Making automatic enrolment work
Making automatic enrolment work

Author: Great Britain: Department for Work and Pensions

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2010-10-27

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9780101795425

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Current policy is that new duties will be staged in between 2012 and 2016, requiring all employers to designate a pension scheme into which all of their employees, aged between 22 and state pension age, should be automatically enrolled, so long as they are earning above an annual earnings threshold (the Pensions Act 2008 sets this at £5,035, equivalent to £5,732 in today's terms). Upon automatic enrolment, a minimum of eight per cent of earnings within a band would be contributed to the pension, with at least three per cent coming from the employer. This policy is designed to maximise private pension saving by individuals without imposing compulsion. The right to opt out will remain. This review looks at the scope of automatic enrolment and whether a new national pension scheme (National Employment Savings Trust or NEST) needs to be put in place for it to work. One of the most significant recommendations that it makes is that people should only be automatically enrolled once they reach the income tax threshold (which will increase to £7.475 in 2011) but that contributions should be on earnings in excess of the National Insurance earnings threshold (£5,715 in today's prices). There should be no changes to age thresholds and automatic enrolment duties should apply to all employers, regardless of size, as now. Employers should be given three months before auto-enrolment to ease the burden on companies. If staff choose to enrol before the three month period then companies will have to make contributions

A New Pension Settlement for the Twenty-first Century
A New Pension Settlement for the Twenty-first Century

Author: Pensions Commission

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2005-11-30

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 0117036021

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Pensions Commission is an independent body established by the Government to review the adequacy of current arrangements for private pensions and retirement savings in the UK and to make recommendations on appropriate policy changes, including the option of moving to a compulsory system. Following on from its first report (ISBN 0117027804) published in October 2004, this second report sets out the Commission's conclusions on the likely evolution of the UK pension system if policy is unchanged, and makes recommendations for a new policy direction. Recommendations are based on two key elements: the automatic enrolment of employees into either a new National Pensions Savings System or into existing company pension schemes, with an option for employees to opt-out, and with a modest compulsory employer matching contribution; and reform of state pension provision in order to make it simpler to understand and less means-tested. The Commission concludes that these reforms will require some increase in public expenditure on pensions as a percentage of GDP over the next 45 years, and that increases in state pension ages will be needed to keep that increase within sustainable levels over the long term. The Commission presents a range of possible combinations of public expenditure and state pensions ages, and calls for a public debate to consider these options. It also recommends the establishment of a successor body to continue to review the situation and report to Parliament and government every four years.

Matching Contributions for Pensions
Matching Contributions for Pensions

Author: Richard Hinz

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2012-10-25

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 0821394932

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The use of matching contributions to enhance the participation and level of savings in pensions system has now been in use for nearly three decades in a number of high income countries. Increasingly, countries across the full range of economic development are looking to the design as a means of addressing the low rates of participation in formal pension and other retirement savings systems. A number of countries have recently introduced innovations in their pension systems that significantly rely on contributions matches and related types of direct subsidies to provide incentives for groups that mandates and other indirect methods such as preferential tax treatment have been unsuccessful in reaching. There is particular interest among developing countries in utilizing this design to extend coverage to informal sector and low income workers that typically do not pay income related taxes. This volume provides descriptions and analysis of the design, experience and outcomes achieved in the high income countries where there information about the dynamics and outcomes that this approach has achieved is not beginning to emerge. It also reviews new efforts to use the design in a number of other settings in which the matching contributions have been included as a significant element in reform of the pension system. The review of the experience with matching contribution across this full range of settings provides important observations and some initial lessons for policy makers and analysts who may be considering or evaluating the use of this approach to increase pension coverage.

Pension Policy
Pension Policy

Author: John Andrew Turner

Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 0880993545

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book focuses on current pension policy issues. It takes into account the major changes in the prevalence of pension plans of different types, in pension law, and in the economic analysis of pensions. The book approaches pension policy from different perspectives. One perspective is the international perspective, with a focus on lessons from international experience for U.S. pension policymakers. While attention is paid to the economic analysis of pensions, the book focuses on advancing our understanding of pension policy. The book's goal is to improve pension policy, and ultimately the lives of retirees, in the United States and elsewhere.

OECD Pensions Outlook 2012
OECD Pensions Outlook 2012

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2012-06-11

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 9264169407

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This edition looks at pension reform during the crisis and beyond, the design of automatic adjustment mechanisms, reversals of systemic pension reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, coverage of private pension systems and guarantees indefined contribution pension systems.

OECD Reviews of Pension Systems: Ireland
OECD Reviews of Pension Systems: Ireland

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2014-04-07

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 9264208836

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This report provides an international perspective on Ireland’s retirement income provision for a focused review on the viability and long-term impact of proposed changes in pension policy, taking into account the impact of the economic downturn.