It’s not even half the job until you turn 65: Bankers retire earlier than anyone else

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The Young Liberals’ pension initiative aims to raise the retirement age to 66 by 2033. After that, it should automatically continue to rise, provided that life expectancy also continues to rise. Yesterday, SVP delegates surprisingly voted yes to the proposal. Today the official retirement age is 65. However, this does not mean that all employees actually work that long.

Figures from the Federal Statistical Office (BFS) show that Swiss people leave the labor market at an average age of 65.5 years; This includes the self-employed, who often remain employed for very long periods of time.

But there are large differences between various economic sectors: “Workers in agriculture and forestry remain active in the labor market for a longer than average period of time,” the BFS writes. In contrast, workers in the “credit and insurance” sectors of the economy leave the labor market much earlier.

Mandatory early retirement

Specifically: Those who work in the financial sector retire at an average age of 62.8 years; Less than half of this figure is working until age 65.

BFS did not examine in detail the reasons for many early retirements from banks and insurance companies. Natalia Ferrara (41), chief executive of the Bank Staff Association, points out that there has been a lot of restructuring in her sector in recent years: “They often fall victim to long-term employees who are only a few years away from retirement – and among them professional reorientation would be very difficult.”

Those affected were later offered early retirement instead of a social plan. Ferrara says many early retirements are not entirely voluntary. But the Ticino resident also admits: “High wages in our industry certainly contribute to the early retirement of many bankers.”

Privilege issue

A striking explanation: If many high-income earners are already retiring at an above-average age, what would this be like after the retirement age was increased? The obvious conclusion: automatic increases in the retirement age will particularly affect low-income earners.

Those responsible for the retirement initiative do not want to go into this topic in more detail: “There are many reasons for early retirement,” says managing director Marcel Schuler. Artificial increases in prices for older workers, pressure on the labor market or health may also be decisive.

President Patrick Eugster also eliminates the problem of early retirement for high earners. Instead, he says: “We are all in the same boat.” Pensions will be twice as long compared to 1948, when the AHV was introduced. “We must all do our part to ensure AHV does not go out of business.”

Early retirees with high PF pensions

The initiators have support from the president of the employers’ association, Severin Moser. “We need to make people work longer, not only because of the AHV, but also because of the labor shortage,” he explained in an interview with SonntagsBlick last week.

Moser doesn’t deny that finances are important when it comes to early retirement. But he himself believes that this is justified: “Anyone who retires earlier also contributes to the AHV because they receive a much lower pension compared to normal retirement.”

Gabriela Medici (38), a social security expert at the trade union federation, sees the situation differently. One of the issues that bothers him is that the early retirement rate is highest in banks and insurance companies: “This means that employees in sectors that make money from our pension fund assets retire from active working life at an above-average age.”

Medici added that not everyone who works for a bank or insurance company is generally dependent on AHV. This is seen when looking at the PF pensions of early retirees. These are much higher than the pensions of those who have to work until normal retirement age.

Source :Blick