Pensions crisis

CHALLENGES IN PENSION REFORM A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION NOVEMBER 2012 By James Michael Sandburg Capstone Project Faculty Advisor Gary Geiler CAPSTONE PROJECT APPROVAL FORM I certify that I have read the Project of James Michael Sandburg entitled Challenges in Pension Reform, and that, in my opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and quality for

Social Security was established as a promise to the people of continuation of income into retirement. Well the road to hell is often paved with good intentions, because that promise now has the country in economic uncertainty. The guarantee that workers will be taken care of in their old age if they paid their Social Security tax, is no longer guaranteed. If we don’t come to a unanimous decision as to a plan of reform; financially our country is doomed.      Social Security has always struck me

(Cawthorne, 2010). Even in companies where the option is available for pension or social security, it is unlikely that ethnic minorities will enroll and work interruption has led to reduced social security benefits. According to Dumez & Derbew, “Even today, people of color remain less likely to receive pension benefits from their employers, and many people of color, particularly Latinos, are overrepresented in occupations in which worker

paternalism is a choice infrastructure that public or private institutions can nudge choosers to make better choices whereas people’s freedom of choices is preserved (Thaler and Sunstein, 2003). Due to the increasing recognition of retirement saving crisis where people save much less than is desirable, booming aging population and increasing uncertainty over the effectiveness and impacts of traditional incentives such as tax relief, automatic enrolment (AE) is called as a potential solution in the domain

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement pension provides a monthly benefit to eligible applicants. Also, the Private pension plans provide workers with retirement income to increase their income from public pension plans. Many business pension funds now underfunded; may be unable to pay out to retirees. There is concern that Old Age Security/Guaranteed Income Supplement are no longer adequate. Since 2008 financial crisis led to drop in value of RRSP investments. This challenges the pension system and

after the biggest unions announced strike ballots over pensions” (BBC News September 2011). Teachers and university lecturers are also planning to strike. Critically assess why substantial reforms are being planned for public sector pensions and the effects on the personal finances of those affected by such reforms. The difference between many tax and benefit changes the government proposes and the reforms of publics pensions is that pension reforms will take many years to come into effect completely

to create the crisis the system is now facing. For example, in 1950 there were 16 workers for every social security retiree, while presently there are only 3.3 workers for every retired worker drawing benefits. Estimates are that by 2030 there will be fewer than two workers for every retiree. Privatizing social security sounds extreme, but it has been done successfully in other countries like Chile. Jose Pinera, who was Chile's minister of labor, privatized the state pension system in 1981

Despite the fact that PEPRA develops new levels of both safety and –non-safety employees with lower benefits, PEPRA’s pension benefits changes do not cover most of the employees. According to Nava and Christensen (2015), following the implementation of PEPRA, most of the public employees in California were promised health coverage for life, which is one of the major components of other post-employment benefits (17). Nevertheless, the state and local governments have no strategy and are not setting

rest of society has become a major concern for policy makers and governments. An analysis of the social impact of the 2008 economic crisis by the OECD (2009) showed that pensioners had been largely spared from benefit cuts and sometimes their public pension benefits increased as part of economic stimulus programmes. In response to the financial and economic crisis in 2008, the macroeconomic effects of policy changes have received renewed consideration in the economic literature. Yet, as argued by

compensation to the forefront in forming a strategic organization. Of those challenges, budget cuts, which affect pension plans, and tenure, are some of the areas of concern for human resources amongst government agencies. The nature of work public agencies provide, makes it imperative that policies and procedures are defined and