Private Pensions in OECD Countries

Abstract

As most other OECD Member countries had already done, Australia has, since 1991, supplemented an existing flat-rate universal (but means-tested) residence-based old-age pension by a compulsory earnings related second tier for employees known as the "Superannuation Guarantee".However, it was the first Member country in which the favoured format of participation in the second tier is in the form of pure "money purchase" schemes in which benefits are determined solely by the amount which accumulates in individual accounts.Benefits are predominately paid as lump-sums on retirement, although tax arrangements are being changed to encourage beneficiaries to purchase annuities.This report, compiled by two Australian experts, describes this system and its relation to pre-existing tax-advantaged voluntary provision, which only covered one-third of employees but remains predominant in terms of assets accumulated and benefits payable.The report discusses the sources of retirement income, taxation arrangements, administration and investment of funds and their regulation and supervision.A final chapter assesses the Superannuation Guarantee System in terms of its contributions to retirement income security and its impact on national savings rates, and considers some options for reform.This report is one of a series on private pensions in OECD Member countries.Reports on the United States, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada have been published in the OECD Social Policy Studies Series (numbers 10, 11, 13 and 15 respectively).Reports on the United Kingdom and France are being released as Occasional Papers.The report was finalised in August 1996. RESUMEComme la plupart des autres pays Membres de l'OCDE l'avaient fait avant elle, l'Australie a, depuis 1991, complété son régime de retraite universel à taux uniforme (mais lié à un niveau de ressources), par un second pilier d'épargne retraite obligatoire proportionnelle aux gains pour les salariés, appelé système de garantie de retraite.Toutefois, c'est le seul pays à avoir privilégié, pour le deuxième pilier d'épargne, les régimes à cotisations définies dans lesquels les prestations sont uniquement fonction des sommes accumulées sur les comptes des bénéficiaires.Les prestations sont la plupart du temps servies sous la forme d'un capital versé intégralement au moment du départ à la retraite, mais une réforme des dispositions fiscales visant à encourager les bénéficiaires à opter pour le paiement d'une rente est en préparation.Ce rapport, rédigé par deux experts australiens, décrit ce système de garantie de retraite et ses liens avec le régime volontaire préexistant auquel étaient associés des avantages fiscaux.Ce régime ne couvrait qu'un tiers des salariés mais continue d'occuper la première place en termes d'actifs accumulés et de prestations à verser.Costs ........

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