全通翻譯/翻譯社

Will the Labor Insurance Fund Survive?

Over the last couple of months, the local press has abounded with claims that the labor insurance fund is NT$7.3 trillion in the red and could go broke by 2027. What has gone wrong? Three main problems have been identified.

Too Generous?
Taiwan’s pension calculation system is more generous than the lifetime salary average system used in Europe. Each year, the government sets a range of salary brackets based on salary information supplied by employers. A ceiling figure is also set. The figure for 2012 was NT$43,900. 

When a person retires, the pension they receive is calculated according to the average of their highest 60 months of salary. However, here’s the rub: Employees earning less than the ceiling salary are entitled to pay the maximum premium for five years, after which they can return to a lower rate based on their actual salary. This in effect puts their top five years of earning at an artificially inflated figure. Since people can receive the maximum pension by paying the top premium for five years only and a lower premium for the rest of their working lives, a huge deficit is inevitable.


勞保基金保不保？

過去幾個月，台灣媒體一直報導勞保基金有著新台幣 7.3 兆元的赤字，並可能於二○二七年破產。哪裡出了錯？已發現有三個主要問題。

太過慷慨？
台灣的退休金計算制度比歐洲採用的終身平均薪資制度還慷慨。每年，政府會根據雇主所提供的薪資訊息來設立一定範圍的勞保薪資級距，也會訂定最高投保薪資。二○一二年的最高投保薪資為新台幣 43,900 元。

當投保人退休後，他們所領到的退休金是根據其最高六十個月平均月投保薪資來計算。然而，問題就出在這裡。賺得比最高投保薪資少的人可選擇繳滿五年的最高投保薪資保費，之後他們就可改回使用根據實際薪資的較低投保利率。這實際上使他們這五年的最高投保薪資成了人為操作的誇大數字。既然僅繳交五年的最高保費，而其餘職涯給付較低保費即可獲得最高退休金，勞保基金的鉅額虧損就無可避免了。