The United States is facing the crisis of pension, but the rich class has become the biggest beneficiary of the system

Iveian Mengs lives in Opalosas, Louisiana, USA. She is 71 years old and is difficult to pay for a $ 960 social security check and $ 50 food vouchers every month. Her husband Martin suffers from Parkinson's disease and now lives in a nursing home. Avian Meijiez is going to take care of her husband at the nursing home every day, and usually go to the community restaurant to clean up and earn some. Nevertheless, there are still little left after paying various bills every month. The summer of Louisiana is humid and hot, but in order to save some electricity costs, she rarely turns on air conditioning.

Living in Avian Merjes, Opalosas, Louisiana, USA. Source: "Guardian" website

"Forbes" magazine-

The United States is facing a major retirement crisis

The British "Guardian" pointed out that elderly poverty has been considered a thing of the past. Since the 1960s, the rate of poverty in the United States has steadily declined. But this is far from all the stories. Among some areas and parts, the poverty phenomenon of the United States is extremely serious. Oplozus is such a place, and the poverty rate here is the highest in the United States. The proportion of African Americans in Opalosas accounted for 75%. In 2017, the city's per capita annual income was only $ 15,266, and 45%of the population lived in poverty. Few retirees in Opalosas can enjoy sick leave or medical insurance benefits at work, and few people can expect sufficient pensions to support themselves at the time of retirement. Therefore, people here often have zero work to maintain their livelihood after retirement.

According to data from the American Association of retirees, the average government retirement is about US $ 16,000 a year on average. However, this money has even become a problem with paying rent. According to statistics from the United States Cable Television News, the median monthly rent in the United States in April this year was $ 1827. Even so, there are strict regulations to get government pensions. Only after 10 years of paying taxation tax will obtain the benefits after retirement (the disabled person is not subject to this restriction), and the personal retirement social security is proportional to the amount and time paid.

On June 5, 2021, a homeless old man sat in a tent by his river in Portland, Oregon. People's vision

"The United States is facing a major retirement crisis." Forbes Magazine commented. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, if it is not taken as soon as possible, by 2045, the poor over 62 years of age in the United States will soar to 21.8 million, an increase of 25%over 2018. Studies have shown that due to the lack of pensions, 40%of the middle -class elderly workers and their spouses may fall into poverty in the next 12 years.

Labor Expert Treesa Gradul--

The American endowment insurance system has broken, and it is only beneficial to the 5%of the highest income.

Compared with the miserable pension status quo of the poor in the United States, the rich will look like another after retirement. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a retirement bill with an overwhelming majority. According to the bill, individuals can inject more funds into pension accounts enjoys tax incentives before retirement. Legislators claim that the bill aims to help the middle class deposit more pension money. However, the US media pointed out that the bill does not help resolve the American pension crisis, but it has created a new tax avoidance method for high -income class.

Here we need to introduce a complex pension system in the United States. The current pension insurance system in the United States is mainly composed of three pillars: one is the federal pension system, which is a social pension insurance system led by the government and forced implementation; Enterprises funded by the funding for endowment insurance; Third, the individual pension plan, which is a personal savings pension insurance system that is responsible for and voluntarily participated in. The funds paid to the enterprise annuity plan and the personal retirement plan can be used to invest in financial products such as funds, stocks and bonds, and enjoy a variety of tax preferences such as tax exemption.

At present, the enterprise annuity plan and personal pension plan have become the main force of the American pension insurance system, exceeding 90%of the total US pension assets. One of the consequences of insufficient federal pension system, the consequences of the strong assets of the enterprise annuity plan and the individual pension plan, is to further enlarge the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States. According to a report from the Federal Reserve, about 63%of American families do not have a personal pension account. At the same time, as of 2019, the balance of personal retirement accounts of nearly 29,000 in the United States exceeded $ 5 million. According to statistics from the US Think Tank's "Budget and Policy Priority Center", the 10%richest people in the United States have a ratio of 90%of the pension account; the most poorest 10%of the groups have a ratio of only 10.7%of the pension account. As a result, the higher the income, the more tax benefits enjoyed by this plan.

A African -American old man is in his own home. Source: "Today's American Daily" website

"The American endowment insurance system is broken, and it is only beneficial to the 5%of the highest income, and it is extremely bad for people who do not have any retirement income except for social security." US workers' workers "American workers Problem expert Trysa Graduch pointed out that the biggest problem of the system is the interests of excessive bias towards capital, and excessively relying on enterprises and personal retirement accounts instead of government -led social security network.

"Washington post"--

The original intention of the personal pension plan is a generous gift for the rich

"The huge wealth gap of the American pension account has been doomed since the design of this system." The Washington Post pointed out that the original intention of the personal pension plan was a generous gift for the rich. At the beginning of this system in 1974, the individual pension plan participants were allowed to deposit up to $ 1,500 to the account each year. However, at that time, the average annual income of American families was only $ 111,000, and most of the $ 1,500 were wealthy. Today, the annual payment limit of the personal retirement account is $ 7,000, but it is still unattainable for those with low income. The Federal Reserve's report released in May this year shows that 32%of American families in 2021 cannot come up with $ 400. For the vast number of low -income people, the daily bills have taken all their income, and the surplus plans to plan for the pension account. The exposure of the pension crisis is the increasingly serious issue of the rich and the poor in the United States and the institutional reasons behind it. The Washington Post pointed out that the Republican Party's support for the latest retirement bill is not shocking because tax cuts have always been the core policy of the Republican Party. But it is surprising that Democratic members also generally support this bill because the political gold owner behind it -financial institutions that manage the pension accounts have tried to lobby the two -party members. In the last election of the United States, several largest asset management companies in the United States donated nearly $ 1.2 million to candidates for the two institutions through their political action committees. For them, the more funds that flow into the pension account, the more management fees they can charge.

"Although the two parties in the United States have a word of welfare for the public, their policy results are very little profitable, and the rich class has become the biggest beneficiary of this system." The Washington Post was evaluated.

Reporter: Zhang Mengxu Responsible Editor: Mang Jiochen

- END -