Tag: guaranteed income

Alaska senators must protect those who serve

Alaska senators must protect those who serve

Community Perspective

FAIRBANKS — Many of us here in Alaska know a service member or veteran. They face unique challenges and threats in the financial marketplace. Active-duty members of the military are often young, relocate frequently, and are often deployed overseas, making them vulnerable to financial mistreatment. Service members are also concentrated on military bases, which makes them easy and profitable targets for predatory financial companies.

Veterans may be targeted by predatory financial actors for their guaranteed income, because of loopholes in federal law, or based on physical or mental disabilities suffered while in service.That’s why Congress, when it established […]

Letter to the Editor: Robots taking jobs; Reader sounds off

Letter to the Editor: Robots taking jobs; Reader sounds off

Dear Editor,

The AP syndicated article “Fear of robots taking jobs spurs a bold idea: guaranteed income” compelled a response. This “bold idea” entails yet another tax on Hawaii’s already heavily taxed tourist industry to fund another government entitlement. Bold? Sounds suspiciously familiar; yet with inevitable catastrophic consequences. Given a guaranteed level of income to sustain a basic standard of living in “paradise,” how many would simply opt out of working? How many workers in the tourist industry – the very lifeblood of guaranteed income – would it take to opt out of working before that industry collapses making guaranteed […]

Annuity market faces extinction: More and more people are instead taking advantage of pension freedoms

Annuity market faces extinction: More and more people are instead taking advantage of pension freedoms

Annuity sales have fallen by 16 per cent in the last six months, the Financial Conduct Authority said (Source: Getty) Britain’s annuity market is facing extinction, experts have warned, as official figures released today revealed a huge drop off in sales.

Two and a half years since chancellor George Osborne released the pension shackles , the number of people accessing lump sum continues to rise, according to six-month data published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The number of pension pots accessed for the first time rose by nine per cent and new drawdown arrangements increased by four per cent.Meanwhile, annuity […]

BA shuts final salary pension scheme to fill £3.7bn black hole hitting 17,000 workers

BA shuts final salary pension scheme to fill £3.7bn black hole hitting 17,000 workers

British Airways is set to shut its lucrative final salary pension scheme as it battles a £3.7billion black hole.

The move will hit 17,000 workers who save for their retirement in the airline’s New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS).

Instead, it will move members to its defined contribution scheme.But the move risks a battle with unions which will be concerned that stock market-linked pension schemes are less lucrative than final salary schemes. Strike risk: British Airways is set to shut its lucrative final salary pension scheme hitting 17,000 workers BA has been fighting a growing deficit in its pension scheme as it […]

Fewer consumers using advisers before full pension withdrawal

Fewer consumers using advisers before full pension withdrawal

The proportion of consumers using advisers before making a full withdrawal from their pension has fallen, latest FCA data shows.

While more than two thirds of consumers continue to use advisers for drawdown, the data shows a fall in adviser use among consumers making full withdrawals from their pension from 44 per cent between April and September 2016 to 38 per cent between October 2016 and April 2017.

69 per cent of customers going into drawdown used an adviser, the same proportion as the previous two six-month reporting periods.The data bulletin says: “The percentage of drawdown accessed by existing customers of […]

Defined benefit transfer values soar by 3%

Defined benefit transfer values soar by 3%

By Maria Espadinha Defined benefit (DB) transfer values increased by 3 per cent in August, according to Xafinity.

Transfers increased from £230,000 at the beginning of August to £237,000 at the end of the month, according to the specialist in pensions actuarial, consulting and administration.

The difference between maximum and minimum readings of the index was £9,000 (or around 3.6 per cent).Sankar Mahalingham, head of defined benefit growth at Xafinity, said that these figures show “steady increase in transfer values over August 2017”.He said: “Reductions in gilt yields have been the main driver, with inflation remaining relatively stable.”The Xafinity transfer value […]

More nations trial universal basic income as report suggests it could provide a major economic boost

The much talked about idea of a Universal Basic Income in developed economies is now attracting greater political momentum, at the same time that a major new research project from an American think tank sets out the potential economic benefits. Yesterday, Scotland’s First minister Nicola Sturgeon called for research into the plausibility of a “citizens’ basic income” in a speech to the Scottish Parliament. Her appeal follows an announcement on the same day that Hawaii is to become the first US state to formally explore the idea. A trial is already under way in Finland, although a recent report […]

This State Is Making Moves To Give Its Residents Guaranteed Income

This State Is Making Moves To Give Its Residents Guaranteed Income

Hawaii state representative Chris Lee has introduced a bill to guarantee economic security for the state’s residents . Amidst fears of technology leading to job automation, Lee’s Universal Basic Income (UBI) measure would ensure that that all residents of Hawaii are able to receive a steady income, regardless of their employment status. Prominent billionaire businessmen including Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk have expressed their support for the bill. "In the modern world, everybody should have the opportunity to work and to thrive. Most countries can afford to make sure that everybody has their basic needs covered," Virgin […]

Hawaii Considers A “Universal Basic Income” As Robots Seen Stealing Jobs, There’s Just One Catch…

Hawaii Considers A

Forget social security, medicaid and WIC, today’s progressives have moved well beyond discussing such entitlement relics of the past and nowadays dedicate their efforts to the concept of a "Universal Basic Income" for all…call it the New ‘New Deal’. You know, because having to work for that "car in every garage and chicken in every pot" is just considered cruel and unusual punishment by today’s standards.

Of course, it should come as little surprise that the progressive state of Hawaii, which depends on easily automatable jobs tied to the tourism industry, is among the first to pursue a Universal Basic […]

3 Ways to Get Around RMDs

3 Ways to Get Around RMDs

Required minimum distributions are many a retiree’s bugaboo. RMDs force retirees to withdraw a certain amount of money from their tax-deferred retirement savings accounts, whether they need that much money or not, often generating high income taxes for the year. Luckily, there are a few ways to minimize your RMDs — or even get around them entirely.

Tax-deferred retirement savings accounts, such as traditional IRAs, allow you to contribute money tax-free, but they require you to pay taxes on the money you take out of the account. Without RMDs, a retiree could just leave the money in the account forever, […]