The financial and savings culture

The Government of Spain is going to try, through collective agreements, to promote its political interests in private pensions

The recent study on “Remuneration trends and salary increase 2023” by KPMG Abogados confirms two important aspects: salary increases for the year 2023 of an average increase of 4.4% will be higher than for the year 2022 and well below inflation. The new hiring and retention of talent continues to be a problem of sustainability for companies.

Unlike other countries, especially the United States, but also the United Kingdom, and northern Europe, nothing is mentioned in relation to company pension plan in remuneration studies. Only monetary compensation. The lack of financial and savings culture limits companies in their decision-making in personnel departments.

Here one might naturally wonder if companies are aware of the financial and personal impact of their employees deciding not to retire when they reach the time to be able to retire. Or if companies are aware of the measures, they could adopt to encourage the departure of their workers when they reach retirement age. Or if workers know the years they must contribute for their public retirement pension. What is most striking are the high percentages of ignorance regarding all the questions posed.

Obviously, I am not assuming a lack of professionalism in the personnel departments or lack of interest on the part of the workers. Not of the collective of tax advisor who are mostly unaware of the tax benefits for remuneration in kind for group life insurance contributions.

It is known that companies would be interested in knowing the necessary measures. The lack of communication to workers, for political convenience, of the individual estimates of their public and private retirement pension, is a clear example of why they are unaware of their future pension. Only in companies with tradition, customs, habits, values, tools, and knowledge in private pensions, is there a debate on company pension plan. For the rest, business leadership is needed in the remuneration management of their managers and workers, because in the company pension plan industry there are all kinds of professional products and services that are suitable for each company´s needs. While the Government of Spain is going to try through collective agreements to promote its political interests in private pensions.

Jaume Quibus

The actuary and economist Jaume Quibus holds a master’s degree in Financial Economics and Accounting, a degree in Actuarial and Financial Sciences, a degree in Economic and Business Studies from the University of Barcelona and has completed the Management Development Programme at the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra. He is a full member of the following associations: the Catalan Actuarial Association, the Spanish Actuarial Association, the Catalan Economists Association, the International Actuarial Association, the Catalan Association of Accounting and Management and also a member of the IESE Business School Alumni. He was a founding partner in 1998 of the actuarial company Quibus, and is corporate member number 6 in the Catalan Actuarial Association.