Plans afoot for phased increase to pension contributions
(CNS): Employees in the private sector will need to increase the amount of money they pay into their pension funds because of the inadequacy of the current amounts set out in law, as well as the withdrawals made from the schemes during the COVID-19 lockdown and the freeze on mandatory payments for the last two years. Labour Minister Chris Saunders said the contribution of 10%, which is paid between staff and employers, is insufficient and must increase, but this will most likely be through 0.5% annual increments that won’t start until 2024 and will come with far more flexible access to the money.
Saunders told CNS he was well aware of the precarious situation facing many workers and employees with the end of the pension holiday, expected next month, when they will once again be required to make mandatory monthly payments into pension funds.
With inflation running at an all-time high and many struggling to pay bills, people must now expect to lose another 5% of their monthly paycheck in October, just as the government subsidy on power bills ends, making the prospect of having to pay even more alarming for some households.
But Saunders said that the increase in contributions would not happen until at least 2024 and would be spread over several years, with an annual rise of half a percentage point paid by both workers and employers until the mandatory amount reaches 15% of people’s salaries.
He said the much-needed changes to the current system were all still under discussion among his PACT colleagues and nothing was set in stone, though an important factor for him is the ability for people to withdraw money from their funds, especially in emergencies. Saunders has often pointed out that a significant number of families are one medical emergency away from bankruptcy.
“We have got to make changes to the pension law,” he said, to allow people access to their money for genuine emergencies and to help people buy property.
But the first thing he needed to do, he said, was to get an actuary report completed of the private sector funds to find out how they have been impacted by the withdrawals in the summer of 2020 and the 26-month freeze on mandatory payments.
When he was in opposition and a member of the Public Accounts Committee, Saunders had often expressed his frustration with the pension system and suggested that having around ten private pension companies in such a small jurisdiction was ridiculous. When he spoke with CNS this week, he said his position on that had not changed.
While he appears to have ruled out a national pension system, believing that the market should play a role in this, he is still interested in opening up the very successful Public Service Pension Plan to more people. He said that this, coupled with changes to legislation, might result in more consolidation in the sector.
Saunders said there were a number of issues that would need to be addressed through policy and legislative changes, including the regulations. But given that the pension system is supposed to be about “creating security for our people”, he said the priority was to make the entire pension system work better for pensioners. He said the pain of having to increase contributions workers make would be eased by the increase in access to the money being saved.
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Here is an alternative suggestion:
1) heavy penalties for employees found to be stealing pension deductions from employees
2) heavy penalties for employers not paying their pension Contribution
3) ensuring management fees charged are below a comparable plan worldwide
4) penalties for the plan provider for under performance
All penalties paid to pension plans
This makes absolutely no sense. The majority of people actually contributing to pension plans will not retire here. So you are simply penalizing them unfairly now.
Those who will retire here and earn a good income already have other savings or business that will be sufficient for retirement.
Those that will retire here and cannot afford an increased pension payment will still not be able to retire on pension payments only.
Ridiculous plan
Try so manage these old men and their pension better.
They leave their good wife and young gals suck out all the bank funds to go Ceiba.
The next election can’t come quick enough so we can vote a new set of clowns in!
Would Franz define a local pension as “World Class Ponzi”?
Asking for a friend.
I believe you can show that you’re investing your 5% contribution into your own business or whatever financial instrument you like, then you should be allowed to gamble on your own success.
Is that when you are self-employed?
no deal, unless civil servants are made to do the same. end of story.
Has this guy come up with one good idea yet?
He touched upon a few during elections which is why people woted for him however since the elections concluded……tumble weeds.
Says the guy who works for government and doesn’t have to pay his own pension contributions.
Except that every civil servant pays their half, by law, which is higher than what the private sector (currently) pay.
Not that old urban myth again. Try something new.
Don’t forget he/MLA’s draw their pension every month to match their salary….
Remember when they passed that law?
Maybe that’s why we have plug the gap; how long has that ben in place now? 8-12+yrs?
Huh? What law?
Our MLAs and other high ranking Govt officials can:
– receive pensions after serving only one four year term;
– receive this pension after the retirement age of 55;
– draw on their pension whilst acting in their position to match their salary
This kind of stuff happens when you aren’t paying attention and only care about a fridge.
Put more money into a scheme with a $1000/pm cap? HAHAHA. Who are these idiots trying to kid? Who gets the excess funds that can never be withdrawn? Cayman’s pension system stinks!
This is factually incorrect. The MINIMUM amount that can be withdrawn from a private pension account is based on a percentage determined by your age, but subject to an overall MINIMUM of CI$ 12,900/year. Since 2017 you are NOT limited to $1000/month.
that makes it $1075.00 per month allowance to withdraw…. $75 more than the writer proposed… which is still not a living wage as a retiree.
the pension scheme of cayman are perfect representation of cig….
costly, underperforming, nonsensical, wasteful, hypocritical…
the idea is fine..but on 3 conditions:
if yearly benchmarks are not made, providers can’t charge fees
if yearly benchmarks are not made, the have the option of withdrawing that years contributions.
Upon retirement at 65, you have the option of taking your lump sum as opposed to the the nonsensical $1k per month.
So the private sector is going to supply the Govt / Civil Service gravy train yet again?
Is this not some form of blatant discrimination?
Everybody who could withdrew and therefore everyone should have to contribute and the mandatory increase applied too.
What the F have this lot been smoking whilst Panton was out he picture for a week?
Kenneth knows the No.1 rule:
Don’t get high on your own supply.
If that happens I am leaving Cayman and I know many will. First address the underpay that employers are paying employees. I DID NOT TOUCH MY PENSION AND WHY DO YOU WANT TO PENALIZED ME.
Are you guys going to raise the minium wages?
Why should I put more money into a scheme that only lets me draw $1000.00 per month? Any more than $250,000.00 invested will be a waste as I will probably die before i can get it back.
The proposed changes are supposed to be to plug the deficit caused by Covid withdrawals yet Mr. Saunders suggests allowing further withdrawals for mortgages and emergencies. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle P.
I know what you did there!
What will actuarial reviews of these DC plans tell Chris? That contributions need to be higher than 10% for people to retire securely. Mercer already wrote a report to this effect. And that was before the huge withdrawals and pension holidays. All these actuarial reviews will achieve are to cost the plans money and reduce the value of pension savings to no useful effect.
The informed reader could not miss that under Saunders proposal for the fee increase to kick in around 2024 , that at the same time about +1,000 civil service employees will move into retirement and need their health care costs covered , in addition to their pensions maintained .
CIG will be on “On the Hook’ to service both health care and the pension payouts to their “New’ retiree’s.
What a strange co-incidence?
Chris Saunders , did you cotton on to this by mere chance?
This is insane
In the membrane.
The problem comes with being porr all of your life. I’ve been working a minimum wage job and paying the required amount into my pension. When I retired, there was enough in there for 18 months of withdrawals and then it was all gone. With such a small fund, because I earned so little in wages, the fees charged were huge and took away any gains my little fund might ever have made. So here I am 2 years into retirement, no pension fund left, no income, living off the meagre savings I put away from a minimum wage job. That’s not going to last long…then what? The rest of my life in extreme poverty begging for even basic healthcare.
I’m assuming your asset allocation in your pension was fixed income getting 1% or 2% after pension fees instead of the S&P500 index that has risen 3,485% since 1982. Here’s a quote for you “always have your money working for you otherwise you will always be working” Donald Trump in his book Art of the Deal.
How inappropriate is your comment!! Did you fail to read what this person wrote. This person has been earning minimum wage! To quote trump and their failure to invest in S&P as if they had a say over their own pension plan, is the height of arrogance, is exceptionally condescending and showed me one thing – you lack empathy and character.
I’m appalled at the sad situation of someone who has worked hard only to find themselves in such dire straits in Cayman and I am appalled at your nonsense commentary.
Whatever princess. You have discretion in how your pension is allocated and if you chose in the questionnaire to be extremely defensive and only hold treasury bills then your return over 40 years is peanuts. Some pensions such as Britcay offer self directed pensions where you can simply put 75% of your pension in Vanguard S&P500 etf (which Warren Buffet recommends) which would have given this individual a comfortable pension relative to zero growth in fixed income and the high fees the pensions inappropriately charge. Trump, the American dream, USA stock market & Cayman capitalism can lift people out of poverty. You want to see dire situation take a boat to our neighbors Cuba or Venezuela and see what communism and socialism society cripples their citizens
You are so far removed from the reality of most poor people that you have no idea. They do not have a choice where their pension monies are invested. The employer sets up a company pension plan and the employee has to join that plan and contribute there along with the set investment allocation that comes with it.
Well let’s see Britcay and Generali pensions have a questionnaire when a pension is setup. The individual owns the pension and can contact the pension anytime to adjust the asset allocation. YOU are so far removed from reality! Cayman is the land of pure capitalism and if an individual works hard and puts some effort into bettering themselves through education or just watching the professionals on CNBC they can grow their wealth. YOU should educate yourself about other countries and learn what real hardship and poverty is like. Watch China under Mao communist leadership mass famine, Stalin Russia communism millions die from starvation. Please tell me again the struggles of Cayman?
8:08, it appears you have the answer for everything, I knew Unicorns exist!
Whilst we’ve got you, can you please get a job in Cayman paying $6 per hr and let us know how far you get in the month once you’ve paid rent…then CUC…then Water….then the bag of chips you can afford with all you have left?
I nearly forgot, my employer took money out my salary for my pension and didn’t pay it in or match it (has done this for 12 months now).
We all look forward to hearing from you!
You’re such a joke. Break out the violin you effing baby. If an individual in a prosperous capitalist country such as Cayman failed to get an education, failed to pursue a prosperous career, failed to live within their means then that is on them. Likely in fine Caymanian tradition this hypothetical person by the age of 25 has already had 3 kids from 1 or 3 different guys and has accepted this hypothetical job and almost guaranteed poverty. With all that can this hypothetical person take 30 minutes out of their entire live to fill out their pension form or revise it from fixed income (peanuts) return to a prosperous S&P500 blue chip equity index holding. Based on your fictional character it’s likely use that time to fatten up at Burger King or KFC instead. What’s your next chapter? Perhaps the story of medical and dental bills for eating crap instead of healthy food. Go to Cuba, North Korea or Venezuela to see if people there have sympathy for this individual or not.
Rubbish!
The pension is literally a waste of money.1000 max out more money in and get mess back. The island is struggling at least give it till the end of the year to implement again. Tourism is just starting we lost the busy season. What sense does this make
Easy to criticize the asset allocation but remember the private sector pension plans have to work within fairly tight guidelines. Easy too for Saunders to suggest opening the Public Sector Plan to the general public. This plan’s administration is paid for by Government and is not subject to the private sector investment regulatory constraints.
Wayne, time to reel in these morons.
?…Wayne is a spineless fool
What will Saunders do about the 15% that my pension lost recently? So even if they lose it, I MUST give them more? Really?
So local pensions recently lost 15% and CIG is now announcing we must contribute 15%?
Did CIG do a raid ?
Most economists admit that pensions alone are inadequate if this is the only provision for retirement. While it is challenging in a jurisdiction where the cost of living ranks among the highest in the world , other means must be arrived at if retirees are to have a dignified retirement.
One obvious way out of the dilemma is to encourage people to spend less… and save more… to arrive at a place where needs can be separated from wants. And in spite of what many people think,political directorates cannot fill every monetary need. The drift towards a welfare state should be alarming, although there is a sense in which the state must share a moral obligation to uplift the most vulnerable.
For all the years that the Cayman Islands were doing well financially ,there is no reason why Cayman should not have a Sovereign Wealth Fund or some similar instrument for insulation against hard times. It would have been easy during the years of surplus to place a few million per annum in such a fund.
Regrettably however ,when the proposal was put forward , one person who claimed a monopoly on all things financial and legal dismissed the suggestion as coming from “defunct school teachers”, claiming that the government had “the General Reserves ” for just such an occasion.
I have long held the view that the obligation for underfunded public service pensions and increasing overseas medical bills are an ‘albatros around the neck of these islands’. Hopefully, the withdrawal of millions from the private pension funds will not mean that the government will be expected to bear the financial responsibility for those persons who were misguided into raiding their already meagre funds…but I see no other way out.
Government made it possible for these funds to be withdrawn. The fault is on the government for making it possible.
Specifically the PPM.
The government made it possible but not mandatory. That was up to the individual.
And Individuals who did not withdraw now have to contribute more…got it.
Good ole Caymanian Common Sense form the Sacred Wessell right Steve?
Cayman Airways and the Turtle Farm Fiasco are also major albatrosses around our necks, Mr Bodden, but no one ever wants to talk about that, preferring instead to utter idiotic comments like “CAL makes a profit after subsidy”, which you may remember from your days on the backbenches long ago.
Don’t forget the Caribbean Development Bank too
“Most economists admit that pensions alone are inadequate…” absolute nonsense.
A sovereign wealth fund Mr Bodden. Please. Our politicians can’t even manage an annual budget let alone a SWF.
It would be nothing but a piggy bank slush fund for government of the day. Like McKeewa’s off the books Nation Building Fund. Remember that beauty.
Vote these clowns out now please.
These pension schemes are the epitome of sh!t!
I’ve literally doubled my cash since i pulled it out of Silver Thatch / Chamber and Fidelity’s shitty schemes.
I dont need you clowns to look after my $ – and i certainly dont need a cap on how much i can take out each month.
get lost.
How did you pull all the cash out, by leaving?
Another form of discrimination against locals….
Expats can leave and withdraw the entire amount after 2yrs then return to Cayman and start the same process again.
Everyone who has ever been rolled over and returned to Cayman did exactly that.
Was this explained to the pension paying public when they were allowed to withdraw from their pension accounts!
Imagine being someone who didnt withdraw and now has to up their contribution to compensate looool.
Who’s plan is this and what is their stake? The only benefactors of this scheme have been the administrators that bleed a spread from less than benchmark returns. Retirees can’t survive on the piecemeal dribble, the employers campaign for holidays without penalty, and CIG will still have to make up the difference in the end.
Pension is useless, let us do with our money as we please. You are no one to tell me i need to put %5 or %10 of my pay into pension just because you say so!
Anonymous 25 @ 2:11pm – And you’ll be among the first looking for Government hand-out down the road when you find out your contributions an amassed pension weren’t enough! Right?
No. i will invest my money into a scheme where I get a better return and can withdraw a decent amount per month based on investment.
And I’m Mother Theresa back from the dead, 6:57.
White collar theft by these grossly underperforming overcharging pensions. The implementation should be a collapse of the pensions’ MER to 0.025% and funds simply put into passive ETFs like Warren Buffet recommends. There should be an audit and disclosure of all the money those blood sucking pensions have taken and the payouts to individuals. This would add clarity to the conflict of interest and acting in the best interest of pensioners.
The one person that disliked the above comment is likely one of fat cat owners of the actual pension that overcharges the pensioners annually. TIME for reform and Let expats do a FULL withdrawal of their incarcerated pension money.
There are 3 dislikes to every comment; Silver Thatch, Chamber and who is the 3rd?
Chris.
I agree with this in principal, people are certainly not putting enough away for a comfortable retirement. However, the pension plans are pretty darn useless. I’d also be interested to know what the withdrawal allowances will be once someone reaches retirement age. I am already putting additional funds into other plans where I decide what happens to my money. Shouldn’t this be an option for the additional 5%? Not sure how it would be policed. Perhaps the additional 5% could go into Public Service Pension Plan mentioned above.
Given that there is no tax here, I really don’t like the pension system. I can invest my money for cheaper than the administrators and in a way that is better for me. There needs to be a way for the pension system here to allow for self-directed pensions.
Why not allow people to pay the monies into their mortgages rather than a pension ?
The return and security for the individual would be better than giving it to those pension funds who couldn’t invest well to save their lives…
how about providing better options to invest our pension to make more profits? We should have more choices as to how we want our pension money being invested- this current system is a joke!
So mandatory increases in pension contributions for both employees and employers, and yet we’ll still be forced to live on $1000/month upon retirement?*
*Unless we’re part of civil service.
That’s right. For retirees remaining in the Cayman Islands, the dumpsters are filling up so you’d best make sure you use that CI $1000 per month or lump sum to advance book your space. I bet it’s gonna be tight quarters.
The other injustice is that in the event of the demise of a private pension member any remaining balance in their account will not be paid to their beneficiary unless the beneficiary is likewise of retirement age! You couldn’t make this shit up if you tried.
This must not apply to those responsible persons who elected to forego the ill-conceived pension holiday.
#brettwasright
So we can bail ourselves out next time there is a crisis…glad you guys are still getting your raises.
Private sector to pay another 5% so CIG clan doesn’t have to. We get it. Just like mandatory insurance on island. We pay more than we get back so CIG clan can pay less and get more. Great scheme and as expected.
We need a national “non-profit” pension administrator that allows participants to choose the underlying investments. With such a small population why do we have so many pension administrators?
So pension is now being transformed into a forced savings plan that we can withdraw from “if” the Government says its ok?
15% is he mad ???!!!
If he had any sense he would see that this is not going to work, there wont be enough enforcement staff to take people to court for non payment.
Find something else to do with your time Chris, its already running out
Not exactly reasonable to ask people to pay into a pension with much bigger existential threats coming. Not too worried about my long off retirement when climate change is on it’s way to sink the island.
SCAM!!!!!
When will pensions be required for domestic helpers and the like? Exempting them was perhaps tolerable when it was understood they could not get PR but now large numbers of persons with NO pensions or ability to provide for themselves or their families are being granted PR. What now? The Caymanian people are having to pay millions in consequence.
Interesting comment. How do such workers score enough points to get PR? Sincerely asking.
When braccas be marrying them off. Left n right.
A Big man shortage over deh do
Opposite situation on Grand tho.
Marriages of convenience now done by status holders. Plus adoption of the kids of relatives.
Noosah
Easy. They get maximum points for their Occupation, maximum points for charitable involvement by singing in their church, and maximum points for wealth by having $600.
So true…The CIG is paving the way for yet another mass Caymanian Status grant, with rights to NAU Benefits.
They are not waiting. The NAU benefits are being given whether or not the recipient has status.
This is absolutely correct. CNS, you should publish a statement to this effect from the pension administrators or a legal opinion that will show this to be the case. The repeated assertion that you can “only withdraw $1,000 a month once you retire”, that gets consistently published in the comments section of this site is misleading. Any of the administrators will explain it properly.
I’m the last person to be an apologist for the pension administrators, by the way. The fees on fees that are being charged to manage funds that would do just as well invested in the SPY ETF are bordering on criminal. And that’s to say nothing of the consistency of missing benchmark performance. As others have said, you’d be a fool not to have taken advantage of the pension withdrawal option or holiday. Keep your money in your own investment vehicle where you own it, control it and have access to it whenever you need it. Just don’t buy boats or TVs with it.
Pastor Alfredo
For those who are recently retired and drawing on their pension, the $1000/month is a firm reality.
Whole thing is a scam.
Doubt I will see or get this money after 35 more years of working.
I am not knocking the pension plan as it does provide some financial security for those that need financial oversight.
What does bother me is that it is mandatory for all. If you have $5M in the bank and/or have some sort of professional designation is there a really a need for the government to get involved? There should be certain criteria that exempt those who are financially sound.
Having to chose between the Chamber or Silver Thatch really limits your investment options. Maybe you would rather buy a rental property?
They need the assets from those that don’t need a pension to cover the bloated administration costs, it is a defacto tax. I was very happy to switch to my work from home job that doesn’t exist in Cayman so no pension tax for me.
This is the dumbest suggestion ever!! Worst possible time with inflation rates going up /salaries not moving. What makes the PACT government think people or organizations are going to be in a financial position to observed this extra deduction in two years !!!
Ponzi scheme exposed!
That’s gonna be a no from me dawg!
The only security being conferred through this scheme is to margins being skimmed by administrators of crappy plans that will always fall far short of achieving benchmark market returns. No households can live on $1000 a month now, let alone retirement age. The whole apparatus is a joke, and CIG will still be on the hook. Let those with the ability self direct their own money and plan their own retirement. CIG can’t even produce honest accounts, get out of the pensions arena.
No pension is the answer. CIG is not a parent to the uneducated Caymanians they have sent through their in adequate school systems! Now you want to screw the private sector for your failures.
What a joke!!!! You can’t force people to now catch up for the pension holiday. Talk about a bait and switch.
Why is it a joke? Where did you think your retirement funding was going to magically appear from? No bait and switch. Just simple mathematics.
That’s rich, Saunders should go to a certain restaurant on Eastern avenue , and mek dem
pay long overdue pensions in accordance with court orders.
One by the Fish Market too…
It’s truly shameful.
Dem’s bredren. Nuttin fi see dere.
According to my first-quarter 2022 pension statement, my pension porfolio lost over $5K on its U.S. Growth Funds. This is likely because of a restricting economy, although economists continue to assert we are still in a high inflationary period- with higher prices & increased interest rates.
What did you think would happen? If you chose to take money out of your pension you have made a big dent in your retirement. If you chose the pension holiday you have another big dent in your pension pot.
This shortfall needs to be addressed if your pension pot is going to be big enough for when you retire.
I was lucky as my job was secure through Covid. I chose not to take money out to buy a tv/bigger car/staycations at the Ritz etc (some colleagues chose that route). Our employer was willing to continue pension contributions for those who wanted to continue to save.
My pension pot will be $35,000 (plus market increases) better than yours ($20,000 not withdrawn & 1.5 years of $10,000 per annum on my $50,000 salary).
So you are putting 20% into your pension?
You can still only draw $1000.00 per month regardless of how much you have invested.
Rubbish. I bought an annuity with my accumulated pension funds & my income is more than $1,000 pm
Good luck with your imaginary pension when you finally reach the age to receive it. 1000 a month isn’t going to cut it then, just like now.
Most likely your pension simply won’t be there. The company will have gone under, the managers will definitely have been paid and the tax payer will be left holding the bags.
So what did people think was going to replace that money if not increased future deposits?
Told ya Chris got good ideas! Watch this space.
OP here. My wife and I each make six figure financial services salaries. We have over SEVEN figures in other savings and investments that are making far better returns than the Cayman pension plans and aren’t going to limit us in retirement to only $1,000 per month. Forcing us to put in 15% is insane. We will never see that money in our retirement.
We are in a very fortunate position that increased contributions will be annoying but have no real impact on our day to day lives. Mandating this for those already living paycheck to paycheck is unfair as that was not what was sold when the pension holiday was introduced.
We did take advantage of the pension holiday (you’d have been a fool not to as your money can do so much more for you than these local plans). It’s only irresponsible if you have zero savings, zero retirement plans outside of your Cayman pension and went out and bought new tvs and other gadgets. That being said, was it communicated to people when they took the holiday that there would be an increase in required contributions once the holiday ended??? Where’s the transparency???
You will not be limited to 1,000 withdrawal per month. If you have a large pension pot on retirement you can withdraw 4 – 5 % of the value of the pot, the % increases with age.
Not when your pension is with one of the 3 we have to chose from in Cayman.
Or are you some holder of secret information being kept from the public because the amount mentioned is in black and white.