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Pensions
養老金
Pot luck
隨用隨取的錢罐
The chancellor hands more freedom to retirees
財政大臣給予退休人員更多的自由
GET out those cruise brochures—retirees may soon be going on a spending spree. Historically, most Britons with personal pensions and those in so-called “defined-contribution” schemes have been forced to use their pension pots to buy an annuity—a product paying a (normally fixed) income for the rest of their lives. These have never been popular. Money invested in an annuity is locked away and cannot be passed on to the retiree's heirs. Recently, low interest rates and longer lifespans have caused annuity rates to fall sharply. Last month the Financial Conduct Authority, Britain's regulator, concluded that the annuity market “is not working well for consumers”.
現在出現了那種旅行宣傳冊—退休人員可能很快過上肆意狂歡的生活。回首過去，大多數擁有個人退休金的英國人和那些所謂的“界定供款計劃”（即雇主或雇員將資金投入某個計劃，由基金管理人員利用此投資進行市場運作）的參與者，都被強制去用他們的退休金購買年金—是一種定期投入資金并且終生可定期領取一定金額的計劃。但這些并不被大眾接受，因為用于年金投資的錢都是被限制的，子女并不能作為接受者。而近期，低利率和較長的使用期使得年金利率大幅下降。英國的監管機構—金融服務監督局，于上月宣布“年金計劃和消費者相處的并不融洽”。
Few anticipated George Osborne's sweeping response. In his budget speech, the chancellor outlined a plan to do away with the requirement to buy an annuity and all the arcane rules that accompany it. Retirees will be free to draw down their pension pot as they like, subject to paying tax at their marginal rate. That will bring Britain into line with other countries including America, Australia and Denmark.
幾乎沒有人預料到喬治·奧斯本的全面響應。在這位財政大臣的預算中，提出了一個廢除任何購買年金以及與年金相關的計劃。在他們以邊際稅率來繳稅限制下，退休人員可以自由減少退休金的入資。這一舉措使得英國與美國、澳大利亞和丹麥等國家面臨同一處境。
It may prove a popular idea, but is it a good one? Pensions get generous tax treatment to encourage people to provide for retirement; if they blow their pension pot on a Maserati, they may end up as wards of the state, particularly in their later years when many will need expensive care in nursing homes.
這可能是一個大眾喜聞樂見的決策，但這是否是一個明智的決策呢？養老金得到了慷慨的稅收優惠待遇，這促進了人們積極為退休做準備；但如果他們肆意揮霍他們的退休金，他們可能會在國家的病房中結束一生，特別是當他們在晚年可能需要昂貴的醫療護理。
The government reckons that most people can be trusted to make sensible decisions (although it is also proposing that they be given advice when they retire). But that view sits oddly with its other policies. Many workers are now auto-enrolled in pension plans, on the basis that they are too apathetic to provide for their futures voluntarily. Do people suddenly acquire wisdom when they retire, perhaps?
政府相信大部分人能作出明智的選擇（盡管它還提議，當他們退休時可以提出建議）。但是相比于政府的其他政策，這種看法似乎處于一個尷尬的位置。現在很多工人在養老金計劃中自發登記，因為他們對于他們的自由的未來是麻木的。也許，人們在其退休之時能突然醒悟？
The change will have wide-ranging consequences, not least for the insurance companies that sell annuities, several of which saw sharp share-price plunges. To the extent that pensioners do take more of their pension pot upfront, the government will get tax revenues earlier than before; the boost may be worth ￡1.2 billion ($2 billion) by the 2018-19 financial year.
這個變化產生的結果將會有深遠影響，尤其是那些出售年金的保險公司，其中一些保險公司意識到了股票價格的狂跌。由于領養老金的人總是提前領取養老金，政府征收稅收收入將比以前不斷提早；根據2018-2019年的財政年度，這個增值將會達到12億英鎊（20億美元）。
But there are dangers for the state too. Public employees such as doctors and teachers are covered by final-salary schemes, under which the government guarantees to pay them a retirement income. These pensions are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning the Treasury has put no money aside to cover them. If public-sector workers decided to transfer their money into a private pension pot, to take advantage of the new freedom, the Treasury would have to cough up the cash immediately; the government is proposing to deny public-sector workers that right.
但是對于國家來說還是存有風險。公務人員，例如醫生和教師，他們是被最終薪金計劃涵蓋在內的，在該計劃中，政府承諾支付他們的退休收入。這些養老金是在“現收現付”（即由在職職工承擔已退休職工的社會保障成本；支付給退休者的社會保障資金是直接來自該時點的在職勞動者負擔的社會保障費用）的基礎上提供的。如果公共部門的工人們享受這個新的自由，決定將他們的資金轉移至一個私人的養老金存儲地方，那么財政部就不得不馬上返還資金；政府正提議否決公共部門工人們的這項權利。
The same worry applies to private-sector final-salary schemes, which might suddenly face a cash drain if workers opt to convert. Such pension schemes are big investors in government bonds, and the switch might make it more difficult to fund Britain's deficit. So private-sector workers in final-salary schemes may also lose their right to transfer. Freedom for some retirees will thus come at the price of restrictions on others.
私營部門的最終薪金計劃同樣有這樣的擔憂之處，因為當工人選擇去轉變的時候它可能會很突然的面對資金外流這種狀況。這種養老金計劃是政府債券的“大投資者”，并且一旦發生轉換，為英國的赤字提供資金將會難上加難。因此，在最終薪金計劃中的私營部門工人也可能會失去他們變換的權利。如此一來，一些退休人員的自由將會以他人的限制作為代價。譯者：張娣 校對：邵林
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