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> I will pay more than €600000 for this “retirement insurance” over my entire career. So with 30k/year pension and living under the bridge at 70 I must have superior health to break even at 90

Let's see. If you pay 15000 euros per year for 40 years, and get 5% interest, that's 1,800,000 euros at retirement. Even if you held that in cash, a 30,000 euro/year withdrawal would last you to 130.



Not sure how your system works but US SS also covers spouses, widows, disabled workers etc which limit the average benefit.

Assuming full employment every year is a mistake. Also, 5% interest above inflation is an unpredictability good return, especially if you’re assuming it’s a safe investment. The stock market has mostly done well over the last century but start in 1969 and the 40 year return on the S&P 500 was 4.2% after inflation. Things could be far worse over the next 40 years, the 20 year S&P returns have been as low as 0.6% over inflation.

Running the numbers assuming zero taxes and fees is a separate issue.


There must be full employment every year with a mortgage. And I will work 6-7 years of my career just for this mandatory insurance. Sounds stupid and absurd when I read what I wrote. The widow might get something from that. But let me invest half of that in stocks and another half in 2 rental apartments and I will do much better that state. Plus it stays in the family after I die.


At an average of say 4% unemployment rate over your lifetime means the average person is unemployed ~1.6 years out of a 40 year working career. That’s not all in one chunk, but any time not spent working is time not funding a pension or retirement account.

In US SS your spouse can collect benefits when you died at 22 if you had a kid together, you also can collect benefits if your disabled. There’s obviously not 1.8 million in your retirement account to fund such things at 22. Similarly the payout for a married couple is 1.5x if only one of them have ever worked because it’s not a requirement account it’s a social security program, and then 75% if the worker dies. No idea how your system works, but it’s common worldwide for pension programs to do such things.




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