December 2020

15Dec

Chile’s Great Pension Raid

By Andrés Velasco Because the policies they produce are so ludicrous, populist cycles eventually crash against reality and come to an end. Sadly, for too many Chileans, the crash may come when they reach old age with no retirement savings. How should families pay for the costs of the pandemic? The conservative government’s finance minister proposes that the state should help.Thanks but no thanks, retort members of the country’s congress. Families can use their own accumulated pension savings, and the...

December 15, 2020
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14Dec

South Africa. 1 600 municipal employees’ pensions have lapsed due to ‘non-payment of pension fund contributions’

Several municipalities across the country have defaulted on paying workers' pension contributions to their respective pension funds. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said municipalities in the Free State, North West and Northern Cape were mostly affected by the default in pension fund contributions. The DA said it would lay charges against the involved municipal officials. While governance failures have all but decimated some of the country's poorest municipalities, errant officials have not been paying millions in employer contributions to workers'...

December 14, 2020
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09Dec

Nearly Half Of UK Pension Savers Unaware They Are Saving Into Pension

EQ research shows that under half (48%) of full-time workers believe they are saving into a pension However, official statistics finds 88% of eligible employees are saving into an occupational pension scheme Findings demonstrate the success of auto-enrolment in pushing savers into later-life saving but need for further engagement Analysis from EQ (Equiniti Group plc), one of the largest providers of outsourced pension administration in the UK, suggests that nearly half of the UK's full-time workers don't realise that...

December 9, 2020
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09Dec

Kenya. Selling pension to millennials changing jobs

Like most African countries, Kenya boasts a youthful population of about 75.1 percent persons below 35 years (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2019 census). However, pension uptake by this demographic has been low, yet the youth have the benefit of enjoying the power of compounded interest over a longer saving period. With unemployment rates in Kenya being at about 39.1 percent, most millennials live from hand to mouth and those employed are driven by consumption and peer pressure with little...

December 9, 2020
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November 2020

02Nov

The savings and domestic investment paradox in Namibia

Namibia has been praised for having one of the largest savings pools in Africa, but the question of where such funds are invested and how they are benefiting Namibians still lingers. An analysis by The Namibian shows that since 2013, the asset base of non-banking institutions has been growing by an average of N$18 billion per year. Non-banking institutions are typically your pension funds, insurance companies, medical aid funds and friendly societies. In Namibia, they are regulated by Namibia Financial...

November 2, 2020
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October 2020

29Oct

US. Most Workers Believe COVID-19 Will Affect Their Retirement Planning

Market volatility driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and a contentious U.S. presidential election have struck fear in pre-retirees about their ability to save for the future, according to new survey results.  Principal Financial Group’s quarterly Retirement Security Pulse Survey, which looks at consumer concerns surrounding their retirement savings, finds that nearly two-thirds of workers anticipate the pandemic will impact their path to retirement.  While most retirees feel they can live comfortably over the coming months, that confidence wanes when they think longer...

October 29, 2020
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27Oct

South Africa. Lockdown forced many to dip into retirement savings to make ends meet – report

Nompu Sizela: Investment manager 10X released its third iteration of the Retirement Reality Report. Previous reports have highlighted the fact that the vast majority of working South Africans are not putting themselves in a position where they’ll be able to retire comfortably. And this year, with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the outlook has further worsened. Read also Pension fund of S.Africa’s Eskom to invest $170 mln in U.S. projects Well, to tell us more I’m joined on the...

October 27, 2020
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16Oct

South Africa. Billions unclaimed from pension funds

Takalani Lukhaimane of the Financial Services board says over R50-billion worth of pension funds have not been claimed by the rightful beneficiaries. Read also Will emigrating South Africans be allowed to withdraw their retirement savings? The Financial Sector Conduct Authority is urging South Africans to go online through the FCSA database to check if they qualify. Read also South Africa. Deflation puts brakes on retired SA public servants’ pensions "We have various ways in which people can make an enquiry, one...

October 16, 2020
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12Oct

Thanks to the Coronavirus, There’s a New Barrier to Retirement Savings

Saving for retirement is hard enough for most Americans, many of whom have far too little money set aside. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has thrown another wrench into the works: Millions of parents across the country have been left without good child care options. In fact, according to a July study from E*Trade Financial, 46% of parents indicated child care was a barrier to retirement, up six percentage points compared with the first quarter, before the pandemic set in....

October 12, 2020
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05Oct

Ghana. Workers urged to invest in Tier-3 pension scheme

The President of Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana(CLOGSAG), Dr Evans Dzikum, has asked workers to make a deliberate effort to invest part of their earnings in the voluntary Tier 3 pension scheme administered by private entities. He said that was the surest way to what he described as a happy old age as majority of workers under the present pension scheme would be entitled to only a quarter of their current incomes during retirement. Save towards pensions...

October 5, 2020
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