Preparations for the introduction of individual pension capital are in full swing in Russia. The new system provides for additional and seemingly voluntary contributions of workers up to 6% to the old age insurance system. This is in addition to the fact that the employer already withholds 22% from the real wages in favor of the Pension Fund.
The piquancy, however, lies in the fact that de facto there is a return to the norm, which has not justified itself. We will remind that the Russians previously deducted part of their earnings to non-state pension funds for the purpose of accumulation, but in 2014 this money was frozen.
That is, they deceived and repeat again. Although the idea was good and consisted in the investment increase of workers' funds for a dignified old age, the effect was the opposite. However, in conditions of total corruption, there was no other result to be expected. It is possible that a number of enterprise managers had "agreements" with unscrupulous NPFs and forced their employees to "share" part of their salaries. Of course, for a separate fee.
Now the authorities are urging people to once again step on the old rake. Figures are already being voiced that tens of millions of Russians will be able to connect to the IPC, which will make it possible to collect up to 2 trillion annually. rubles. This means that it is logical to wait for the traditional “coercion” in those companies that are somehow connected with the state.
Experts have already compared the Russian IPC concept with a parody of the American 401 (k) program. Homegrown officials reassure us that tomorrow, retirement benefits will improve and our old people will heal as well as the elderly in Europe and America. Or, at any rate, much better than now.
But is it really so? In the United States, up to 100 million people are connected to the 401 (k) program, with a total working-age population of almost 208 million.
Most often, under 401 (k), Americans expect a Social Security retirement benefit, which is paid from 62.5 years. This is something like our "minimum wage". To get it, US citizens need to accumulate 40 "pension loans", an analogue of points in the FIU.
For information, one US retirement point equates to 179 hours of work at the federal minimum hourly wage. That is, it is enough to work overseas for about 40 months in "white", and you can safely go for a pension of $ 1370. In Russia, those people who will go on a well-deserved rest in 2024 and later will need to accumulate 30 pension points, which, by the way, corresponds to 30 years of experience of employees receiving minimum wages.
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True, in the United States, not everyone and not always manage to find a "white" job. As a result, in America there are at least 3 categories of residents who are "provided with a pension." The famous edition of The Atlantic told about one such story.
Roberta Gordon, at the age of 76, works in a grocery store. The woman, by the way, worked all her life - a cleaner, a laborer in a hospital, a telemarketer, a librarian, a fundraiser, but she almost always worked under some one-time contracts, as required by employers.
Now she lives in an apartment that she rented in half with her friend for $ 1,040 a month, but the companion died. It was not possible to find a replacement for Gordon. With a salary of $ 915, she now faces a homeless old age. As The Atlantic writes, "Many people who have reached retirement age do not have the benefits of previous generations of workers simply because they were unable to invest enough money in their 401 (k) programs."
According to official figures, today two-thirds of Americans do not deposit money into a 401 (k) account or make payments irregularly. According to Kevin Pindyville, executive director of Justice in Aging, a non-profit organization dedicated to the poverty of older people, 14.5% of Americans 62+ are poor and homeless, meaning they live without pensions. And this trend is progressing.
But that's not all. In the United States, to receive an honest pension under the 401 (k) program (or under the IPC scheme imposed by the Medvedev cabinet - author), strong and independent trade unions are required. Without them, any relationship with an employer is a one-sided game. Even if an employee has conscientiously plowed all his life for the owner, this does not mean that he will receive a pension. Of the wealthy American retirees, 82% were members of strong trade unions that defended their rights, including through strikes, negotiations and litigation, according to the consulting company Mercer. And only 21% of “non-union members” have achieved a decent old age.
Something similar, by the way, is observed in Russia today. The PFR, under a variety of pretexts, assigns pensions at a minimum: either the length of service is short, the employer has not paid, or the certificates are lost. At the same time, the All-Russian Union of Trade Unions, which is obliged to protect the rights of workers, often just makes a helpless gesture. This is the first thing.
Secondly, small business is the most dangerous place to work in terms of retirement plans. In the United States, only 11% of all firms with 50 or fewer employees actively participate in the 401 (k) program. In other words, while carrying out the pension reform in Russia, the authorities are throwing overboard a significant number of people who, due to circumstances, are forced to work in this sector of the economy.
Third, based on the experience of the United States, we can safely say that the IPC scheme will work in Moscow, St. Only rich regions create more or less normal conditions for savings programs.
On the whole, the experience of rich America, the first economy in the world, is instructive for Russians. He shows that they openly lie to us when they promise a happy old age, they say, Western pensioners travel, and elderly Russians work hard in their dachas. On the other hand, those who say, “found something to compare: Russia and the United States” will be right. After all, America's retirement and social security services are considered one of the best in the world. But even in this prosperous country, many people are denied a pension.
It is logical to assume that the legalization of the IPC in our country will have even more tragic consequences.
Author: Alexander Sitnikov