February 2024
15Feb

UK. DWP has ‘no plans’ to raise frozen state pension payments for 500,000 expats, minister confirms

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has “no plans” to raise frozen state pension payments for 500,000 Britons living abroad, a Government minister has confirmed. Pensions minister Paul Maynard told MPs the Government will not be introducing a “change to its longstanding policy”. Pensioners who retire overseas in certain countries, including Canada and New Zealand, have their payments frozen at the rate they were paid when they left the UK. An estimated 500,000 older Britons do not receive the full state pension entitlement they...

February 15, 2024
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06Feb

U.S. Public Pensions Highly Vulnerable to Market Correction

Investment volatility has re-emerged as a key concern for defined benefit public pension plans since the pandemic began, signalling the risk that market corrections can set back progress in stabilizing funded ratios and trigger higher contributions, Fitch Ratings says. Asset values surged in 2021 followed by sharp reversal in 2022 and a rebound in 2023. Based on audits of almost 100 major state pension plans, fiduciary plan assets rose a median of 24.4% in fiscal 2021, then fell 7% yoy...

February 6, 2024
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06Feb

UK’s ageing population prompts calls to push state pension age up to 71

The UK’s ageing population means that the state pension age would need to rise from the current 66 to 70 or 71 to maintain the status quo, research from the International Longevity Centre (ILC) has revealed. The ILC pointed out that most of those countries ranking at the top of its Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index have rapidly ageing populations, which are making it increasingly important for these governments to act to support healthy ageing. In particular, the ILC’s analysis showed,...

February 6, 2024
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December 2023
20Dec

UK. DWP urges people buying State Pension top-ups to check uplift will be applied to payments first

New figures published by the UK Government show that at the end of March 2023, the number of people making voluntary National Insurance (NI) contributions to top-up their State Pension has surged by 85 per cent over the last year. The National Insurance Fund Accounts indicate that £391,973,000 worth of Class 3 NI contributions were made for the year ending March 31, compared to £212,311,000 paid in the previous year. However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is urging people thinking...

December 20, 2023
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19Dec

UK. Pensions are far from broken but could still use a fix

There aren’t too many areas of public policy where we in the UK can feel we have done a better job than in comparable countries. Our state pension system is, arguably, one of them. What we have is vaguely coherent and more affordable than most. It forms part of a system which, alongside widespread private provision and additional means-tested support for the poorest, results in many enjoying a relatively comfortable old age, and far fewer than in the past...

December 19, 2023
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05Dec

US. Santos-inspired bill would ban pensions for expelled lawmakers

A House Republican on Monday introduced legislation barring lawmakers who are expelled from Congress from receiving congressional pensions. Why it matters: It's a direct response to the House's expulsion last week of then-Rep. George Santos, who was accused of plundering his congressional campaign coffers to personally enrich himself. Driving the news: Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) announced the Congressional Pension Accountability Act at a press conference on Monday morning. Nunn was among the more than 100 Republicans who voted to expel Santos following the release of...

December 5, 2023
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November 2023
23Nov

UK to increase state pension by 8.5%, sticks with ‘triple lock’ commitment

Britain's publicly funded state pension will increase by 8.5% from April 2024, finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday. The increase is based on average earnings data published in September and was in line with the government's "triple lock" policy on pension changes. The triple lock is a government promise to raise the value of publicly funded pensions by whichever is highest out of the level of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. Ahead of Hunt's budget update statement, media reports had suggested he...

November 23, 2023
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21Nov

US. State pension plans’ funded status improves

The median state pension plan funded status improved last year to 82.6% from 68.5%, according to data provided by Fitch Ratings. The rating agency's adjusted funded measure, which caps the assumed investment return at 6%, was 73.5% vs. 60.2% in 2021. States dropped their assumed rate of return in 2022, continuing a trend going back at least several years. Last year, the average fell to 6.88% compared with 7.6% in 2015. The number of states making at least 100% contributions compared...

November 21, 2023
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15Nov

US federal pension fund to exclude Hong Kong and China investments

The main US federal government pension fund is to exclude China- and Hong Kong-listed stocks on the recommendation of its adviser, which cited the rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The $771bn Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board said on Wednesday that it would change the benchmark index followed by its international fund. The move will mean a shift away from an index that includes Hong Kong-listed equities. Washington has increasingly limited the range of Chinese companies available to US...

November 15, 2023
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08Nov

Parliament rejects move to reinstate pensions for MPs: Bahrain

A MOVE to reinstate lifetime pensions for elected and appointed public representatives has been shot down. Of the 31 MPs present in Parliament during its weekly session yesterday, 26 voted against reinstating the 2009 MPs, Shura Council and Municipal Council Members’ Pension Law, four abstained and only Jalal Khadim endorsed the proposal. Under the rejected legislation, public representatives would have be entitled to annual increases in pensions similar to others in the private, government and military sectors. The legislation also sought to...

November 8, 2023
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