The Council of Labor Affairs is mulling allowing retirees who have been enrolled in the national labor insurance system for at least 15 years the option of collecting a one-time pension payout rather than monthly installments, Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said yesterday.
Wang made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, when lawmakers questioned whether it was reasonable and fair to require that pensions be paid out only in installments.
Employers are required by law to allocate 6 percent of an employee’s monthly salary to the Labor Pension Fund each month. Workers who have not been enrolled in the pension system for at least 15 years collect a one-time payout upon retirement at age 60, while those who have participated in the system for at least 15 years can only receive monthly installments.
Backing the idea of giving workers more flexibility, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said: “The labor pension fund comes from workers’ salaries, so it is the workers’ money.”
Huang and other lawmakers said it should be up to the individual to decide what to do with his or her pension and how to collect what was rightfully theirs.
However, Wang said the downside to allowing workers to collect a one-time payout was many retirees might spend all of the money at once or they might outlive their resources, thereby decreasing the effectiveness of the social welfare safety net.
Elderly people are also prone to being victims of fraud or sometimes take more risks than they can afford when investing a lump sum payment, Wang said.
However, she said she agreed that allowing workers to collect a one-time pension payout would add flexibility to the system, while giving workers access to money that belongs to them in the first place.
The council would discuss the matter with experts and labor groups to reach a consensus, she said, then work on amendments to labor insurance legislation to provide more flexibility.
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