A generation with many characteristics that make it unique, starting from the need to rebuild life, work and identity from the foundations after the economic crises it has experienced, as well as being the first to have to take care of elderly parents and the last to be able to go to retire quite peacefully.
Generally we hear about widespread concerns regarding the pensions to which they will be entitled. «I think I can say that this is not a real concern, but rather a stereotype, and that any differences are not due to the place of residence, but rather the field of activity and whether or not you have started contributing to social security from the beginning of one's working career, what is not happens especially among those who have moved from abroad", objects Piermichele Bernardo, CEO and partner of Qualibroker Ticino SA. For his SwissLife colleague Roberto Russi, pension funds are more than safe at the moment. «I'll tell you more: those of my company, Swisslife, are more so than a few years ago. Our pension plan, in fact, is (more) well structured and has grown over the years."
Russi believes that the fundamental starting point for giving a name to one's worries is an analysis of one's financial and social security situation, to understand what one would be entitled to once one retires (or even earlier in the event of illness, disability or death). and how to fill any gaps. «We offer, like Swisslife, customized solutions based on everyone's needs. The first age group of customers who turn to us are young families, common-law partners, young people in career, from 25-30 to 45-50, who wish to plan how to act on their pension. My advice is to start thinking about it as soon as possible. The second, however, is represented by those who are about to retire: you don't have to wait until your 64th year to think about it! We offer these people an analysis product, retirement planning, which takes into consideration factors such as social security, liquidity, amortization of the mortgage loan, tax aspects, the guarantee of maintaining liquidity, any inheritance costs, the guarantee of continuity the support of any heirs. I always say that our analysis is like a medical check-up, which takes into account various factors to find the best solution: it is always a mix of emotional and technical factors."
Both agree that in most cases, 55-65 year olds can sleep relatively soundly. «With the exception of events that may have influenced the reality of the individual, such as withdrawals for access to private property, divorce or other, the capital accumulated by those who have been able to contribute to the pension fund from the beginning (the LPP came into force in 1985), should make it possible to achieve the objective that the legislator had set himself, i.e. to have 60% of the last income available as a pensioner, between AVS and pension fund, if this has not had significant increases over the years years. It seems appropriate to underline that as regards the pension fund, at least in the solution that allows the capital to be withdrawn, it should not negatively influence the younger generations as the capital available has been accumulated and is owned by the individual insured person, unlike the life annuity option, the duration of which clearly remains an unknown for those who must guarantee and/or finance it in consideration of the continuous increase in life expectancy", explains Bernardo. From a technical point of view, as far as pensions are concerned, the concern may come from the possible reduction in conversion rates: given that life expectancy has increased, an elderly person will receive a lower portion of the paid-in capital each month, to make it last longer .
Sandro Cattacin, full professor of sociology at the University of Geneva where he directs the Institute of Sociological Research, also holds the same opinion. «They are certainly the last generation who, thanks to the pension fund and also to complementary aid, can retire peacefully, also thanks to a better general financial situation than that of the younger segments of the population».
Beyond financial concerns, how is leaving the world experienced? «I would like to start by saying that in my opinion this is too brutal a step. The municipality of Vernier, in the canton of Geneva, for example, organizes a pensioners' party every year in which all the new pensioners participate. I find it to be something extremely positive: there are also associations that illustrate the possible free time activities and the cantonal services that they explain what help you can benefit from. Having said that, there are small entrepreneurs and freelancers who, partly because they love what they do and partly because they have not paid enough contributions to be able to live without problems, never stop working. Employees, on the other hand, can't wait to leave their jobs, in an economy that is often alienating because it demands a lot and gives little in terms of satisfaction."
If it is true that the phenomenon of great resignations and the desire to regain quality of life beyond work affects especially young people, not even those included in the considered range, according to Cattacin, are exempt from it. «They no longer identify only with their profession, also as a matter of self-defense: family businesses or a job for life no longer exist, people also change different professions which are not always clearly definable. One's own meaning is therefore sought outside, so much so that often when someone introduces themselves they do so by talking about their hobbies. For this generation they are important and they can't wait to have free time to dedicate themselves to them."
It is no coincidence, he continues, that if in the '80s those who volunteered were mainly around the age of 40, now 50-60 year olds up to 70 years old predominate. «They are people who when they retire still have about twenty years ahead of them, of which fifteen are in good health. And they are resources, because young people do not plan, also due to changed circumstances, their lives beyond two years, while they can do it, guaranteeing to provide voluntary work, such as for example the management of a project, to a couple of decades."
Those cited by Russi and Bernardo are cases of people who were able to think about a pension plan because they have an economic situation that allows it. Unfortunately, as always, there are also those who already struggle to make ends meet during their working years, and therefore are not included in the target customers of insurance companies in terms of social security. For them, could emigrate be a solution? Russi cites, rather than the decision to choose shores such as Portugal or Spain, that of opting for cantons with more favorable tax rates, such as Grisons or Uri. Those who go abroad and turn to pension consultants to understand how to use their capital do so as a lifestyle choice, not for economic reasons, my colleague Bernardo also underlines. And Cattacin points out how often around the age of 60-65 some foreigners decide to leave Ticino to return to their countries of origin (also to go and look after their now elderly parents), only to then return in their eighties to take advantage of our healthcare facilities. . The data provided to us by the Cantonal Statistics Office speak of 2021 departures of people aged between 508 and 75 abroad in 99 and 272 towards other cantons. From the portrait, therefore, emerges a generation that, despite doubts and worries, can smile.
