Increasing the retirement age, particularly that of women, and raising contributions to the old age pension, are some of the measures suggested by the International Federation of Pension Fund Administrators (FIAP) for maintaining the Disability, Old Age and Death (IVM) system.

According to this agency, present in 20 countries, the life expectancy in the region is 30 years more than when it was initially launched, causing a negative impact on pension funds “especially in the case of women, who live much longer than men and have, on average, an earlier retirement age than their male counterparts,” says Guillermo Arthur, President of FIAP. However, he warns that the modification of these two processes must be conducted “gradually.”

In Panama, the official retirement age for men is 62, and 57 for women.

According to Juan Pastor, the director and general manager of the Progreso private pension fund, “women in Panama retire five years earlier, but live five years longer, which creates an imbalance in the finances of the IVM system.”

In previous statements to this newspaper, the director of the Social Security Fund, Estivenson Giron, said that increasing the number of contributions and the retirement age are not the solutions for maintaining the reserves of the IVM program.

“The solution may lie in oxygenating the system through the institution’s investments.”

According to CSS data, the IVM program’s reserves will last until 2025; however, the future of the institution is uncertain, since there has been no record of its audited financial statements since 2012.
Zero transparency
In Panama, the individually funded system was adopted through the reform of Law 51, of 2005. This program allows workers who contribute to the Social Security Fund (CSS) to know the balance of their individual accounts, whether their contributions were paid in, and the returns of their savings. However, this is not the case, according to the managing director of Progreso.

“Contributors are contributing to this system, but do not know the balance of their accounts. The most logical thing is that these individual accounts should be public and have an accounting system that their owners understand,” he said.

Source: impresa.prensa.com
Date: 19.05.2016

Increasing the retirement age, particularly that of women, and raising contributions to the old age pension, are some of the measures suggested by the International Federation of Pension Fund Administrators (FIAP) for maintaining the Disability, Old Age and Death (IVM) system.

According to this agency, present in 20 countries, the life expectancy in the region is 30 years more than when it was initially launched, causing a negative impact on pension funds “especially in the case of women, who live much longer than men and have, on average, an earlier retirement age than their male counterparts,” says Guillermo Arthur, President of FIAP. However, he warns that the modification of these two processes must be conducted “gradually.”

In Panama, the official retirement age for men is 62, and 57 for women.

According to Juan Pastor, the director and general manager of the Progreso private pension fund, “women in Panama retire five years earlier, but live five years longer, which creates an imbalance in the finances of the IVM system.”

In previous statements to this newspaper, the director of the Social Security Fund, Estivenson Giron, said that increasing the number of contributions and the retirement age are not the solutions for maintaining the reserves of the IVM program.

“The solution may lie in oxygenating the system through the institution’s investments.”

According to CSS data, the IVM program’s reserves will last until 2025; however, the future of the institution is uncertain, since there has been no record of its audited financial statements since 2012.
Zero transparency
In Panama, the individually funded system was adopted through the reform of Law 51, of 2005. This program allows workers who contribute to the Social Security Fund (CSS) to know the balance of their individual accounts, whether their contributions were paid in, and the returns of their savings. However, this is not the case, according to the managing director of Progreso.

“Contributors are contributing to this system, but do not know the balance of their accounts. The most logical thing is that these individual accounts should be public and have an accounting system that their owners understand,” he said.

Source: impresa.prensa.com
Date: 19.05.2016