State pensions

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    The Telegraph, 19 August 2021


    “The Government is set to deny pensioners a historic increase in the state pension, despite Britain having one of the worst pension provisions in the developed world.


    “Britain has long been known for having one of the lowest state pensions, lagging behind that of many comparable countries. The UK has the worst mandatory pension provision of all 36 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-­operation & Development, which includes America, Australia, Canada and all major European nations.


    “Research found that a British retiree’s pension income was typically 28pc of their pre-retirement earnings, about half the other countries’ average. Meanwhile, pensioners in France, Italy and Spain all received more than 60pc of the earnings they made during their working lives.


    “The UK languished alongside the rates seen in Mexico, Poland and Lithuania, according to research from the OECD.”


    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/pensions-retirement/news/britains-pensioners-left-behind-countries/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1480367&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub20210819&utm_campaign=DM1480367

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    UK pensions have been historically abysmal.....


    Having said that most employers have some sort of private system that sorts the imbalance out.


    The middle classes are more or less comfortable but the poorer pensioners get progressively poorer.

    Quote from Splinter

    Can't access the article unfortunately.

    How much is the state pension in the US?

    Splinter , I’ve just sent you access to the full article.


    The average state pension (Social Security) in the US is around 48% of earned wages, though the percentage varies greatly with the level of wages; that is, people at the low end of the scale will probably receive more than 48% while those at the high end of wages will receive a fraction of 48%. There are also payment options that affect the amount received, as a recipient can choose to start receiving monthly SS checks at age 62, age 70, or anywhere in between.


    Most people need more than their Social Security payments in order to live at their pre-retirement level. It helps that many will have completed their mortgage payments by then, so housing costs could be greatly reduced. But without significant savings, older people often can’t make it on Social Security alone.


    How does this situation compare to that in the UK? In Argentina? In the EU?

    Splinter , we’re you asking about pension funds paid to federal employees? From wording and context, I thought you meant the retirement paid to the general public, which in the US we call Social Security.


    Sorry if I muddied the waters. Which did you mean?

    At least in Argentina, pension systems were good until the 1960s.


    Initially the first pensions were granted by the national government for its employees and the British railway companies, and when one was 50 years old he was retired with approximately 100% of his income. This could be done because there were many contributors and few beneficiaries, and also the people did not live longer than, on average, 65 years of age.


    Shortly after the demagoguery and lack of control began. Special categories of retirees were created, who obtained their retirement at the age of 40, calculation systems were made that did not take into account the updated amount of contributions, and on the other hand, especially from the 1980s, unregistered work began, who did not contribute money to the pension funds


    To make matters worse, the life expectancy of retirees increased, and no one agreed or even to propose increasing the retirement age. The last straw was the granting of 4 million pensions for people who had never contributed a single peso, due to the demagoguery of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to gain votes.


    In my particular case, despite having worked for 44 years at the University of Buenos Aires, they forced me to retire at 65, when my physical and mental state was identical to when I was 40. My income as a retiree was a 52% of what I earned when I was working, In the last months. In July 2021 I was earning 63,000 pesos per month, equivalent to Dollars 340 per month. For this reason, that I foresee since 2008, I had to obtain another source of income, which I did while working at a Private University. I always assumed that I belonged to the middle class, but objectively I was descending.


    Of course, these meager numbers that they gave me were due to the fact that they purposely miscalculated my assets. I started a trial before the Civil Justice and after 11 years of litigation they agreed with me. I was recently able to collect a decent severance pay and my assets were doubled. Obviously they were waiting for me to die, but I didn't give them the pleasure.


    One of the reasons why the ANSES ( retirees funds) is always in bankruptcy is because the government uses its money to pay the Planes trabajar ( Non working plans, to tell de truth) to almost 10 Millions of people who declares being in poverty. There are now two or three generations of people who never had a a father or a grandfather which worked officially. Only occasional jobs. But the government will not withdraw these financial helps because they will loose votes.


    All of this is the result of egalitarian thinking, which tends not to recognize accumulated merits and bring us all down to a miserable level. I am surprised that something similar happens in Great Britain, an exemplary country in matters of justice.

    She must be patient as the ANSES will do all possible excuses to avoid prompt resolution. Lawyers are unavoidable, you cannot do these things by yourself.

    In my case, they in their last move, rejected the calculation of my severance did by the same experts of the Justice. An useless move, thanks God, but it proves the ill intentioned mind of these people.

    Meanwhile, CFK earns almost 1 million pesos per month for being the widow of a President, and also gets the wages as a vice president, nearly 900.000 pesos.

    I imagine Cristina also receives a pension as a former president? Also one as a former senator? Or did she have to choose?


    Thank you for your history of pensions in Argentina, Carlos . If the government wanted to financially help impoverished people who had never paid into the retirement system, that charitable help should never have come at the expense of those who HAD paid in, and were counting on being able to collect their full benefits. Shameful.