August 2021
26Aug

UK. ONS warns early retirement could negatively affect individual finances and wider economy

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has warned that the exit of workers aged between 50 and 65 from the workforce could negatively impact both individuals’ finances and the wider economy. The organisation’s Living longer: impact of working from home on older workers study estimated that if the employment rate of people in the age group matched that of those aged 35 to 49 years, it would add more than 5 per cent to UK gross domestic product (GDP), equating...

August 26, 2021
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24Aug

Nepalese Gurkhas end hunger strike over UK military pensions

Nepalese Gurkha military veterans have ended a 13-day hunger strike after the United Kingdom’s government agreed to discuss their longstanding grievances over pension rights. Thousands of Gurkhas, who are renowned as hard and loyal fighters, have served in the British army but until 2007, did not enjoy the same pay and conditions as British soldiers. Those who served before 1997 still receive only a fraction of their British counterparts’ salary as it was assumed they would return to Nepal after leaving...

August 24, 2021
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23Aug

Royal Mail ready to launch first U.K. collective DC plan

The Royal Mail Group Ltd. is getting closer to the launch of its long-awaited collective defined contribution plan, which will be U.K.'s first such plan, as the government unveiled a final set of CDC requirements on July 19. Read also UK. Do CDCs offer the best of both? Sponsors of defined benefit funds in the U.K. such as Royal Mail, which have been grappling with the increasing costs of running a pension fund will soon be able to switch to a...

August 23, 2021
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19Aug

UK. Aon launches online quiz to explore CDC option

Aon has launched an online quiz that UK employers and pension scheme trustees can use to explore how a collective defined contribution scheme could meet their future needs. Aon’s CDC-simplified tool asks 10 questions that allow those currently running defined benefit or DC schemes to see if a CDC pension scheme could be an option for them Based on the answers to each question, respondents can also establish which “flavour” of CDC might be suitable for their circumstances, Aon stated. As reported...

August 19, 2021
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18Aug

UK. Pressure increases on Rishi Sunak to suspend triple lock on pensions

Rishi Sunak has come under further pressure to suspend the state pension triple lock after wage figures showed that the chancellor is on course to pay pensioners a rise of more than 8% next year. Sunak is understood to be considering telling Britain’s 12 million state pension claimants that the pandemic has artificially inflated the official wages figures and a new formula is needed to calculate the rise in the basic state pension for next year. Read also UK. I Don’t...

August 18, 2021
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17Aug

UK. 4 million under-40s missing out on pension investment returns due to low risk appetite

Around four million workers under 40 could be losing out on investment returns as they are in low-risk pensions that do not have potential for higher growth, according to research from Interactive Investor (II). The research, undertaken by Opinium, revealed that 66 per cent of people aged between 18 and 39, equal to around 10 million people, have a low-risk (25 per cent) or medium-risk (41 per cent) pension, whilst 19 per cent have a high-risk pension. Furthermore, over half (54...

August 17, 2021
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16Aug

UK. I Don’t Want My Pension Funding Sunak’s Big Bang

The U.K. government is calling on the nation’s pension funds to participate in an “investment big bang” by allocating more capital to domestic and long-term illiquid investments. It’s a proposal that’s short on detail and fraught with difficulties, and one that pension fund trustees should treat with an abundance of caution. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak recently wrote an open letter to the overseers of Britain’s 2.6 trillion pound ($3.6 trillion) pension industry. They...

August 16, 2021
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13Aug

Finland tops global pension rankings

Finland's pension system has ranked number one in the world in 2021 while the UK has fallen “short of the mark”, ranking 25th out of 33 countries included in analysis by Blacktower Financial Management. The analysis used key metrics to analyse pension systems around the world, including public spending, average retirement ages, average pension contributions and the percentage of the population who have participated in pension schemes. Finland was deemed to have the best pension system in the world, recording high...

August 13, 2021
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12Aug

Why it is important to start pensions early

Young savers and the self employed saw the largest proportional increases in financial vulnerability during the pandemic, rising by more than 40 percent, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. Since young people are now more likely to be much less comfortable retiring than their parents, it is important to start preparing for retirement sooner rather than later. Advice firm Purely Pensions has warned that savers in their 20s could lose more than £21,000 at retirement if they put off making contributions...

August 12, 2021
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09Aug

Regulator drops plans to cap investments for UK pension schemes

The UK pensions regulator has abandoned plans to limit investment freedoms for retirement schemes holding billions of pounds of assets, as Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak urge trustees to plough more cash into supporting the UK recovery. Read also UK. Pandemic widens pensions pot gender gap The Pensions Regulator has confirmed to the Financial Times that it will not proceed with a proposal, first outlined in March, to cap investment in unquoted assets to no more than a fifth of a...

August 9, 2021
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