated. We analyse data from the “Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe” (SHARE) database and find a significant gender gap in self-assessed risk tolerance, consistently with previous literature. Moreover, we show that individuals with realistic survival expectations (i.e., survival expectations that are close...

Reverse SSNIT policy that disqualifies persons aged 60 from contributing to scheme – ACRR petitions NPRA

The Africa Centre for Retirement Research (ACRR) has petitioned the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to reverse the Social Security and National Insurance Scheme (SSNIT) policy that disqualifies members aged 60 and above from contributing to the scheme. The group in a statement dated March 7 noted that if the policy is not reversed, “it will adversely and significantly affect the retirement wellbeing of over 11,000 workers and even more in the future.” This comes after SSNIT issued a policy directive...

Undersaving in British pensions still substantial, says government report

New government figures show the level of undersaving in British pensions is still substantial, despite increased pension participation in the private sector. ‘Analysis of future pension incomes’, published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), updates figures from an auto-enrolment review in 2017 with a new estimate of the number and proportion of working-age individuals aged 22 to state pension age who are not saving enough for their retirement. The new report – covering England, Scotland and Wales – is...

February 2023

Fixed and Variable Longevity Annuities in Defined Contribution Plans: Optimal Retirement Portfolios Taking Social Security into Account

By Vanya Horneff, Raimond Maurer & Olivia S. Mitchell This paper investigates retirees’ optimal purchases of fixed and variable longevity income annuities using their defined contribution (DC) plan assets and given their expected Social Security benefits. As an alternative, we also evaluate using plan assets to boost Social Security benefits through delayed claiming. We determine that including deferred income annuities in DC accounts is welfare enhancing for all sex/education groups examined. We also show that providing access to well-designed variable...

U.S. Here’s how much 401(k) plans fell last year

Saving for retirement requires looking at the big picture, but it can be dispiriting when your 401(k) or other retirement plan takes a beating — a common plight for American workers last year, according to new data from Fidelity. The average balance in a 401(k) plan tumbled 20.5% in 2022, reducing employee nest eggs to $103,900 at the end of 2022, Fidelity said on Thursday. That compares with an average balance of $130,700 a year earlier, the financial services firm...

Redington DC report reveals ‘complexities’ facing savers

The consultancy's inaugural Future of Retirement Income report - launched today (21 February) - asked industry experts for their take on key debates within DC saving. With the minimum pension age due to increase, the report looked at trends for DC savers nearing and in retirement, including member communications, investment, advice and product innovation. The report noted with increasing life expectancy and focus on DC pots, the industry should engage with debates, adding that Redington would launch a series of roundtable...

Recognize unpaid care work in Colombia: a historical debt to women

By Yaneth Vargas Sandoval This socio-legal research article aims to address unpaid care work in Colombia, so the first part will address how women despite the existence of the right to Equality and non-discrimination as a human right, in the reality of this right is not fulfilled, since it is women who must face unequal conditions in access and permanence in the labor market, they will endure salary gaps and it is difficult for them to access the old-age pension. All...