Get ready, delayed retirement is really coming!
On September 10, the National People's Congress deliberated on the draft decision on the implementation of the gradual postponement of the statutory retirement age, which means that the delayed retirement plan has come out, and it can be promulgated and implemented when the National People's Congress deliberates and passes.
It's all come to this, and I guess it will start to be implemented in a year or two. According to the retirement age of 60 for men, 50 and 55 for women, you can probably calculate who will be the first batch.
Many people may still not understand why they have to delay retirement, but in fact, it is not so complicated, that is, there is not enough money. As early as 2019, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences issued a report predicting that pension funds would be depleted by 2035. That is, starting from the retired people of this year, they have paid a lifetime of pension insurance, and as a result, they have no money to retire.
Some people may ask, where does all the money I pay go? This is related to the pension system in the mainland, because we implement a "pay-as-you-go system", and the money we pay now is spent now.
I've said before that people who are now retired are the happiest. Because the number of retired people is not large, about 141 million urban workers receive pensions, but about 380 million are paying pension insurance, which is equivalent to 2.7 labor forces to support an old man, which is still very abundant.
So you see, the pension of urban workers has risen for 20 consecutive years since 2005, and there is still a balance every year. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2023, the cumulative balance of the basic pension insurance fund for urban employees will be close to 6 trillion yuan.
This year is 2024, and it is only 10 years before 2035, and it is urgent to reform the pension system. There is not enough money, and there are only two ways, one is to open source, and the other is to throttle.
Throttling is to save some money and reduce pensions, which is unrealistic, because our current pension replacement rate is not high, and if we reduce it, we will not even have the most basic living security. And it's not a long-term solution, no matter how much you save, there will be a day when you run out.
The only way is open source, in fact, open source things have been done, for example, as early as 2017, it was clear that 10% of the shares of state-owned enterprises were classified as social security. According to media reports, 1.21 trillion yuan of state-owned capital was transferred by the end of 2020.
Since 2017, the cumulative investment income has been 267.082 billion yuan, with an average annual investment rate of 5.44%.
To tell the truth, whether it is the transfer of shares by state-owned enterprises or the investment income of pension funds, it is a drop in the bucket for trillions of pension expenses a year, and can only be used as a supplement.
Delaying retirement is the best solution, as you can pay more pension insurance and receive less pension. Now everyone is most concerned about what will happen to delay retirement? Since the plan has not yet been announced, it is not yet known.
However, experts have already let it go, and researcher Mo Rong, president of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security, said, "The delayed retirement reform fully considers the demands of different groups in accordance with the principle of voluntariness and flexibility, so that workers can independently choose a retirement plan that suits their work and life." It's okay if you want to retire early, and it's okay if you feel like you want to work a little longer.
Seeing this statement, many netizens expressed their support. But there is still something that experts do not say clearly, that is, the treatment of retirement in different periods of time must be different.
Gradual postponement of the statutory retirement age, I don't know if you understand this sentence, it means that the statutory retirement age should be delayed, no longer the current 60 years old for men, 50 years old for women and 55 years old. However, it will not be adjusted in one go, but will be adjusted for a period of time every year, and a new statutory retirement age will be finally set.
Therefore, I think that in the future, you should retire according to the new legal age, and you can receive 100% pension treatment, but if you retire before the statutory retirement age, the pension will definitely be discounted. If there are still people who have reached the statutory retirement age and want to continue to work, it is estimated that they can get incentives and a little more pension.
This is the truth of the principle of voluntariness and flexibility, some people may say why, in fact, it is very simple, if you retire at any time, you can receive 100% pension benefits, then everyone is willing to retire early, and this delayed retirement will not be implemented. It is both necessary and impossible, and there is a reward for paying.