Employee Benefits
AG EB ONLINE
Published on 29/08/2023
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Do your staff members have a decent supplementary pension to fall back on?
The Belgian federal government wants every employee to save towards a supplementary pension with a contribution of at least 3% of their gross annual salary to provide them with a high enough replacement income later on. But how many employees in Belgium have access to such group insurance plans? And how much do they set aside each year for this purpose?
The Belgian federal government wants every employee to save towards a supplementary pension with a contribution of at least 3% of their gross annual salary to provide them with a high enough replacement income later on. But how many employees in Belgium have access to such group insurance plans? And how much do they set aside each year for this purpose?
As the market leader in supplementary pensions in Belgium, we analysed the contracts of 316,826 participants in a total of 5,374 corporate plans. Based on this sample, the average contribution rate is 4.5% (EUR 2,874 per year) and the median contribution rate is 3.70% (EUR 1,675 per year).
Yet as many as
39% of these plan participants don't meet the government-recommended 3% target. We also identified big differences between the 18 sectors covered in the study.
In short, the findings were surprising.
So where do we stand with our pensions in Belgium?
We went straight to the FSMA, our go-to source for information. By picking through its annual study on the general pension landscape in Belgium, we discovered some interesting facts and figures.
Did you know that…
...one-third of the active workforce doesn't have a supplementary pension plan?
It seems we still have a long way to go before everyone in Belgium has a comfortable retirement.
…more men than women have a group insurance plan?
More specifically, 58% of plan participants are men and 42% are women. The gap is slightly smaller in the sample we used for our benchmark study: 55% men and 45% women enrolled in a corporate-sponsored pension plan with AG.
...there are more Defined Contribution plans than Defined Benefit plans?
Apparently plans with pre-set, regular contributions are more popular than plans that promise a specific income in retirement. And yet the reserves held in Defined Contribution plans are lower.
...10% of the population in Belgium dies before reaching retirement age?
Fortunately, only 1.5% of AG participants have no death benefit coverage at all. This means that their beneficiaries are unlikely to face financial hardship after their death, although it's also true that coverage levels vary greatly.
How attractive are supplementary pension plans in your sector?
Interested in how pension plans, premiums and covers vary across the different sectors in Belgium? And how your contributions measure up against your peers?
Want to find out why the reserves held in Defined Contribution plans are lower than in Defined Benefit plans? And how commonly occurring the two types of plans are per sector?
Then be sure to attend the Pension & Health webinar "Benchmark Study on Supplementary Pensions":
In French on Tuesday 19 September 2023 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm . Our speaker is Patrick Mackowiak, Executive Consultant AG Employee Benefits & Health Care.
Or in Dutch on Thursday 21 September, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Our speaker is Alain Hubo, Executive Consultant at AG Employee Benefits & Health Care.
