June 2021
25Jun

US. American Express boosts auto-enrollment contribution rate to 6% for 401(k) plan

American Express Co., New York, is increasing the amount of automatic enrollment for participants in its 401(k) plan to a before-tax contribution of 6% of total pay, effective Jan. 1, 2022. The company will continue its current policy of an automatic escalation rate of 1% each year until the employee contribution hits 10% of pay, it disclosed in an 11-K filing Wednesday with the SEC. Currently, eligible employees are automatically enrolled to make before-tax contributions of 3% of total pay. The company's...

June 25, 2021
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24Jun

Pension Incentives and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Introduction of Universal Old-Age Assistance in the UK

By Matthias Giesecke, Philipp Jaeger We study the labor supply implications of the Old-Age Pension Act (OPA) of 1908, which, for the first time, provided pensions to older people in the UK. Using recently released census data covering the entire population, we exploit variation at the newly created age-based eligibility threshold. Our results show a considerable and abrupt decline in labor force participation of 6.0 percentage points (13%) when older workers reach the eligibility age of 70. To mitigate the...

June 24, 2021
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23Jun

Australia. Changes to ‘super size’ retirement savings

For the average Australian worker, legislated rises in superannuation will mean an extra $85,000 in their super account at retirement. The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia on Wednesday released a report on how the increases set to kick in from July 1 will "super-size" retirement balances. Super balances are also set for a whopper year of double-digit gains, despite COVID-19 wobbles. The rise in the superannuation guarantee rate to 10 per cent from next month represents an extra $19,000 in a...

June 23, 2021
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09Jun

Pensions industry should use tech to sustain the savings boom

It has been a tough year for many, and experts agree that the economic fallout of 2020 has hit the self-employed particularly hard. But among the bad news stories lurks a glimmer of hope from an unexpected source: the world of private pensions. It certainly has not been smooth sailing – when Covid-19 hit, there was a sharp halt to pension contributions. New sign-ups to our own service dropped by a staggering 90 per cent in the first week of lockdown. However,...

June 9, 2021
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04Jun

Strategy for the Mexican Pension System

By Gabriel Martinez The concepts of benefit adequacy and sustainability are used to lead the discussion to-wards holistic pension reform. The required strategic elements are presented, the reforms underpinning the existing pension system are reviewed, and the evolution of the main variables in a set of reference countries is detailed. The review to other countries serves to identify key points of discussion, lessons and innovative elements. Essential reform proposals are presented. Source: SSRN 486 views

June 4, 2021
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04Jun

Why retirees need to heed the ‘sequence-of-returns risk’ in their portfolios

When world markets took a nosedive in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, many investors worried about the hit they saw on their returns in monthly statements. Those in the early days of retirement were particularly lucky that the pandemic-driven plummet proved to be short-lived. A prolonged downturn of that magnitude at the start of the period when you’re drawing on investments can have disastrous consequences on your long-term portfolio performance, experts say. Still, there are pre-retirement strategies that...

June 4, 2021
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03Jun

US. 401k Savings, Account Balances Grew During Pandemic

Closed restaurants and movie theaters meant more disposable income for retirement savings during the pandemic. T. Rowe Price is out with its annual Reference Point 401k benchmarking report featuring year-over-year data and analysis on participant behavior and plan design, and the results were positive, all things considered. “While the financial, physical, and emotional strains caused by the pandemic had, and will continue to have, repercussions on plan design and retirement savings outcomes, it was encouraging to see that through it all,...

June 3, 2021
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May 2021
20May

African Demographics Changing Rapidly, Forcing To Re-Think Pensions

Africa has long been known for its youthful population, and while the continent will continue to have the largest youth cohort in the world, they’ll live longer than their forebearers, according to the latest Bright Africa pensions research from RisCura, a global investment firm. Read also Investing in an Ageing Population The research shows that longevity expectations have changed dramatically, thanks to better nutrition, medical advances and overall improvements in the general standard of living. Read also Shock retirement numbers for South...

May 20, 2021
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20May

Shock retirement numbers for South Africa

Representatives of the retirement and savings industry presented their submissions to parliament on Wednesday (19 May) on the Democratic Alliance’s proposed Pensions Funds Amendment Bill. The bill aims to amend the current Pension Funds Act to allow pension fund members to obtain a loan, secured by a guarantee from a registered pension fund, to alleviate financial pressure during an emergency. In this case, the bill makes direct reference to the Covid-19 emergency or any other emergency similar to Covid-19. By enabling a...

May 20, 2021
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19May

UK. Regulators ask industry for help on improving pension saving

The City watchdog and the Pensions Regulator have teamed up to investigate how people make decisions about their pension at key points throughout their working lives, in order to better support savers through future regulation. Read also UK. TPR sets three priorities in its new corporate plan The regulators today (May 18) launched a call for input from the pension industry on what influences consumers when saving into a pension and how they can be better supported to improve their pension...

May 19, 2021
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