USAToday: French strike over plans to raise retirement age past 60

[Zguy28]

USAToday: French strike over plans to raise retirement age past 60

PARIS (AP) — Strikes across France delayed flights, closed schools and frustrated commuters Thursday as workers protested government plans to raise the retirement age past 60 — one of the lowest in Europe.

President Nicolas Sarkozy says retiring so young is now untenable given longer life spans, but unions see his planned reforms to France's over-stretched pension system as yet another blow to Europe's cherished social model.

His government wants to raise the retirement age to 61 or 62 — reforms that have been under discussion since well before the current European debt crisis. Sarkozy has called them his main priority this year.

Despite the protests, France's retirement plans pale before the harsh austerity measures adopted by other European nations, including Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Spain and Italy have also announced austerity plans as the debt crisis that started in Greece has weakened the euro currency and raised questions about its future.

Some unions say France's pension budget shortfall could be reduced by raising workers' monthly contributions.

"Even though we need pension reform, extending the retirement age is the most unjust way," the head of the CFDT union, Francois Chereque, said on France-2 television. He criticized "the purely financial logic" of the government's plan and it's "obsession ... with aligning with Germany" on retirement.

Full Article at link.

[Larry]

"I'm gonna kill whoever invented the word 'parlay'."

"That would be, the French."

[armstrong001]

Well, "purely financial logic" is what you need to have when you're trying to avoid bankruptcy.

[sideshow24]

The French can "strike"? Who knew.

[Predicto]

"French strike over plans to _______"

Fill in the blank with anything you want. It'll be accurate.

[thehogs]

Hardly a French issue, it happens here in the UK as well where retirement ages are being changed and companies are having battles with their work force over retirement age and their pension schemes, most of which are bust. In the good old days we were all dead by the time were mid to late 60's, now we have the audacity to stay alive in to our 70's and 80's. So, make them work longer so when they do retire it isnt too long until we are dead - just like the good old days! good luck to them but they will probably lose like I did with my company pension scheme where most of us are faced with a lower retirement payout to survive on. Oh joy!

[Hubbs]

Hardly a French issue, it happens here in the UK as well where retirement ages are being changed and companies are having battles with their work force over retirement age and their pension schemes, most of which are bust. In the good old days we were all dead by the time were mid to late 60's, now we have the audacity to stay alive in to our 70's and 80's. So, make them work longer so when they do retire it isnt too long until we are dead - just like the good old days! good luck to them but they will probably lose like I did with my company pension scheme where most of us are faced with a lower retirement payout to survive on. Oh joy!

Dude, it's about math. Plain and simple. If a society sticks with a retirement plan that's designed to work when the average life expectancy is, say, 66, but the average life expectancy is now 78, something's gotta give. You can't make two plus two equal five.

[thehogs]

I'm well aware of the math and I am well aware that for years company boardrooms and their actuaries could plainly see that pension models didnt fit growing retirement age yet did nothingi other than maintain a finance model that clearly wouldnt work. I can remember quite clearly the company I work for issuing a notice to staff that the company pension fund was secure and there were no concerns. Six months later another note, guess what? I know the math and I know the bull **** too.

[Bang]

Thankfully, America has worked this problem out over the last couple of decades.

See, here in America, your "pension" was spent on some executive's new pool on the deck of his yacht. And if you were "smart" enough to work your money on your own, odds are it was stolen from you by underhanded "bankers".

So, for many people, the words "retirement age" hold absolutely no meaning beyond death, and once that happens, there won't be any ****ing about not having enough money to retire.

Because a good chunk of the money you have left will be liberated from your family by the funeral director, and the rest will serve your sense of patriotic duty in the form of a tax bill. (Amazingly, these two bills often add up to the exact sum of money you left your heirs.)

~Bang

[Destino]

I don't care what the government says is retirement age.

[Larry]

BTW, I still support raising the target age for SS to 70.

My plan would say that it isn't fair to somebody who's only weeks away from retirement to suddenly "move the goalposts" five years away. But it needs to be done, just gradually.

My plan would be:

1) No changes for the next 2 years.

2) Beginning 3 years from now, the target age goes up by 6 months, every year.

If you're 64 0r 63 right now, then your retirement age doesn't change.

If you're 62, then instead of retiring at 65, it'll be at 65 1/2.

If you're 61, then your target is now age 66.

And so forth. If you're 52 or younger, then your target age is 70.

(There would need to be some tweaks to the plan. One factor I can think of is that there are some professions where you don't want people working till they're 70. Many such professions (police, firefighter, airline pilot, military) already make allowances for this, and have created pension systems within their professions to handle this. However, I don't think we want 70 year old long-haul truckers on the interstate. There would need to be special rules to handle them.)

[Destino]

I don't know what France's problems are and don't plan on using a government dollar but in the US I support lowering the retirement age so I can access my 401k etc money. If they can't make it work stop forcing us to pay into the scam known as social security or have a different age for personal account versus government money.

[Larry]

I thought the age for taking your money out of a retirement account was lower, already. Like 62 or something?

[zoony]

Next thing you know, they're gonna require the French to work 40 hours. The horror!

[Larry]

Is a two-hour lunch break still considered standard, over there? I remember being told about that in the French class I forgot as soon as I left High School.

[FrFan]

Is a two-hour lunch break still considered standard, over there? I remember being told about that in the French class I forgot as soon as I left High School.

The law says 20 mn of break time (per 6 hours of work time, including lunch time) but usually companies allow 45 mn to one hour for Lunch.