WHAT CAN'T GO ON FOREVER WON'T: PENSION COSTS KILLING EUROPE

Sweden and Italy share a statutory retirement age for men of 65, but the Scandinavians actually stop work on average at 66 – five years later than their Mediterranean counterparts. As a result, Italy spends 14 per cent of its economic output on pensions, double what Sweden does, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. In many EU countries, public pensions have become the largest single budget item – bigger than health, education or defence spending. ... 

Brussels wants governments to banish “unwarranted” retirement ages, or at least get them to rise in line with life expectancy, curtail early retirement schemes and encourage more companies to hire older workers. Extending the average working life by just a few months can make a sizeable difference, according to Monika Queisser, head of social policy at the OECD.

“Not only is public expenditure lower, but people continue to make contributions to the pensions pot,” she says.

PLEASE: RTWT!

PUBLIC PENSIONS = SOCIALISM. ERGO: SOCIALISM IS KILLING EUROPE.

EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A PRIVATE PENSION PLAN; THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

PUBLIC PLANS SHOULD BE TRANSITIONED INTO PRIVATE ONES - AS THE CURRENT RETIREMENT AGE IS TRANSITIONED UPWARD TOWARD LIFE EXPECTANCY.