In No Small Change, Tessa Hebb examines the ability of pension funds, now the largest single driver of financial markets around the world, to use their ownership position to change corporate practices for the sake of the bottom line and, perhaps, change the world for the better in the process.

Pension funds are not the new moral conscience of the twenty-first century, but they are significant owners of today's corporations. Because pension funds have to pay out benefits over many decades, they are increasingly concerned about the long-term value of the stocks they hold in their portfolios. Risks posed by climate change can have a huge impact on future returns. To lower the risks associated with an uncertain future, pension funds are engaging corporations and using their influence to raise the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards of companies.

At its best, Hebb finds, corporate engagement offers a long-term view of value that both promotes higher ESG standards and adds share value, thus providing long-term benefits to future pension beneficiaries. At its worst it may divert the attention of pension fund officials from their primary responsibility of ensuring the retirement benefits of their members. This book weighs the influence of corporate engagement on firms in an effort to see how the potential from this newly emerging force is being realized.

This volume outlines a fresh view on pension plans from the perspective of both the employer and employee, describing the possibilities in American labor relations and in Congress to meet employers' needs to compete and to fulfill the enduring desire of workers to plan for a financially secure period of leisure at the end of their working lives. The authors examine the advantages to employers from sponsoring a defined benefit plan and focus on ways to stabilize defined benefit plan coverage. They also look into the need for changes in regulations governing defined contribution plans, offering a number of innovative policy solutions. Finally, they provide insight into the political and institutional constraints that may impede the creation of new pension legislation that could help to strengthen defined benefit plans and improve defined contribution plans.

The past decade has brought an increasing recognition to the importance of pension systems to the economic stability of nations and the security of their aging populations. During this time, the World Bank has taken a leading role in addressing this challenge through its support for pension reforms around the world. 'Old-Age Income Support in the 21st Century' attempts to explain current policy thinking and update the World Bank's perspective on pension reform. The Bank has been involved in pension reforms in nearly 60 countries, and the demand for its support continues to grow. This book incorporates lessons learned from recent Bank experiences and research that have significantly increased knowledge and insight regarding how best to proceed in the future. The book has a comprehensive introduction and two main parts. Part I presents the conceptual underpinnings for the Bank's thinking on pension systems and reforms, including structure of Bank lending in this area. Part II highlights key design and implementation issues where it signals areas of confidence and areas for further research and experience, and includes a section on regional reform experiences, including Latin American and Europe and Central Asia. This book will be of interest to Bank clients, the international community, and anyone interested in pension systems and reform.

Banking on Death offers a panoramic view of the history and future of pension provision. A work of unique scope, it traces the origins and development of the pension idea, from the days of the French Revolution to the troubles of the modern welfare state. As we live longer, employers are closing their pension schemes and many claim that public treasuries will not be able to cope with the retirement of the babyboomers. Banking on Death analyses the challenge facing public schemes and the malfunctioning of private retirement provision, concluding with a bold proposal for how to pay for decent pensions for all. Robin Blackburn argues that pension funds have been depleted by wasteful promotion and used as gambling chips by ruthless and overpaid top executives. This is the world of 'grey capitalism,' where employees' savings are sequestrated from them and pressed into the service of corporate aggrandisement. Even the best companies find it hard to run a business and a pension fund at the same time-especially when the latter is larger than the former. The fund managers' notorious short-termism and herd instinct, and their failure to curb the greed and irresponsibility of the corporate elite, lead to obscene inequalities and a blighted social landscape. The pension privatisation lobby, Blackburn shows, has lost major battles in France and Germany, the United States and Italy, because of the popular fears it evokes. And the case for privatisation looks intellectually threadbare after withering critiques from such notable theorists as Joseph Stiglitz and Pierre Bourdieu. Banking on Death shows that pensions are political dynamite, and have undone governments from France and Italy to Argentina. Popular outcries led Reagan, Clinton, and Blair to change tack: will this happen to George W. Bush too? Blackburn argues that the ageing society will generate increased costs but, so long as the new life course is properly financed, all age groups will gain. He proposes a public regime of asset-based welfare, drawing on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and Rudolf Meidner, that could ensure secondary pensions for all and foster a more responsible, egalitarian and humane pattern of economic development.

The ultimate reference on compensation for small business owners

Beyond 401(k)s for Small Business Owners presents strategies for reducing taxes, planning for your retirement, and rewarding high-performing employees. Expert advice from attorney and CPA Jean Sifleet will help small business owners maximize their own rewards and create an environment in which employees know that their hard work will mean a better future for themselves.

In clear, simple language this book helps you figure out what kind of plan you can afford, what your employees want, and what to do. Important tax and insurance issues are covered in detail and step-by-step guidance lets you design a compensation strategy that works for both you and your employees. Case studies, sample plans, and helpful references make this book your one-stop source for complete coverage of alternatives, from cash bonus programs to employee stock option plans (ESOPs) and everything in between. With Beyond 401(k)s for Small Business Owners you'll have all the tools you need to:

• Maximize owner benefits, reduce taxes, and enhance your retirement income
• Use creative compensation to motivate your employees
• Understand qualified and nonqualified plans
• Address the unique issues of family businesses
• Get the best deal on insurance and benefits for your company
• Avoid expensive pitfalls
• Measure your progress and keep your plan on track

Population ageing has fuelled interest in pensions and intergenerational equity, leading to privatization of pensions. Yet the gender implications of such policies and the connections between the gender contract and the generational contract remain unexplored. Women, Work and Pensions examines how women's paid and unpaid work, interacting with the gendered pension systems of six liberal welfare states - Britain, the US, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand - contributes to female poverty in later life. By comparing how these welfare states deal with women's employment, family roles and pension entitlement, the nature of the residual welfare model is better understood. Changes over the past three decades in the gender contract and in women's employment suggest that family caring may have less impact on women's pensions in the future. Yet pension reforms which diminish the effectiveness of women-friendly features in state pensions through cuts and privatization point in the opposite direction. This issue, and how the pension penalties of caring vary with women's class, ethnicity and birth cohort, are major themes of the book.

Use the New Tax Law to Retire on Your Terms

Are you planning your retirement with the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 in mind? If not, you could be missing out on important changes that could help you build a larger nest egg or even retire early. Drawing on the experience of the nation’s premier tax and financial planners, Ernst & Young’s Retirement Planning Guide, Special Tax Edition shows you how to use the new tax law to plan for a secure future–whether you’re just getting started or on the verge of retirement.

This practical guide highlights key financial and personal issues you need to consider during your pre-retirement and retirement years, including essential information on how the new tax law will affect your retirement.

From guidance on portfolio diversification and Social Security to the new tax rules that will impact IRAs and 401(k) plans, Ernst & Young’s Retirement Planning Guide, Special Tax Edition provides the insight and assistance you need to take advantage of the new tax law and plan for a financially secure future.

• The effect the new tax law will have on your retirement plan–from pension withdrawals to IRA limits and new tax-deferred plans
• The latest financial instruments for retirement savings
• Worksheets, tips, and action items, as well as additional resources, including Web sites
• Strategies to overcome adverse financial events
• Wealth-building techniques to help you retire early
• Practical ideas and easy-to-understand charts and tables

Policymakers worldwide are struggling to adapt their pension systems to the reality of aging populations, globalization, and tightening budgets. The World Bank actively supports these policymakers by helping them to identify the economic and demographic challenges facing them to highlighting potential policy responses and providing implementation support. 'New Ideas about Old Age Security' is a selection of papers presented at a conference in September 1999 convened by the World Bank and attended by leading academics and policymakers from around the world. These papers, which have subsequently been revised, contain a sample of the most recent thinking in the global debate over pension reform. The papers in this volume explore a wide variety of pension reform issues. Some of the topics covered in this book include new approaches to multi-pillar pension reform, the relevance of index funds for pension investment in equities, and managing public pension reserves.

This is the fourth in a Series of five manuals produced by the Social Security Department of the ILO to provide the reader with information on all the major elements of social security, including the principles, administration, financing, pension schemes and social health insurance. This manual takes a look at and makes comparisons between public and private pensions, methods of protection in public schemes, old age benefits, invalidity benefits, survivor's benefits. Of particular interest to certain countries will be a section dealing with transforming existing "provident fund schemes" into ones based on social insurance. Other manuals in this series: - Social security principles (Vol. I) - Administration of social security (Vol. II) - Social security financing (Vol. III) - Social health insurance (Vol. V)

The tax treatment of pensions and pension schemes is undergoing a period of rapid development across the European Union. Following publication of the European Commission Green Paper on Supplementary Pensions in the Single Market in June 1997, the Council adopted a Directive on safeguarding the supplementary pension rights of employed and self-employed persons moving within the Community (Council Directive 98/49/EC of 29 June 1998). This work aims to stimulate the debate in this area, both on a national and a European level. The importance of the European dimension is apparent from an analysis of the application of EC competition rules to pension funds, particularly those funds which are granted exclusive rights to provide benefits to supplement state social security systems. It is argued that increased competition in this sector is likely to benefit pension provision in the long term. Against a background overview of the different types of pension schemes in EU Member States, the book goes on to consider the question of harmonization of certain tax rules with respect to pensions. Whereas important differences exist between the various schemes, nearly all grant some form of tax privileges aimed at encouraging supplementary provision. The need for uniform rules is most clearly shown in the application of assignment rules on tax, social security and pensions with regard to workers in cross-border situations, where various Member States apply significantly different rules. The papers collected here are the result of a seminar organized by the Foundation for European Fiscal Studies of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. This brochure is the seventh in a series initiated by the Foundation, which organizes postgraduate courses on European tax law, and aims to encourage research on the economic and legal aspects of tax harmonization and co-ordination in the European Union.

This guidebook addresses the three major financial centers in every ph ysician's life--the medical practice, the pension plan, and personal f inances. Listing cases and examples, the author addresses these three interrelated financial centers in a two-phase process: how to conduct practice management review and then how to use this process to establi sh an ongoing system for successful total financial management. Plus, the second edition has new material on capitation, integrated delivery systems, mergers & acquisitions and practice valuation, pensions, and dealing with managed care companies.

The ICFP Personal Wealth Building Guides offer proven strategies and invaluable information for putting together the many pieces of a financial plan and reaching personal, long-term financial goals. Highly readable and interactive, these guides will help you establish clear-cut objectives and furnish you with the wherewithal for achieving them. How much money will I need for a comfortable retirement? How will early retirement affect my pension? Should I take a lump sum distribution or roll over my retirement benefits? Your Retirement Benefits delivers clear, down-to-earth answers to these and hundreds of other frequently asked questions about the retirement planning issues and decisions facing employees and business owners alike. It explains what you need to know about every major benefits plan in existence, how to choose the right plan and make it work for you, and how to insure the best deal at retirement. What's more, this valuable sourcebook helps you manage your benefits plan while you're still employed and guides you step-by-step as you make critical retirement decisions. It's chock full of anecdotes, worksheets, and personal action plans for organizing your financial information and putting your own retirement plan to work today. As in other ICFP Personal Wealth Building Guides, this important work features Action Items alerting you to the bases that must be covered before proceeding with a given plan...Wealth Building Profiles that add a lively, human dimension to the financial principles discussed...Questions and Answers on top-of-mind issues...Checklists at the end of each section reviewing key points...and Wealth Building Worksheets that lead you step-by-step throughimportant planning decisions.

A pension is a voluntary benefit offered by employers to assist employees in providing for their financial security in retirement. Public and private sector defined benefit pension plans are subject to different rules and guidance regarding discount rates -- interest rates used to determine the current value of estimated future benefit payments. This book addresses the significance of differences in approaches used to determine discount rates among public and private plans; purposes for measuring the value of a plan's future benefits and key considerations for determining discount rate policy; and approaches selected countries have taken to choose discount rates.

Little public data are available to assess the extent to which sponsors of defined benefit plans are offering participants immediate lump sums to replace their lifetime annuities, but certain laws and regulations provide incentives for use of this practice. Although the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has primary responsibility for overseeing pension sponsors' reporting requirements, it does not require sponsors to report such lump sum offers, making oversight difficult. Pension experts generally agree that there has been a recent increase in these types of offers. Since 2012, a number of large pension plan sponsors have given selected participants a limited-time option of receiving their retirement benefits in the form of a lump sum. Although sponsors' decisions to make certain lump sum "window" offers may be permissible by law, questions have been raised about participants' understanding of the financial tradeoffs associated with their choice. This book focuses on the prevalence of lump sum offers and sponsors' incentives to use them; the implications for participants; and the extent to which selected lump sum materials provided to participants include key information.

Millions of employees change jobs each year and some leave their savings in their former employers' 401(k) plans. If their accounts are small enough and they do not instruct the plan to do otherwise, plans can transfer their savings into an IRA without their consent. The United States Government Accountability Office examined the implications for 401(k) plan participants of being forced out of plans and into these IRAs. This book examines what happens over time to the savings of participants forced out of their plans; the challenges 401(k) plan participants face keeping track of retirement savings in general; and how other countries address similar challenges of inactive accounts. This book also discusses the issues plan sponsors, fiduciaries, service providers, and other parties face in handling plan benefits payable to participants and beneficiaries who cannot be found or are nonresponsive.

The private sector pension system in the United States represents trillions of dollars in assets and is a key source of financial security for millions of Americans. To promote transparency and enhance retirement security, legislation and regulations require that plan sponsors provide numerous reports to Labor, IRS, and PBGC, and numerous disclosures to plan participants. This book examines the reports and disclosures pension plans are required to make to government agencies and plan participants; the ways, if any, reports to agencies may be inefficient or ineffective; and the ways, if any, disclosures to participants may be inefficient or ineffective. The book also discusses the extent to which law and regulations permit electronic disclosure to participants; explores the reported advantages and disadvantages associated with electronic delivery; and evaluates the weaknesses identified, if any, in the agencies' electronic delivery requirements

401(k) plan participants separating from their employers must decide what to do with their plan savings. Many roll over their plan savings to IRAs. As GAO previously reported, there is concern that participants may be encouraged to choose rollovers to IRAs in lieu of options that could be more in their interests. This book identifies challenges separating plan participants may face in implementing rollovers; obtaining clear information about which option to choose; and understanding distribution options.

In response to concerns over the adequacy of retirement savings, Congress has created incentives to encourage individuals to save more for retirement through a variety of retirement plans. Some retirement plans are employer-sponsored, such as 401(k) plans, and others are established by individual employees, such as Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). This book describes the primary features of two common retirement savings accounts that are available to individuals. It also examines the evidence on the cost of conflicted investment advice and its effects on Americans' retirement savings; and describes circumstances where service providers may have conflicts of interest in providing assistance related to the selection of investment options for plan sponsors and plan participants, and steps the Department of Labor (Labor) has taken to address conflicts of interest related to the selection of investment options.

In 2014, the federal government will forgo an estimated $17.45 billion in tax revenue from IRAs, which Congress created to ensure equitable tax treatment for those not covered by employer-sponsored retirement plans. Congress limited annual contributions to IRAs to prevent the tax-favored accumulation of unduly large balances. But concerns have been raised about whether the tax incentives encourage new or additional saving. Congress is reexamining retirement tax incentives as part of tax reform. This book describes IRA balances in terms of reported FMV aggregated by taxpayers; examines how IRA balances can become large; and assesses how IRS ensures that taxpayers comply with IRA tax laws.

Pension advances and pension investments are products that, while based on or related to pension benefits, are generally distinct from the pensions themselves. A pension advance is an up-front lump sum provided to a consumer in exchange for a certain number and dollar amount of the consumer's future pension payments plus various fees. Pension investments, the related product, provide investors a future income stream when they make an up-front lump-sum investment in one or more pensioners' incomes. There have been recent concerns about companies attempting to take advantage of retirees using pension advances. This book describes the number and characteristics of pension advance companies and marketing practices; evaluates how pension advance terms compare with those of other products; and evaluates the extent to which there is related federal oversight.

Multiemployer pension plans, created by collective bargaining agreements including more than one employer, cover more than 10 million workers and retirees, and are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). In recent years, as a result of investment market declines, employers withdrawing from plans, and demographic challenges, many multiemployer plans have had large funding shortfalls and face an uncertain future. This book examines the actions that multiemployer plans in the weakest condition have taken to improve their funding levels and the options available to address PFBC's impending funding crisis and enhance the multiemployer insurance program's future financial stability.

Over the past 25 years, defined contribution plans, including 401(k) plans, have become the most prevalent form of employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States. The majority of assets held in these plans are invested in stocks and stock mutual funds, and the decline in the major stock market indices in 2008 greatly reduced the value of many families' retirement savings. The effect of stock market volatility on families' retirement savings is just one issue of concern to Congress with respect to defined contribution retirement plans. This book examines fee considerations and country comparisons relating to defined contribution plans for retirement with a focus on increasing access to employer-sponsored plans, raising participation and contribution rates, helping participants make better investment choices, requiring clearer disclosure of fees charged to plan participants, preserving retirement savings when workers face economic hardship or change jobs, and promoting life annuities as a source of retirement income.

The idea of this book is to provide insight into the composition and structure of public pension and early retirement schemes in seven European countries, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. The component and structural analyses are based on micro simulation models, which, after validation of the models, makes it possible to perform a great number of precise calculations in a very short time and to present the results in graphical form, close to 'blue prints', this is the 'engineering' dimension of the study. It is also the aim to study the income protection these schemes provide when the working person retires, which is the social dimension of the study.

Older Americans are a powerful force in America politics because of high participation in elections and active lobbying organisations. In addition, the younger set who pay the largest taxes keep a steady eye on the often shifty actions of politicians with regard to pensions. This book deals with some of the critical issues of health insurance for retirees, reform of pensions plans, and company actions with regard to pension plans.