November 2025
12Nov

UK. Government to rethink rejection of Waspi compensation

A decision to reject compensation for women hit by changes to the state pension age will be reconsidered by the government. Campaigners say 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not properly informed of the rise in state pension age to bring them into line with men. Last year, the government apologised for a 28-month delay in sending letters, but rejected any kind of financial payouts. A document was not shown to Liz Kendall, who was Work and Pensions Secretary...

November 12, 2025
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03Nov

UK. Nigel Farage refuses to commit to the triple lock on pensions

Nigel Farage has suggested that the minimum wage may be “too high” for younger workers, as he laid out Reform’s vision for the UK economy. The Reform leader, speaking in the City of London on Monday morning, also revealed he was abandoning plans for tax cuts that were a central part of the party’s previous manifesto – and refused to commit to the triple lock on pensions. Asked whether he thought the minimum wage was too high, Mr Farage said: “There’s...

November 3, 2025
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October 2025
30Oct

US. State Pension Funding Levels Stayed Stable Despite Volatility

The reported funding gap for state pension plans—the disparity between promised benefits and available assets—was $1.32 trillion in 2023, according to 50-state data collected by The Pew Charitable Trusts. This represents a $44.7 billion increase over 2022, driven primarily by increases to liabilities from benefit changes and differences between what plans assumed for salaries, longevity, and similar workforce and demographic trends and what actually happened. However, even amid volatile markets, state funds showed signs of resilience. The overall funded ratio—the...

October 30, 2025
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29Oct

Pensions UK calls for triple lock review amid rising state pension cost

Pensions UK has proposed replacing the triple lock with a more sustainable uprating mechanism once the state pension reaches a “clear adequacy benchmark”, ensuring it provides minimum income standards for a decent retirement. In its response to the government’s third state pension age (SPA) review, the trade body acknowledged the triple lock’s role in protecting pensioners’ incomes in real terms - particularly given ongoing concerns about the adequacy of retirement outcomes from defined contribution (DC) schemes. However, Pensions UK pointed to Office...

October 29, 2025
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September 2025
17Sep

UK. State pension likely to rise by 4.7% in April

People drawing their new state pension from April are likely to see a rise of more than £500 a year, latest wages data suggests. Under the "triple lock" policy, the state pension goes up each year by either 2.5%, inflation, or average earnings growth - whichever is the highest figure. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed total pay including bonuses for the three months to July was 4.7%, which is likely to be the figure used for the annual increase. Almost...

September 17, 2025
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August 2025
29Aug

UK. How to work until retirement when your body has already checked out

Over the years, the state pension age in the UK has changed several times, to coincide with the increase in life expectancy and to ensure fiscal sustainability. The age was 60 for women and 65 for men between 1948 and 2010, after which point the state pension age for both men and women became 65. It has subsequently shifted again, with the current retirement age being 66. This is set to rise once more from 6 May 2026 to 67. As...

August 29, 2025
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18Aug

UK state pension age could rise to 70 amid triple lock concerns

State pension reform has returned to the centre of political discussion as the nation's growing financial burdens have prompted experts to forecast that a rise in the retirement age to 70 could arrive earlier than anticipated. Further demands have been made for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to reassess the triple lock policy. The state pension age currently stands at 66, scheduled to climb to 67 by 2028, with additional rises planned for subsequent decades. Financial advisers and think tanks are advocating...

August 18, 2025
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14Aug

UK. DWP insider explains why State Pension won’t be means tested

Pensions Minister Torsten Bell recently confirmed that the State Pension will not be means-tested in the future, following growing speculation on social media suggesting that the contributory benefit could be next in line for review by the Labour Government. Under the Triple Lock system, the New and Basic State Pensions increase each year in accordance with whichever is highest between average annual earnings growth from May to July, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation in the year to September or 2.5 per...

August 14, 2025
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08Aug

South Africa. State pension plan may lead to industry consolidation

The introduction of a state pension scheme could force the pension fund industry to consolidate, Metropolitan, the fourth-largest life insurer, said yesterday. Peter Doyle, the group chief executive, said there would be a shift in the pension fund industry as a result of the government introducing a mandatory state pension scheme. In his national budget presentation, finance minister Trevor Manuel said the government would be working towards setting up a pension fund that would seek to draw in irregularly employed and...

August 8, 2025
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July 2025
11Jul

The Pensions Review: final recommendations

By Jonathan Cribb, Carl Emmerson, Paul Johnson, Heidi Karjalainen & Laurence O’Brien This final report of the Pensions Review, a major project launched in April 2023 by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in partnership with abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, examines the main risks to today’s working-age individuals in the UK pension system and sets out policy proposals primarily focused on improving outcomes for future generations of retirees. This report does further analysis and draws on the large number of reports...

July 11, 2025
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