After declining worldwide since the late 1080s, defined benefits plans will not recover their previous dominance in Australia because they can only be offered by large and stable organisations. Since 1992, Australia has had compulsory superannuation that is mostly privately managed in addition,...

While retirement income products have become more important in Australia in recent years, the growth in these has been predominantly in phased withdrawal products which offer no longevity insurance. The life annuity market has virtually disappeared, exposing Australians to much greater...

This paper documents developments in public sector pensions in Australia, and reports estimated unfunded liabilities associated with benefits promised to public sector employees. Australia’s experience with public sector pensions is unusual – currently, the defense forces and the judiciary...

Formal retirement income provision in Australia, can be traced back to occupational schemes first offered by banks, and state governments in the nineteenth century. However, the year 1909 marks the beginning of a national retirement income policy, with the introduction of means-tested age...

Phased retirement has been discussed as a means for increasing labour supply for people of older active age. The idea is that instead of leaving a full-time job early for full-time retirement, an employee should reduce the working time either in the same job or by changing jobs, and stay on in...

Phased retirement has been discussed as a means for increasing labour supply for people of older active age. The idea is that instead of leaving a full-time job early for full-time retirement, an employee should reduce the working time either in the same job or by changing jobs, and stay on in...

The steep drop in financial markets in 2008 coupled with the ongoing economic recession pose immediate challenges for some public pension systems, particularly those that rely partly on equity investments. In the case of Sweden, the crisis provides an initial ‘stress test’ for a major...