Personal finance

The pension increase for 2024 has been determined at 3%, with the first payment in January already scheduled for just before Christmas.

This practically means that retirees will receive a national pension raised from the current 413.76 euros to €426.17 (an increase of €12.41).

"The payment has already started, the state allocated more than RSD 33 billion of additional aid for our oldest fellow citizens, which is in line with the current state policy of caring for the community and the individual in the years of crisis," Mali said.

The social security system - a pillar of democratic societies and one of the fundamental rights of their citizens - functions within specific conditions and boundaries.

A significant shift in Bulgaria's pension landscape is on the horizon, as the minimum pension for service and age is slated to surge by 11% under the Swiss rule, reaching BGN 580 starting July 1, 2024. Alongside this increase, widow's supplements are also expected to see a rise, as per insights from "Sega."

The International Monetary Fund report on Greece, published on Tuesday, looks little like past texts of the Fund about this country, as many things have changed. It expresses no concerns about debt in the medium term, or fiscal adjustment, finds banks "resilient," and speaks well even about labor market reforms, which it has always pushed for.

Eight in 10 cases that are pending at Greece's administrative appeals courts concern disputes about pensions.

Apart from the measures that need to be taken in order to speed up the wheels of the justice system, it would help if insurance funds also did more to ensure that there were fewer delays in the process of settling such disputes.

Hundreds of thousands of pensioner cases which since 2015 have included claims for retroactive amounts for cuts deemed illegal by the Council of State, but also others, concerning the return of interest as the refunds of the main pensions became interest-free, or the recalculation of pensions, are piled up in administrative courts around the country.

Black and Hispanic households in New York state, home to America's financial capital, own their homes at half the rate of white households, a government report said Tuesday.

People who work a second job beyond their main, full-time occupation, will enjoy higher pensions when their retire, Labor and Social Insurance Minister Adonis Georgiadis has told Kathimerini.

Georgiadis has drafted a bill allowing a second job, provided that total daily employment does not exceed 13 hours.

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) has announced a decision to tighten the conditions for some housing loans as part of the measures aimed at strengthening macro-financial stability.

The loan-to-value ratio has been tightened by 75 percent and set at 22.5 percent from a previous 90 percent for those who want to buy a second home.