Global Pension Tension: September 2010

A few pension related articles for you to read while I am vacationing in Crete:

• Battle looms over Nortel pension‎: Another showdown between two groups of Nortel Networks Corp. pensioners is looming over the former telecommunications giant's huge, underfunded pension plan...
• A look at state pension changes‎: Highlights of changes to state government pension plans that affect current retirees and employees, and how much unfunded pension and non-pension retirement ...
• States cutting benefits for public-sector retirees: The security guards at the headquarters of New Jersey's pension fund have never seen anything like it before: lines of public employees ...
• New Jersey governor to propose more pension, benefits reforms: Chris Christie is expected to propose pension and health benefits reforms that will cost teachers, police and other public workers more money...
• France's bitter war over pensions‎: It is the cornerstone of the government's pension reforms, change that Jean-Francois Cope, President of the ruling UMP party in the Assembly, ...
• Rockspring To Invest $1B In Property For Korea Pension Fund‎: While the National Pension Service Real Estate Value Fund will invest across all sectors, it will have significant exposure to retail and office assets with ...
• Pension funds 'back in the red': The UK's final-salary private sector pension funds have fallen back into deficit, a position they have been in for most of the past two years. ...
• Israel's Ben Gurion airport shut by pensions strike‎: Unions representing staff at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport declared the partial strike after pensions talks collapsed. Israel radio said the staff at the ...
• Lee Iacocca, Chrysler retirees sue over pension losses‎: Lee Iacocca and about 450 other Chrysler white-collar retirees say they lost a big chunk of their pensions when Chrysler went bankrupt, and they'd like ...
• Ageing populations and fewer workers strain pensions‎: So for those countries with well-developed pension systems, there is a long-term problem from these population trends. Many state pensions come from ...
• French strike brings trains and planes to halt : Schools, trains, planes and public services suffered widespread disruption in France as demonstrations unfurled across the country to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62.
• Sinking of the Bismarck legacy: The German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, introduced the world's first state pension system in the 1880s. You had to be 70 years old - and the expectation ...
• CBI urges workplace pension reform: The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the government not to put off reform in the pensions market, which may affect those contracting in the ...
• What retirement means to you‎: With the aftermath of the global financial downturn, retirement and pension plans are now uncertain for workers of all ages. In the UK changes to state and ...

As you can see, global pension tension is heating up all around the world. This is all part of the "new normal" which basically means get ready to work longer and get a lot less during your golden years. On that cheerful note, I will get back to my vacation and enjoy this beautiful island.