Millions of workers will be exposed to "risky", hard-to-understand and outdated retirement saving schemes under the government's scheme to automatically enrol people into pensions, former Downing Street adviser Dr Ros Altmann has warned. More than 1.6 million people have already been placed into pension schemes under the Government's automatic enrolment initiative, which started in October 2012 and is expected to result in around 11 million new pension savers over the next five years. But in a report, Pensions – Time for change, Altmann said: "The future for pensions is more complex and risky than ever before." She called for an overhaul of defined contribution (DC) pensions which, she argued, "are not fit for 21st-century lives". DC schemes offer payouts based on the performance of the funds that the saver's money is invested in, unlike final salary schemes where employees are guaranteed a set income on retirement. They are cheaper for firms to run because the employee is taking on the investment risk, and are likely to be the type of scheme on offer to workers through auto-enrolment. People with DC schemes use their retirement savings to buy an annuity when they retire, which sets the size of their annual income for life. But the rates on offer fluctuate and comparing deals is made more complicated by the variety of different annuities you can buy, which depend on factors like the state of your health and whether you want them to provide for just yourself or your partner as well. The report said: "The risk of buying at the wrong time, choosing the wrong annuity or failing to find the right rate could increase the number of poorer pensioners by many millions." Altmann, a former director-general of over-50s group Saga, recently said pensioners could be taking on "the biggest gamble" of their lives when they buy an annuity, and many may never live to see any return on their money. Her report, sponsored by retirement products provider MetLife, surveyed more than 3,000 people. It argued that auto-enrolment will increase "coverage but not adequacy of pensions". Altmann said the problem with the Government's pension reforms is that they require people "to be able to cope with risks that they do not really understand". Consumer research carried out for MetLife found that three-fifths (60%) of people do not understand or are unsure if they are fully aware of the risks of investing in a DC scheme. This figure rose to three-quarters (75%) of people aged between 18 and 24 years old. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of people said they would be more likely to save into a pension if it guaranteed a level of retirement income. Altmann said that to shore up more savings, people should think about working for longer and easing into retirement in phases, perhaps by initially going part time. "A record 1 million people are now still working beyond age 65," she said. "The old notions of 'early retirement' are being consigned to history, but far too few workers are planning ahead for longer working lives. "This has to be part of the solution to our pensions crisis and, in fact, can be a very positive model for the future. The whole concept of retirement is changing. It will become a process rather than an event." A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: "Our reforms to the state pension will introduce a single, simple, decent state pension, which will provide a solid foundation for further saving through automatic enrolment into workplace pensions with employer contributions and tax relief." |
前英國(guó)政府顧問(wèn)羅斯?奧爾特曼博士警告稱(chēng),政府將民眾自動(dòng)納入退休金的方案將令數(shù)百萬(wàn)工人陷入高風(fēng)險(xiǎn)、難以理解又過(guò)時(shí)的退休金儲(chǔ)備系統(tǒng)。 目前已有超過(guò)160萬(wàn)民眾納入政府自動(dòng)注冊(cè)方案的養(yǎng)老系統(tǒng)中,此系統(tǒng)自2012年10月啟動(dòng),預(yù)計(jì)五年后納入約1100萬(wàn)新退休金儲(chǔ)戶(hù)。 然而在一份名為《退休金--是時(shí)候改變》的報(bào)告中,奧爾特曼稱(chēng):“退休金未來(lái)的復(fù)雜性和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)性將前所未有?!彼粲鯇?duì)固定繳款退休金進(jìn)行一次改革,對(duì)此她稱(chēng):“固定繳款退休金已不適合21世紀(jì)?!?/p> 與提供給雇員退休后固定薪水的最終薪水方案不同,固定繳款退休金制度根據(jù)儲(chǔ)戶(hù)投資基金的績(jī)效來(lái)提供退休金。后者對(duì)于企業(yè)的運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)來(lái)說(shuō)更易承擔(dān),因?yàn)楣蛦T承擔(dān)了投資風(fēng)險(xiǎn),而且這種制度可能通過(guò)自動(dòng)注冊(cè)即為雇員提供養(yǎng)老。 在固定繳款退休金制度下,人們退休后應(yīng)個(gè)人存款來(lái)買(mǎi)年金,這就固定了一生的年收入。然而由于每個(gè)人健康狀況不同,而且退休金可自用也可與配偶共同使用,因此退休金種類(lèi)繁多,這就令波動(dòng)和比較交易的價(jià)格更加復(fù)雜。 該報(bào)告稱(chēng):“購(gòu)買(mǎi)時(shí)間錯(cuò)誤的風(fēng)險(xiǎn),選擇錯(cuò)誤的退休金和錯(cuò)誤的價(jià)格都將導(dǎo)致窮困的退休金購(gòu)買(mǎi)者的人數(shù)增加,可能增加數(shù)百萬(wàn)?!?/p> 五旬以上老人組織撒加(saga)的前總主管奧爾特曼最近稱(chēng),購(gòu)買(mǎi)退休金的儲(chǔ)戶(hù)將面臨前所未有的“巨大風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”,可能永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)有任何收益。 她的這份報(bào)告由退休產(chǎn)品提供者M(jìn)etlife贊助,該贊助商對(duì)超過(guò)3000個(gè)人進(jìn)行了調(diào)查,稱(chēng)自動(dòng)注冊(cè)退休金制度將增加“退休金的覆蓋范圍而非養(yǎng)老金的妥善性。” 奧爾特曼稱(chēng)政府養(yǎng)老金改革的問(wèn)題是,他們要求人們“能夠應(yīng)對(duì)未知的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”。 Metlife的消費(fèi)者調(diào)查顯示,3/5(60%)的民眾不清楚或不確定固定繳款退休金制度下投資的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。此數(shù)據(jù)在年齡處于18至24歲間的民眾中升至3/4(75%)。 約有3/4(72%)的民眾稱(chēng),他們更愿意將錢(qián)存入能保障一定退休金數(shù)額的系統(tǒng)中。 奧爾特曼稱(chēng),人們?nèi)绻胍€(wěn)住更多資金,應(yīng)考慮增加工作的年限,退休前先做一段兼職,從而逐步適應(yīng)退休。 她稱(chēng):“記錄表明,目前超過(guò)65歲仍在工作的人有100萬(wàn)。過(guò)去‘早退休’的說(shuō)法已成為歷史,現(xiàn)在工人正考慮增加他們的工作年限?!?/p> 事實(shí)上,這必須是解決我們退休金危機(jī)的一部分,因?yàn)樗鼘⑹且粋€(gè)對(duì)未來(lái)非常有積極作用的模式。整個(gè)退休的概念都在變化,這種變化是循序漸進(jìn)的,并不是一蹴而就的。 就業(yè)與退休保障部門(mén)發(fā)言人稱(chēng):“我們國(guó)家退休金改革將會(huì)引進(jìn)一個(gè)獨(dú)立、簡(jiǎn)單又適宜的國(guó)家退休金制度,將為未來(lái)的儲(chǔ)蓄打下堅(jiān)實(shí)的基礎(chǔ),該儲(chǔ)蓄將雇員的貢獻(xiàn)和減免的稅收自動(dòng)注冊(cè)到其工作地的退休金系統(tǒng)中。 (譯者 angelyes 編輯 丹妮) |