GRE经济类双语阅读之英国养老金

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　　Pensions——Pot luck

　　养老金：随用随取的钱罐

　　The chancellor hands more freedom to retirees

　　财政大臣给予退休人员更多的自由

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　　GET out those cruise brochures—retirees may soon be going on a spending spree. Historically, most Britons with personal pensions and those in so-called “defined-contribution” schemes have been forced to use their pension pots to buy an annuity—a product paying a (normally fixed) income for the rest of their lives. These have never been popular. Money invested in an annuity is locked away and cannot be passed on to the retiree's heirs. Recently, low interest rates and longer life spans have caused annuity rates to fall sharply. Last month the Financial Conduct Authority, Britain's regulator, concluded that the annuity market “is not working well for consumers”.

　　现在出现了那种旅行宣传册—退休人员可能很快过上肆意狂欢的生活。回首过去，大多数拥有个人退休金的英国人和那些所谓的“界定供款计划”(即雇主或雇员将资金投入某个计划，由基金管理人员利用此投资进行市场运作)的参与者，都被强制去用他们的退休金购买年金—是一种定期投入资金并且终生可定期领取一定金额的计划。但这些并不被大众接受，因为用于年金投资的钱都是被限制的，子女并不能作为接受者。而近期，低利率和较长的使用期使得年金利率大幅下降。英国的监管机构—金融服务监督局，于上月宣布“年金计划和消费者相处的并不融洽”。

　　Few anticipated George Osborne's sweeping response. In his budget speech, the chancellor outlined a plan to do away with the requirement to buy an annuity and all the arcane rules that accompany it. Retirees will be free to draw down their pension pot as they like, subject to paying tax at their marginal rate. That will bring Britain into line with other countries including America, Australia and Denmark.

　　几乎没有人预料到乔治·奥斯本的全面响应。在这位财政大臣的预算中，提出了一个废除任何购买年金以及与年金相关的计划。在他们以边际税率来缴税限制下，退休人员可以自由减少退休金的入资。这一举措使得英国与美国、澳大利亚和丹麦等国家面临同一处境。

　　It may prove a popular idea, but is it a good one? Pensions get generous tax treatment to encourage people to provide for retirement; if they blow their pension pot on a Maserati, they may end up as wards of the state, particularly in their later years when many will need expensive care in nursing homes.

　　这可能是一个大众喜闻乐见的决策，但这是否是一个明智的决策呢?养老金得到了慷慨的税收优惠待遇，这促进了人们积极为退休做准备;但如果他们肆意挥霍他们的退休金，他们可能会在国家的病房中结束一生，特别是当他们在晚年可能需要昂贵的医疗护理。

　　The government reckons that most people can be trusted to make sensible decisions (although it is also proposing that they be given advice when they retire). But that view sits oddly with its other policies. Many workers are now auto-enrolled in pension plans, on the basis that they are too apathetic to provide for their futures voluntarily. Do people suddenly acquire wisdom when they retire, perhaps?

　　政府相信大部分人能作出明智的选择(尽管它还提议，当他们退休时可以提出建议)。但是相比于政府的其他政策，这种看法似乎处于一个尴尬的位置。现在很多工人在养老金计划中自发登记，因为他们对于他们的自由的未来是麻木的。也许，人们在其退休之时能突然醒悟?

　　The change will have wide-ranging consequences, not least for the insurance companies that sell annuities, several of which saw sharp share-price plunges. To the extent that pensioners do take more of their pension pot upfront, the government will get tax revenues earlier than before; the boost may be worth ￡1.2 billion ($2 billion) by the 2018-19 financial year.

　　这个变化产生的结果将会有深远影响，尤其是那些出售年金的保险公司，其中一些保险公司意识到了股票价格的狂跌。由于领养老金的人总是提前领取养老金，政府征收税收收入将比以前不断提早;根据2018-2019年的财政年度，这个增值将会达到12亿英镑(20亿美元)。

　　But there are dangers for the state too. Public employees such as doctors and teachers are covered by final-salary schemes, under which the government guarantees to pay them a retirement income. These pensions are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning the Treasury has put no money aside to cover them. If public-sector workers decided to transfer their money into a private pension pot, to take advantage of the new freedom, the Treasury would have to cough up the cash immediately; the government is proposing to deny public-sector workers that right.

　　但是对于国家来说还是存有风险。公务人员，例如医生和教师，他们是被最终薪金计划涵盖在内的，在该计划中，政府承诺支付他们的退休收入。这些养老金是在“现收现付”(即由在职职工承担已退休职工的社会保障成本;支付给退休者的社会保障资金是直接来自该时点的在职劳动者负担的社会保障费用)的基础上提供的。如果公共部门的工人们享受这个新的自由，决定将他们的资金转移至一个私人的养老金存储地方，那么财政部就不得不马上返还资金;政府正提议否决公共部门工人们的这项权利。

　　The same worry applies to private-sector final-salary schemes, which might suddenly face a cash drain if workers opt to convert. Such pension schemes are big investors in government bonds, and the switch might make it more difficult to fund Britain's deficit. So private-sector workers in final-salary schemes may also lose their right to transfer. Freedom for some retirees will thus come at the price of restrictions on others.

　　私营部门的最终薪金计划同样有这样的担忧之处，因为当工人选择去转变的时候它可能会很突然的面对资金外流这种状况。这种养老金计划是政府债券的“大投资者”，并且一旦发生转换，为英国的赤字提供资金将会难上加难。因此，在最终薪金计划中的私营部门工人也可能会失去他们变换的权利。如此一来，一些退休人员的自由将会以他人的限制作为代价。