This is the sixth edition of the Pensions Universe Risk Profile (The Purple Book), a joint annual publication by the Pension Protection Fund (the PPF) and the Pensions Regulator (the regulator) which focuses on the risks faced by defined benefit (DB) pension schemes, predominantly in the private sector.

A period of protracted low interest rates is a feasible, even if not the most likely, scenario going forward and such a scenario would adversely affect pension funds and insurance companies. Protracted low interest rates affect investment opportunities and have a potentially significant adverse effect on life insurance companies and institutions whose liabilities consist of a fixed investment return or benefit promises, such as is the case for defined-benefit pension funds. It cannot be ruled out that the financial institutions affected engage in “gambling for redemption” in an attempt to match the level of return promised to beneficiaries when financial markets were more elevated.

This paper examines the role of guarantees in DC pension plans, in particular minimum investment return guarantees during the accumulation phase. The main goal is to assess the cost and benefits of different return guarantees.

Until recently, people with Defined Contribution (DC) pension savings were effectively required by Government regulations to purchase an annuity with their pension fund by the time they reached age 75. Since April 2011 the Government has lifted the effective requirement to annuitise. This Briefing Note summaries the main findings of a PPI research report, which estimates the number of people who might be able to take advantage of the new flexible options for accessing private DC pension savings and explores the possible impact of this policy change on low, median and high earners.

Fafo-forsker Geir Veland gir i et nytt notat en oversikt over utviklingen i det private tjenestepensjonsmarkedet i Norge i perioden 2002–2010. Han presenterer de viktigste trekk og endringstendenser, både hva gjelder forholdet mellom ytelses- og innskuddspensjoner, omdanninger fra ytelse til innskudd, innskuddssatser og ytelsesnivåer, kapital i ordningene, leverandørenes markedsandeler, individuelt investeringsvalg, supplerende forsikringsdekninger, uttak av pensjon fra 62 år, samt omfanget av fripoliser og pensjonskapitalbevis. Notatet viser at det private tjenestepensjonssystemet fortsatt er i endring.

Accompanied by pension reforms, most European countries have introduced taxdeferred individual retirement accounts as a means to incentivise private, voluntary savings for retirement in the “third pillar”. The introduction of these accounts has opened chances and risks for their owners: on the one hand, households can decide whether to save additionally for retirement and are rewarded with substantial taxdeferrals, on the other hand they may lack the financial knowledge to save voluntarily in these schemse and be left with insufficient retirement savings.

The pensions landscape in the UK is complex. The foundations of the UK pension system were laid in the 1940s. Since the 1960s, successive governments have changed both the state and private pension elements. This document is intended to provide a description of the UK pensions
system for the purposes of considering pensions policy. It should not be used to make individual pensions decisions.

This Pensions Primer gives a detailed description of the current pensions system and some of the archaeology of these layers. The Pensions Primer is intended for people wanting to learn about UK pensions policy. It should not be used to make individual pensions decisions.

This paper estimates the short-run impact of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA2006) on holdings of employer stock in defined contribution pension plans. PPA2006 allowed participants in plans with employer stock to diversify their holdings...

Both unemployment insurance (UI) extensions and the availability of disability benefits have disincentive effects on job search. But UI extensions can reduce the efficiency cost of disability benefits if UI recipients delay disability application until they exhaust their unemployment benefits.

This report provides new projections of the percentage of pensioners living in relative income poverty under a continuation of current Government policy on pensions and under alternative policy scenarios. Some of the policy proposals considered relate to the latest proposals suggested by the Government such as the introduction of a single-tier state pension of £140 a week. The research was commissioned by Age UK.

We analyze a natural experiment generated by the interaction of the Social Security DI and OA programs at Full Retirement Age, when DI beneficiaries are automatically converted from the DI program to the OA retired worker program. At conversion benefit payments continue unchanged, however the DI program’s high implicit marginal tax rate on earnings is abruptly relaxed.

The 21st wave of the Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) finds that Americans’ confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement has plunged to a new low at the same time that the recent declines in other retirement confidence indicators appear to be stabilizing. Instead of making fundamental adjustments to their spending and saving patterns in response to the decline in confidence, workers continue to change their expectations about how they will transition from work to retirement in what has been called an age of “the new normal.”