Pension Plans and Retirement Planning
Code: 102132 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting and Finances | OP | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Ramon Prat Casanovas
- Email:
- ramon.prat@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no specific requirements
Objectives and Contextualisation
Demonstrate that the student knows the aspects and variables that affect the specific needs of individuals and families when they have to manage their savings.
Describe the different risks involved in managing personal wealth and the different management strategies.
Explain the regulations that regulate retirement pensions and pension plans and other products aimed at personal wealth management.
Explain the main characteristics of the Public Pension System.
Learning Outcomes
- CM21 (Competence) Select financial investment and financing products for different risk profiles.
- KM17 (Knowledge) Determine the different agents that intervene in the legal-tax relationship, their reciprocal formal and material obligations, and their rights.
- SM14 (Skill) Identify financial risks, diversification and hedging tools and techniques.
- SM17 (Skill) Assess the principles of asset valuation, both basic and derivative.
Content
1. Pension Funds and Plans.
Asset classes suitable for forming part of Pension Funds, investment limits, asset valuation, pension fund management, management entities, depository entities. Advantages of pension plans. Types of pension plans. Regulation of pension plans.
2. The Public Pension System.
Social Welfare and Public Pension Policies. Social Security System in Spain, benefits in the Social Security regime, contributory retirement pensions, forms of retirement compatible with work, current and future challenges. Public pensions in other countries.
3. Personal Financial Planning.
Life Stages. Specific aspects of the retirement stage. Preparation of the Personal Financial Plan. Inflation. ESG Assets.
4. Savings Portfolio Management
Risk - return binomial. Efficient Frontier. Risk-free asset. Optimal Portfolio. Behavioral Finance.
5. Integrated Management of the Retirement Portfolio: Human Capital, Financial Assets and Insurance.
Financial stages of the life cycle. Variables to consider for personal financial planning. Optimization of consumption and savings. Estimation of Human Capital. Risk hedging.
6. Instruments and Strategies for Managing the Retirement Portfolio
Specific products for the retirement stage: annuities and reverse mortgages. Debt. Legacies. Relevant aspects of the taxation of the different instruments.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| practices | 17 | 0.68 | CM21, KM17, SM14, SM17, CM21 |
| theory | 32.5 | 1.3 | CM21, KM17, SM14, SM17, CM21 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| tutoring | 20.5 | 0.82 | CM21, KM17, SM14, SM17, CM21 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| practices | 46.5 | 1.86 | CM21, KM17, SM14, SM17, CM21 |
| study | 30 | 1.2 | CM21, KM17, SM14, SM17, CM21 |
The planned teaching is in-person.
The activities that will allow students to correctly achieve the course objectives will be:
1. Theoretical classes where teachers will develop the main concepts.
The objective of this activity is to present the most important concepts of the subject, the necessary basic demonstrations and the aspects where most errors are usually made in the application of theoretical concepts.
2. Practical classes
The teacher will present practical cases that will be resolved together.
3. Resolution of cases and activities
Each topic will have an associated list of cases and/or questions and/or activities that will be resolved individually. The resolution of these cases will be discussed periodically in the practical classes.
4. In-person tutorials
The student has a few hours in which the subject teachers resolve their theoretical and practical doubts in person.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final test | 50% | 2 | 0.08 | CM21, KM17, SM14, SM17 |
| First test | 25% | 1.5 | 0.06 | CM21, SM14 |
| Graded Task 1 | 12,5% | 0 | 0 | CM21, SM14 |
| Graded Task 2 | 12,5% | 0 | 0 | CM21, SM14 |
Evaluation Criteria
-
A test covering topics 1, 2, and 3 will be administered without consulting any materials. The maximum completion time will be 90 minutes. This test accounts for 25% of the final grade.
-
Two graded assignments will also be part of the evaluation, each contributing 12.5% to the final grade.
-
A final exam covering topics 4, 5, and 6 will be held on the date specified in the Faculty's calendar. No materials may be consulted during this exam. The maximum completion time will be 120 minutes. This exam constitutes 50% of the final grade.
The final assessment grade is a weighted average of the individual grades, using the aforementioned coefficients. To pass the course, a grade of 5 or higher is required.
In accordance with Article 266 (Assessment Results) of the UAB Academic Regulations (article modified by agreement of the Governing Council on July 12, 2023), point 4, the final grade of a subject will be rounded to the nearest whole number when it is within one tenth of a value that would result in a higher qualitative grade. This implies that 4.9, 6,9 and 8,9 course grades will be rounded to 5, 7 and 9 respectively.
Re-evaluation Policy
For students who obtain a grade between 3.5 and 4.8 (inclusive) in the initial evaluation, there will be a re-evaluation covering the entire syllabus. The format of this re-evaluation will be announced when the final grades are published. This re-evaluation will be scheduled according to the Faculty's exam calendar. Students who take and pass this re-evaluation will pass the course with a grade of 5. Otherwise, their original grade will stand.
"Non-assessable" status
A student is considered "Non-Assessable" in the course only if they have not participated in any of the assessment activities. Therefore, a student who completes any component of the continuous assessment can no longer be designated as "Non-Assessable".
Mandatory Assignments and Passing Conditions
All students are required to complete the graded assignments. If a student's course grade is 5 or higher, they are considered to have passed the course and will not be eligible for further evaluation.
If a student's course grade is below 3.5, they will need to repeat the course in the following academic year.
For students with a course grade of 3.5 or higher but below 5, they will be eligible to take a retake exam. The course instructors will decide the format of this exam. If the grade on the retake exam is 5 or higher, the final course grade will be "PASS," with a maximum numerical grade of 5. If the grade on the retake exam is below 5, the final course grade will be "FAIL," and the numerical grade will be the original course grade (not the retake exam grade).
A student who does not take any assessable exams is considered "not evaluable." Therefore, a student who completes any continuous assessment component cannot be classified as "not evaluable."
Calendar of evaluation activities
The dates of the evaluation activities (midterm exams, exercises in the classroom, assignments, ...) will be announced well in advance during the semester.
The date of the final exam is scheduled in the assessment calendar of the Faculty.
"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified, unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staff and the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity." Section 1 of Article 115. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB). Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph need to change an evaluation activity date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedule https://eformularis.uab.cat/group/deganat_feie/application-for-exams-reschedule
Grade revision process
After all grading activities have ended, students will be informed of the date and way in which the course grades will be published. Students will be also be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of grade revision following University regulations.
Retake Process
"To be eligible to participate in the retake process, it is required for students to have been previously been evaluated for at least two thirds of the total evaluation activities of the subject." Section 3 of Article 112 ter.The recovery (UAB Academic Regulations). Additionally, it is required that the student to have achieve
The date of the retake exam will be posted in the calendar of evaluation activities of the Faculty. Students who take this exam and pass, will get a grade of 5 for the subject. If the student does not pass the retake, the grade will remain unchanged, and hence, student will fail the course.
Irregularities in evaluation activities
In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and in accordance with current academic regulations, "in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in the evaluation of the same subject, the final grade of this subject will be 0". Section 10 of Article 116. Results of the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).
Comprehensive Evaluation option (Avaluació Única)
This subject does not offer the option for comprehensive evaluation ("Avaluació Única)
Bibliography
Bosch-Princep, M et al (2023) "Planes y Fondos de Pensiones en España: Normativa Vigente"
Charupat, N. et al. (2012) “ Strategic Financial Planning over the Lifecycle”, Cambridge University Press.
Ibbotson, R.G et al (2007) "Lifetime Financial Advice: Human Capital, Asset Allocation and Insurance". Research Fundaction of CFA Institute.
Bermudez, L. et al (2004) "Introducció al món de les assegurances".
OECD Pensions Outlook 2024 (online)
Software
Excel
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 101 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 10 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |