Freezing pension savings - what is it and why? In connection with the crisis, which arose under the influence of a number of reasons, both external and internal, it was decided for 2014, 2015, and now for 2016 to freeze the funded pension. What are the consequences of current frosts, what can be expected in the future? What does freezing of pension savings mean for an ordinary citizen of the Russian Federation?
Pension reform
It should take a short digression and say that we have been undergoing pension reform for quite some time . Its main goal is to reduce the burden on the state budget. Previously, its implementation consisted in the fact that in different ways the amount of money that should be paid decreased. Now there is a full-scale preparation for increasing the retirement age of both men and women. This freezing of pension savings is not such a fun event. What does this mean in the future? In addition to the current crisis situation, it was decided that 6%, which should have come from each person’s salary for a funded pension in 2014-2016 (and maybe even a few more years or even decades), will be spent on state spending.
Funded pensions
What exactly are funded pensions from which the state takes money from us? This pension is a monthly cash payment that is made to compensate insured persons for an insured event, that is, old age, when most people experience a sharp drop in productivity. This means that there is no way to earn money, as before, by your work to ensure a decent standard of living.
Insurance pensions
Are you interested in the possibility of circumventing the situation that has developed? Well, then you should seriously consider the option with an insurance pension. This option provides for the payment of a monthly amount that will go to subsequent retirement benefits, that is, will serve as compensation for lost income received during employment. But it can be paid in the event of disability or if disabled family members have lost their breadwinner. The peculiarity is that payments are made in a certain amount, which directly depends on the type of insurance pension chosen earlier. It should also be added that the amount of payments is indexed by the state every year, so you can not worry about the safety of your savings. Until.
What is meant by freezing a pension?
Let's take a closer look at what constitutes freezing a pension. Part of the salary of each working person, by default, goes to the funded pension, from which the person will receive security in the future. And this money will not go to retirement, but to the current expenses of the country — such a decision to freeze pension savings was made by the government of the Russian Federation. But if the money is taken, then for some reason they are needed. This is what freezing pension savings means for retirees. Question - for what? What state institutions will all the funds accumulated for at least 3 years by the population go to finance?
Where the money will go
All contributions that have been collected and will be collected by the state will be used to maintain normal life. The salaries of teachers, doctors, officials, workers of the Ministry of Emergencies, and the army will be paid from this money. Thus, government programs will be financed, including those on reform. In most cases, financing will be carried out in full, and if necessary, additional funds will be taken from reserve funds, such as a national welfare fund. But so far, thanks to decisions such as freezing pension savings, there is no need for this.
Government comments
As you can hear from the head of government and the Ministry of Economic Development, 2016 will be the last year to freeze pension savings. But if you take an interest in the publications of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, then you can read the same thing about 2015. After all, if in the same 2014, few people imagined what the freezing of pension savings meant for pensioners, now this issue is of interest to wider sections of the population because of the threat of literally losing their pension. In this case, we can make an assumption that pension savings will be frozen further until the budget of the Russian Federation is filled with other means.
But, alas, given the slowness of the pace at which the implementation of plans for the creation of production and the implementation of scientific developments is put into effect, the creation of new sources of revenue for the budget is very doubtful in the near future. The current economic situation is not encouraging.
The experience of other states
In this situation, the experience of other states may be useful. It should be noted that the aging of the population and the entry of the economy into regression or stagnation is not a problem for Russia alone. For a full analysis of the situation, one should take into account the important fact that in other countries there is a completely different system of pension accruals. So, when compared with the US pension system, it should be said that the usual state funded pension is not here, and all Americans have to take care of their maintenance on the days when old age comes, with their own hands. For most American citizens, the solution to the problem is to pay regular contributions to private pension funds. But, given the realities of our state, the likelihood of creating reliable and "long-lived" non-state pension funds is rather doubtful.
On the other hand, a solution to the problem from the European Union may be interesting: an increase in tax pressure on the most solvent citizens. In most countries, millionaires and billionaires give out more than half of their net income, and in some countries this figure is over 75%. A curious thing is that under certain conditions the tax rate may exceed 100%. Given the number of millionaires and billionaires in the Russian Federation, as well as various large enterprises, this option can be considered as very promising. And if it had begun to be implemented several years ago, perhaps most of the citizens simply would not have known what freezing of pension savings means on themselves, and did not think about what consequences this step could have for the life of pensioners of the Russian Federation.