Millions of workers will be exposed to "risky", hard-to-understand and outdated retirement saving schemes under the government's scheme to automatically enrol people into pensions, former Downing Street adviser Dr Ros Altmann has warned.
More than 1.6 million people have already been placed into pension schemes under the Government's automatic enrolment initiative, which started in October 2012 and is expected to result in around 11 million new pension savers over the next five years.
But in a report, Pensions – Time for change, Altmann said: "The future for pensions is more complex and risky than ever before." She called for an overhaul of defined contribution (DC) pensions which, she argued, "are not fit for 21st-century lives".
DC schemes offer payouts based on the performance of the funds that the saver's money is invested in, unlike final salary schemes where employees are guaranteed a set income on retirement. They are cheaper for firms to run because the employee is taking on the investment risk, and are likely to be the type of scheme on offer to workers through auto-enrolment.
People with DC schemes use their retirement savings to buy an annuity when they retire, which sets the size of their annual income for life. But the rates on offer fluctuate and comparing deals is made more complicated by the variety of different annuities you can buy, which depend on factors like the state of your health and whether you want them to provide for just yourself or your partner as well.
The report said: "The risk of buying at the wrong time, choosing the wrong annuity or failing to find the right rate could increase the number of poorer pensioners by many millions."
Altmann, a former director-general of over-50s group Saga, recently said pensioners could be taking on "the biggest gamble" of their lives when they buy an annuity, and many may never live to see any return on their money.
Her report, sponsored by retirement products provider MetLife, surveyed more than 3,000 people. It argued that auto-enrolment will increase "coverage but not adequacy of pensions".
Altmann said the problem with the Government's pension reforms is that they require people "to be able to cope with risks that they do not really understand".
Consumer research carried out for MetLife found that three-fifths (60%) of people do not understand or are unsure if they are fully aware of the risks of investing in a DC scheme. this figure rose to three-quarters (75%) of people aged between 18 and 24 years old.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of people said they would be more likely to save into a pension if it guaranteed a level of retirement income.
Altmann said that to shore up more savings, people should think about working for longer and easing into retirement in phases, perhaps by initially going part time.
"A record 1 million people are now still working beyond age 65," she said. "The old notions of 'early retirement' are being consigned to history, but far too few workers are planning ahead for longer working lives.
"This has to be part of the solution to our pensions crisis and, in fact, can be a very positive model for the future. The whole concept of retirement is changing. It will become a process rather than an event."
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: "Our reforms to the state pension will introduce a single, simple, decent state pension, which will provide a solid foundation for further saving through automatic enrolment into workplace pensions with employer contributions and tax relief."
查看译文
前英国政府顾问罗斯•奥尔特曼博士警告称，政府将民众自动纳入退休金的方案将令数百万工人陷入高风险、难以理解又过时的退休金储备系统。
目前已有超过160万民众纳入政府自动注册方案的养老系统中，此系统自2012年10月启动，预计五年后纳入约1100万新退休金储户。
然而在一份名为《退休金--是时候改变》的报告中，奥尔特曼称：“退休金未来的复杂性和风险性将前所未有。”她呼吁对固定缴款退休金进行一次改革，对此她称：“固定缴款退休金已不适合21世纪。”
与提供给雇员退休后固定薪水的最终薪水方案不同，固定缴款退休金制度根据储户投资基金的绩效来提供退休金。后者对于企业的运转来说更易承担，因为雇员承担了投资风险，而且这种制度可能通过自动注册即为雇员提供养老。
在固定缴款退休金制度下，人们退休后应个人存款来买年金，这就固定了一生的年收入。然而由于每个人健康状况不同，而且退休金可自用也可与配偶共同使用，因此退休金种类繁多，这就令波动和比较交易的价格更加复杂。
该报告称：“购买时间错误的风险，选择错误的退休金和错误的价格都将导致穷困的退休金购买者的人数增加，可能增加数百万。”
五旬以上老人组织撒加(saga)的前总主管奥尔特曼最近称，购买退休金的储户将面临前所未有的“巨大风险”，可能永远也不会有任何收益。
她的这份报告由退休产品提供者Metlife赞助，该赞助商对超过3000个人进行了调查，称自动注册退休金制度将增加“退休金的覆盖范围而非养老金的妥善性。”
奥尔特曼称政府养老金改革的问题是，他们要求人们“能够应对未知的风险”。
Metlife的消费者调查显示，3/5（60%）的民众不清楚或不确定固定缴款退休金制度下投资的风险。此数据在年龄处于18至24岁间的民众中升至3/4（75%）。
约有3/4（72%）的民众称，他们更愿意将钱存入能保障一定退休金数额的系统中。
奥尔特曼称，人们如果想要稳住更多资金，应考虑增加工作的年限，退休前先做一段兼职，从而逐步适应退休。
她称：“记录表明，目前超过65岁仍在工作的人有100万。过去‘早退休’的说法已成为历史，现在工人正考虑增加他们的工作年限。”
事实上，这必须是解决我们退休金危机的一部分，因为它将是一个对未来非常有积极作用的模式。整个退休的概念都在变化，这种变化是循序渐进的，并不是一蹴而就的。
就业与退休保障部门发言人称：“我们国家退休金改革将会引进一个独立、简单又适宜的国家退休金制度，将为未来的储蓄打下坚实的基础，该储蓄将雇员的贡献和减免的税收自动注册到其工作地的退休金系统中。
