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by wtcactus 149 days ago
> Pension funds around these parts are big

Not really. Most EU countries don’t even have noticeable state pension funds (and one of the biggest culprits is actually France). They just rely on younger people to support the pensions of the retired ones.
1 comments
crote 149 days ago
You're forgetting about private pension funds. Those are massive, and often mandated by a collective bargaining agreement.
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wtcactus 149 days ago
Not in France they aren’t. And not in most EU countries that still rely in pay as you go pension systems.

For comparison. France’s pension funds (total public and private) are 12% of their GDP. Total EU pension funds are also around 20% of total EU GDP. USA pension funds are 170% of their GDP!!!

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pseudony 149 days ago
It's not either-or, necessarily.

Yes, we have a pays-as-you-go pension system in Denmark (sigh). But regulations were also changed a while back such that employees must pay into a pension scheme of their own. In our case, that's handled via your employer and there's a minimum contribution limit and often incentives to pay a higher level.

((not my area of expertise))

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