We are living longer and longer in Sweden, and retirement make up a large part of our lifetime. Financial security after employment is terminated, therefore, requires that a large part of the income during working life is set by for retirement. But it is difficult for the pension to form an opinion on how the economic situation in retirement will look like.
today, The release of the SNS report ”The complex occupational pension” , where we present the results of an extensive survey of Swedish people’s knowledge about occupational pensions. The questionnaire has been answered by 3,000 swedes in the age group of 30-60 years and therefore includes age span when the most important decisions about retirement savings have taken. It has been developed in collaboration between Uppsala university, the Institute for labour market and education policy evaluation (IFAU) and the Swedish social insurance Inspectorate (ISF).
. Half of the respondents say they find it difficult, or very difficult, to understand how occupational pension works. Almost one in four don’t even know if they are covered by any tjänstepensionsavtal. On the important knowledge on the occupational pension, such as how the large contributions to occupational pension is, if it is possible to choose how the occupational pension is placed, when or for how long as the money is paid out or how big tjänstepensionsutbetalningarna on average, one-third no or only one correct answer.
Many people say that they will take hold of it as they approach retirement. But the fact is that this proportion is equally high regardless of age. There is thus a widespread ”I-do-it-late”mentality that impairs the conditions for many to make good decisions.
the Report also shows that ignorance is clearly linked to a concern to get a low pension. Among those with the lowest skills are worried half to get a low pension. The knowledge is extra-low among those with low incomes. Low income earners are therefore at the greatest risk of committing serious mistakes in saving and planning for their retirement.
the level of perceived knowledge is low. In all age groups believe about three-quarters that they are not sufficiently informed to understand how their own choices affect the future pension. Many people say that they will take hold of it as they approach retirement. But the fact is that this proportion is equally high regardless of age. There is thus a widespread ”I-do-it-late”mentality that impairs the conditions for many to make good decisions.
Therefore, it is important to make it easier for the pension to form an idea of how large their overall income will be after they have stopped working.
In this report, we present seven ideas on how tjänstepensionssystemet could be simplified:
the Differences between the different tjänstepensionsavtal increases the complexity of the tjänstepensionssystemet and development späs on as more changing the subject. Therefore, should the agreements be harmonized so that differences between the agreements are as small as possible. Examples of harmonizations that can be considered is intjänandeåldrar to an occupational pension, the opportunity to choose how the capital should be placed, the survivor annuity, utbetalningstider and age for automatic payment.
When more people change jobs, and thus, the agreement area, increases the number of inactive occupational pensions, the so-called paid-up policy. This is a problem because the savers will then Jestbahis have many parts in his occupational pension scheme which all work in slightly different ways. To be able to transfer the funds in all of the paid-up policy to an active occupational pension would considerably increase transparency. Why should employers and trade unions to make demands on the pension companies to increase the opportunities to move capital from paid-up policies.
the Possibilities for a common fondtorg for all of the selectable parts in the occupational pension should be investigated. We do not see that the current fragmentation of the fund market benefit of pension savers. A common fondtorg would be able to increase transparency and competition between pension companies.
In some tjänstepensionsavtal is a part of the savings tied to the so-called traditional life insurance. It is justified by the fact that the fees are low and that the investment risk is low. There are two problems with the mandatory traditional insurance. The first is that it is not possible to move the capital so that all savings occupational pension capital can be in the same fund/insurance. The second is that it is not possible to choose the risk profile. Despite the fact that traditional insurance policies have low risk, it is difficult to see why savers will be prevented from being able to choose even lower risk.
The web-based platform Minpension.see is an excellent initiative that makes it easier for the pension to get an overview of their pension and, not least, the various components of the occupational pension. The platform has great development potential. Especially urgent is it to develop opportunities to make individual forecasts (especially for younger savers) and be able to see the annual change in the total pension capital, that is to say, both for occupational pension and the pension from the public. Furthermore, the possibilities to use Minpension.see in the classroom for pensionsrådgivare and teachers at different educational institutions be developed.
the Authority is responsible for providing both general and individual information about the pension from the public. A common organisation of the occupational pension, which includes both pension providers and the social partners would reduce the fragmentation of information on the occupational pension, and to facilitate for the individual the pension to get an overview of the role of different actors and the interests they represent.
Teaching if the pension scheme is not included in any syllabus for secondary schools. In social studies included a small element of personal finance, but kursböckerna affects pensions too briefly. Since 2015 is a mandatory element of the pension scheme on business administration at Uppsala university. How it looks on other universities is currently unclear. We believe that it is important that future insurance and bankekonomer have basic training in the pension system.
A review of the public pension is therefore also very important.