February 2020

03Feb

Nigeria. SERAP wins round one in battle to get details of payment of jumbo pensions to former governors

There is prospect Nigerians keen on knowing details of payment of life pensions to former governors across the 36 states in the country, and the names and number of ex-governors and other officials collecting pensions, may soon have some answers, as Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has won the latest round in the legal battle to compel 36 state governors to disclose these details. Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja last week granted leave clearing the...

February 3, 2020
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December 2019

20Dec

State Pension Funds Reduce Assumed Rates of Return

State and local public employee retirement systems in the United States manage over $4.3 trillion in public pension fund investments, with returns on these assets accounting for more than 60 cents of every dollar available to pay promised benefits. About three-quarters of these assets are held in what are often called risky assets—stocks and alternative investments, including private equities, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities.1 These investments offer potentially higher long-term returns, but their values fluctuate with ups and...

December 20, 2019
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16Dec

UK. Top civil servants given ‘lavish’ £1m pensions

The UK’s permanent secretaries, 23 individuals who head up UK government departments, had an average defined benefit pension worth £1.1m in 2018/19, according to research from the TaxPayers' Alliance. The figures, released by the think tank today (December 16), showed the average pension upon retirement of these officials will be £57,717 per annum - 94 per cent more than the average gross UK salary in 2018 (£29,817). The data was taken from the 2018/19 annual reports of UK government...

December 16, 2019
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November 2019

22Nov

Kenya. Pension crisis as 50,000 government staff retire

The retirement of about 50,000 civil servants is burdening taxpayers after the pension bill jumped by 63.03 percent or Sh10 billion in the first four months to October as the Treasury raised the red flag over the rising expense. Read also Less than 10pc Kenyans to retire comfortably on pension Treasury data shows that public pension expenses stood at Sh27.8 billion in the four months to October compared to Sh17.06 billion a year earlier — making it the fifth largest...

November 22, 2019
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22Nov

Why millennials should care about government pensions even if they don’t have one

Public pensions are not exactly a burning issue for millennials. In their minds, they won’t be retiring for decades, and pensions won’t affect their lives anytime soon. That line of thinking couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s currently a public pension crisis that doesn’t just affect retired government employees, but also young people in the workforce — both in terms of their future retirement plans and current salaries. Millennials, tune in. Most local and state retirement plans use...

November 22, 2019
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September 2019

27Sep

Pensions and Early Retirement: The Case of The Public Servants in Uganda

By Kibs Boaz Muhanguzi Retirement, if influenced by pensions, can be a good manifestation of how the government can use the pension system as a fiscal instrument to achieve some socioeconomic targets. Borrowing intuition from the postulations of disengagement theory of aging that when the elderly retire, they free up positions in paid work for the entry of young individuals, this study investigates the role of incentives on early retirement. The high levels of unemployment in Uganda amidst the...

September 27, 2019
Articles, Pension design, System Sustainability, , , ,
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20Sep

China’s workforce saving more for retirement amid concerns about state pension, survey finds

China should not be alarmed by a much slower economic growth rate in the coming years, perhaps as low as 5 or even 4 per cent, with the economy now large enough to still create sufficient jobs at these growth rates, according to three prominent Chinese economists who advise the government. The headline gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate slowed to 6.2 per cent in the second quarter this year, the lowest figure since quarterly records began in March...

September 20, 2019
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August 2019

30Aug

The Impact of Governmental Accounting Standards on Public-Sector Pension Funding

By Divya Anantharaman, Elizabeth Chuk The funding policy for defined benefit pension plans covering government employees represents an important decision for government entities sponsoring those plans. In recent years, a number of state and local governments have experienced extreme funding shortfalls (e.g., New Jersey, Illinois, and Detroit), raising concerns about whether government entities are contributing enough to their pensions. Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statements Number 67/68 (hereafter, “GASB 67/68”) fundamentally alter the financial reporting of pension liabilities, by (i)...

August 30, 2019
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December 2018

04Dec

Pension Reform and Return to Work Policies

By Maria Donovan Fitzpatrick For many people, working after beginning retirement benefit collection is a way to enhance financial security by increasing income. Existing research has shown that retirees are sensitive to the Social Security earnings test, which restricts the amount of earnings some beneficiaries can receive. However, little is known about the effects of other types of policies on post-retirement employment. Instead of restricting earnings, many public pension plans restrict the number of hours beneficiaries can work. I use...

December 4, 2018
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September 2018

17Sep

The Crisis in Public Sector Pension Plans: A Blueprint for Reform in New Jersey

By Eileen Norcross (George Mason University - Mercatus Center) & Andrew G. Biggs (American Enterprise Institute) In this study, we consider the case of New Jersey, which operates five defined benefit pension plans for state employees. The New Jersey Senate unanimously passed legislation in February 2010 that would put a question on the November ballot to constitutionally require the state to begin to make its full annual payment to the state’s pension system. The bill requires the state to catch...

September 17, 2018
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