chopper setting
People who started working very early can take advantage of the so-called Hackler regulation with 540 insurance months. Here the deductions for early retirement are 4.2 percent per year, the normal figure is 5.1 percent.
In Austria, people retire at the age of 62 on average. That ordinary retirement age for men it is 65, for women it is currently 60.
Work longer
From 1 January 2024, on the other hand, it will be gradually increased. And, as the study shows, it’s worth working longer: with each additional year of occupation an increase in the first pension from 100 to 200 euros can be expected, depending on occupation and earned income.
The higher the earned income, the higher the expected pension increase.
Start of retirement
It will be the highest subsequent pensions taken into account during the remainder of the retirement period, deferring retirement from age 62 to 63 increases total net living income by 1.5 to 3.2 percent, according to the Wifo study.
women benefit
Incidentally, in both career models (with and without children), women benefit slightly more from longer employment than men because they have a higher level of employment Life expectation they have, and therefore the period of entitlement to a pension is longer.
Additional pension contributions
However, it’s not just employees who benefit from longer working hours.
Thomas Url talks about a “win-win-win situation: on the one hand the employees receive a higher pension, on the other hand the employers get one workforce, which are still urgent at the moment. Also, the public sector benefits because additional pension contributions and the payroll tax”.
intergenerational equity
But it’s also about the question of intergenerational equity, explains the economist: “If you retire at the normal retirement age, you have fulfilled the generation contract. In the sense that you respected your working hours and were active as a payer for the pension scheme. Every year you work longer is a further contribution to intergenerational equity”.
create incentives
In order for people in Austria to actually work longer voluntarily, employers must do so too incentives Thomas Url thinks: “As a company, you shouldn’t let older employees go just because they have reached a certain age limit. You should continue to employ them, adapt the workplace and also part-time models to offer.”
ease the labor market
This would also ease the tense situation on the labor market, because: “If only ten percent of people worked beyond the standard retirement age, even part-time, that would help the labor market,” says Labor Minister Kocher.
