2015年经济学人 养老金 随用随取的钱罐

Pensions

Pot luck

The chancellor¹ hands more freedom to retirees

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 annuity²—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”.

Few anticipated George Osborne's sweeping³ response.

In his budget speech, the chancellor outlined a plan to do away with the requirement to buy an annuity and all the arcane⁴ 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.

It may prove a popular idea, but is it a good one? Pensions get generous tax treatment to encourage people to provide for retirement⁵;

if they blow their pension pot on a Maserati, they may end up as wards⁶ of the state,

particularly in their later years when many will need expensive care in nursing homes.

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 apathetic⁷ to provide for their futures⁸ voluntarily. Do people suddenly acquire wisdom when they retire, perhaps?

The change will have wide-ranging consequences, not least for the insurance companies that sell annuities⁹,

several of which saw sharp share-price plunges¹⁰. To the extent that pensioners¹¹ 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.

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 Treasury¹² has put no money aside to cover them.

If public-sector workers decided¹³ 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.

The same worry applies to private-sector final-salary schemes, which might suddenly face a cash drain if workers opt¹⁴ to convert.

Such pension schemes are big investors¹⁵ in government bonds, and the switch might make it more difficult to fund Britain's deficit¹⁶.

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 restrictions¹⁷ on others.

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 annuity   

n.年金；养老金

参考例句：

• The personal contribution ratio is voluntary in the annuity program.企业年金中个人缴费比例是自愿的。
• He lives on his annuity after retirement.他退休后靠退休金维生。

3 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

4 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

6 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

7 apathetic   

adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的

参考例句：

• I realised I was becoming increasingly depressed and apathetic.我意识到自己越来越消沉、越来越冷漠了。
• You won't succeed if you are apathetic.要是你冷淡，你就不能成功。

8 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

9 annuities   

n.养老金；年金( annuity的名词复数 )；（每年的）养老金；年金保险；年金保险投资

参考例句：

• Many companies in this country grant their old employees annuities after they retire. 这个国家的许多公司在老年雇员退休后发给他们养老年金。 来自辞典例句
• Can I interest you in one of our Easter Annuities or IRA accounts? 您对我们的复活节年金保险或者个人退休金帐户有兴趣吗？ 来自电影对白

10 plunges   

n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场，就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人，他头冲下跳下山坡去了，像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

11 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

15 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

16 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

17 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制