It will take a few weeks or even a few months for the French to come together after the close vote of deputies ratifying the suspension of the pension reform. I was born in 1964, 65, 66, am I affected or not and with what consequences? Everyone will have to take their little calculator and try to find the right people and so-called “experts” to try to find their way. Good luck.
Whatever one thinks of this decision – and in a democracy, the representatives of the people are fortunately legitimate – no one can deny that it will add complexity to the system. And definitely bury the idea that the subject of retirement is simple and uniform. No, that time – blessed or cursed? – is finished. Advantage: contrary to popular belief for decades, retirement is not, and in any case is no longer, an ax, falling from the deus ex machina state and imposing on you when the day comes an essential departure date and a retirement pension amount set in stone. There are, and today even more than yesterday, many levers that French men and women can exercise to modify the conditions, temporal and financial, of their retirement date, such as quarter buyouts. From the menu, we moved on to the menu, and that’s all the better in a country which has included freedom in its national motto and on the frontispiece of its public buildings.
Switch from menu to a la carte
It is all the better that our compatriots have also begun to understand in recent years that with the ups and downs of inflation, interest rates, growth, employment and the cost of living, particularly energy prices, the general pension – for those who are lucky enough to be able to claim the full rate – and even, for those who are entitled to it, the supplementary pension, risks no longer being enough to ensure them not only the maintenance of their purchasing power but even a life correct.
But once identified, to be able to pull the right levers in order to benefit from this “à la carte” retirement, the system must still be present. This is where we reach what the Anglo-Saxons call “the elephant in the room“, the problem that many people know but do not want to address so as not to put, according to our expression “feet in the dish“.
Increasing complexity
Our French system for managing the various retirement systems is not no longer adapted to increasing complexity resulting from successive reforms. Whether humanly or computationally. They tell you the opposite but it’s not true. In the various pension funds, especially those which are understaffed, which deal with the most files or the most complex situations, agents and executives are overwhelmed, overwhelmed, discouraged. The files pile up and the processing times are getting longer. It often takes several months and unfortunately sometimes several years to repair an anomaly, restore a quarter that has mysteriously disappeared, correct an error – and, get this, each career statement contains at least around ten on average – and finally begin payment of arrears. Retirees who were waiting for this money to live on, be patient, the wait has only just begun.
We are faced with a too great a diversity of crates and faced with an administration that no longer knows how to manage this growing complexity, this tailor-made when it was built to only produce ready-to-wear. Lack of expertise, monitoring, hands and brains in the face of segmentation and stratification of the system. The already existing symptom isembolismthe suspension of the reform (like its implementation) only adds to what already exists. The economic situation is slowing down certain actions such as quarter buybacks. Finally, the system does not allow special cases to be resolved. If we need automation and real commitment from administrative teams, it is above all the processing of each file that must make the difference. However, the system is dehumanized, without sensitivity to humanity and the individual. Management must be complemented by advice and expertise. We are far from it.
Our administration is too far from the real managementpeople like numbers. We can only note a failure of the system, increasingly unsuitable in the face of economic realities.
It’s YOUR money
This negative observation should not push us into gloom. The situation must evolve but it can. Example of positive sign : the gradual retirement which is being put in place and allows us to move the lines.
There is a reason which requires us to improve the current very imperfect state of affairs as quickly as possible: it is the money of the French, it must be forcefully remembered. This money, the fruit of their work and their contributions, is owed to them, they must recover it, and the administration’s difficulties in adapting to the complexity of the system have nothing to do with the matter. But if our system must get back in control as quickly as possible, this does not exclude retirees and especially future retirees from contributing to adding oil to the machine. By following a few simple tips: remember to find out, ask your fund, investigate to find lost quarters, learn to differentiate between legal age, full rate, reduced or increased rate, never trust the automatic elements transmitted by pension funds, and above all, above all, do not trust figures and statistics taken out of context. It is under these conditions that you can – and it is possible! – regain power over your retirement.
