The State Duma has repeatedly raised and proposed for consideration the issue of upcoming pension reforms and changes in the retirement age from 2021 . There were many rational proposals, but the deputies never reached the point of making concrete decisions.
And the point is not at all in the irresponsible attitude towards their duties as servants of the people, and especially not in the lack of competence on this issue, but in a whole series of reasons that have an indirect or direct relation to politics.
How the retirement age has changed
For many, the increase in women's age next year is good news, since most of their time will not be taken up by work. They can devote enough time to their family. This opinion is shared by many men.
But the pension system still has certain problems, since the number of disabled citizens is much smaller than the working ones. At the same time, the number of citizens of retirement age is becoming larger and larger, and this contributes to the development of a serious deficit in the budget of the Pension Fund.
This problem was not of much concern to the government until recently. Then the budget was “never-ending” and was regularly filled with the help of the high cost of oil. Over the past 3 years, the situation has taken a different turn of events, and at the moment the authorities must resolve the pension issue radically.
According to most expert analysts, only by raising the retirement age will the state budget be able to unload a little without the danger of increasing inflation. The likelihood of this innovation being introduced is very high.
New reforms are one of the opportunities to avoid default
The country's budget cannot withstand the load. Therefore, officials are looking for all possible ways to solve the problem. It cannot be said that all changes are happening smoothly - for example, the proposed options for cutting budget expenditures affect the least vulnerable categories of citizens. And the introduction of changes to the long-term Maternity Capital project, and the increase in the retirement age, and the increase in income tax on pharmaceutical drugs - all this is a blow to the pockets of those most in need.
However, these measures are necessary to reform the political and economic systems that ensure the normal functioning of the state.
At the moment, pension coefficients are calculated based on entries in work books. The Pension Program 2021 is also in effect here, according to which the coefficient for paying state support is already 11.4 (that is, 8 years according to the work book).
For comparison, in 2015 the same coefficient was 6.6 (6 years, respectively). According to the same Program, persons who have reached 60 and 65 years of age (women and men, respectively) can count on pension payments without any length of service.
Experts predict an increase in inflation by the end of 2015 by as much as 12%, and this, according to former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, is an additional cost of three-quarters of a trillion rubles - again, from the state budget. The only correct solution in this situation is to align the level of pension indexation with the inflation rate.
Raising the retirement age in 2021
Today, many countries are raising the retirement age of the population, and now this issue is being discussed very emotionally by the government. The issue is also discussed at the level of experts, whose opinion is almost the same: it will not be possible to do without an increase, but this problem also needs to be treated with special caution and accuracy.
The decision has not yet been made, but, most likely, this is inevitable, since the consequences of ignoring the issue will not be comforting: the number of citizens who continue to work and the amount of pensions will decrease rapidly. Every citizen of Russia should clearly understand this.
Currently, women can retire at age 55, and men at age 60. In May of this year, it became known that the state plans to raise the retirement age from 2021. The end will be in 2024. As a result, men will retire at 65 years old, and women at 62 years old.
It will take at least 5-7 years. The ratio of pensions to wages will not be higher than 34%, and will remain practically at the same level.
As for men, their level will not rise as much, since their life expectancy on average is not as long as that of women. Therefore, it will not be possible to carry out work activities for quite a long time.
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor cannot agree
Discussions are ongoing about the weak stability of the Russian pension system and methods for its improvement.
The government assesses the current pension system as unsatisfactory, and here's why:
- it is not balanced, largely due to excessive complexity;
- as a result, it is financially unstable;
- does not provide a decent level of pensions;
- needs improvement.
One of the main reasons forcing to increase the retirement age is the deficit of the Russian Pension Fund. The fund is constantly subsidized from the budget, and this, of course, is bad practice.
Budget savings will be short-lived
As the main measure to reduce the expenditures of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Finance proposes increasing the retirement age. Moreover, in his opinion, it is necessary to start this procedure as early as possible.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, for its part, states that there is no need for this, much less urgency.
The Ministry of Finance refers to transfers that have to be used to replenish the Russian Pension Fund. The burden on the budget last year amounted to about 4% of GDP, or 3.7 trillion rubles. If we implement the 65/63 formula, then by the end of 2035 the volume of transfer will decrease to 2.5% of GDP, and with the 65/65 option, budget savings will be even greater.
The Ministry of Labor objects that the effect of savings will be observed for a very short time, since pension payments will increase - after all, Kudrin promised to raise them by 30%.
In general, issues with transfers from the budget to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation must be resolved by revising the state’s non-insurance obligations, and not at all by raising the retirement age.
Is it possible to increase the minimum length of service for a pension?
Recently there have been media reports about the upcoming increase in length of service, which is a condition for granting an old-age pension. The population was alarmed, because in fact this technique is a veiled increase in the retirement age. Officials from the Ministry of Labor hastened to assure that such actions are not planned, and there is not even any talk about them.
However, the Ministry of Finance thinks differently: it is necessary not only to increase the age pension qualification, but at the same time it is necessary to increase the mandatory length of service to 25-35 years.
True, officials say, the freed-up funds should be used primarily to increase the income of pensioners. Then it would be easier for them to explain why they need to work longer to retire.
Kudrin also emphasizes this - it is better to work 2-3 years longer, but then receive a decent pension.
What are the advantages of raising the retirement age in 2018?
When discussing the issue of raising the retirement age, according to the latest news, the name of the representative of the government’s social block, Olga Golodets, very often appears. Not long ago she revealed to the population the advantages of this bill. According to Golodets, as a result of applying this program, the Pension Fund will be balanced, but only in the shortest possible time, since this is practically deferred wages.
When a worker retires, he can immediately count on his payment, and if the project is approved, then the authorities must focus on long-term planning. Thus, they will need to calculate all the necessary options in order to choose the most suitable one.
According to a representative of the social bloc, government members have been discussing this issue for so long that they could simply increase the retirement age. Particular attention should be paid to this category of citizens who retire early. Since there are quite a lot of them, according to statistics, every fourth citizen of the Russian Federation can apply for early retirement.
Olga focuses a lot of attention on the fact that they do not intend to infringe on anyone’s own rights, but in such a difficult situation it is simply necessary to make such serious decisions. The idea of reforming the pension system and establishing social insurance functions in Russia has been brewing for a long time. And the further well-being of the entire population and the normal functioning of the economic system of the Russian Federation depend on the adoption of this bill.
Of course, the adoption of this law is beneficial not only to the economic system, but also to citizens of retirement age. Even the opinion of experts suggests that introducing an innovation only to restore the economy is simply impractical, since it is much easier to make adjustments within the budget and send additional funds to the Pension Fund and use the funds of the stabilization fund.
But we should not forget that the state is not aimed only at restoring the budget of the Pension Fund; government members will try to ensure that pension payments become more targeted in the future.
The program for increasing the retirement age should include several areas:
- Concentrate the money first to those who need it most (older retirees). 2. Decrease in the number of pensioners who continue to work in relation to working citizens.
By raising the age to 65 years, the number of working citizens will increase to 9 million (the number of people who live in Sweden).
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