The present paper reviews key issues in pension design and pension reform encountered all across the world. The paper heavily refers to the recent U.S. Social Security reform debate in general and to the Personal Retirement Accounts proposal in particular. A particular emphasis is put on...

Many middle-income workers save for retirement through 401(k) plans. This study addresses the concern that low account balances of older workers may indicate that these vehicles are not sufficient to insure adequate retirement savings. In particular, the study shows that workers are not...

Many investment companies have begun providing their defined-contribution pension participants with individualized, retirement income projections. The U.S. Congress is currently considering whether to require them all to do so. Evidence on the potential impact is scant, though a large body of...

The recent crisis and interest rate declines have put the financial sustainability of the Dutch occupational pension system under severe strain. The benefit-cutting measures have been received by the public as an unexpected and almost unknown option inherent in the pension contracts. Adding to...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for the Kingdom of Swaziland assesses the interaction of nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs) within the financial system and the real economy. Understanding the type of flows will help in designing policies to better manage capital flows and...

This paper focuses on the nexus between pension funds' balance sheet liabilities, reflecting their age profile and payments obligations, and the investment behavior and costs of these funds. The context of the analysis is the stringent regulatory framework and the highly fragmented and...

The Selected Issues paper of the Netherlands provides an overview of the Dutch pension system. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of the existing bargaining model, compares the Dutch wage bargaining in different periods, examines the past macroeconomic performance of the Netherlands,...

With asset values falling sharply in recent years, many companies around the world are under pressure to restore the solvency of their defined-benefit pension plans. Will this lead to higher contributions? Will higher contributions increase labor costs and reduce employment? Does this mechanism...

Pension reform is high on the policy agenda of many advanced and emerging market economies. In advanced economies the challenge is generally to contain future increases in public pension spending as the population ages. In emerging market economies, the challenges are often different. Where...

Stress testing is a useful and increasingly popular, yet sometimes misunderstood, method of analyzing the resilience of financial systems to adverse events. This paper aims to help demystify stress tests and illustrate their strengths and weaknesses. Using an Excel-based template with...