I thought everyone here would like to have a little glimpse into the French national pension system.
The news item linked to above is both short and written in English. Click the link and read the sidebar for a few thumbnail facts concerning who gets a pension, and what kind of money they can expect. A comparison to Social Security in the United States is not a futile exercise.
What I found interesting is how French workers with private sector jobs have to make do with 50% of their pay, and the base figure is found by averaging the 25 top earning years during their career.
Public sector employees, by contrast, receive 75% of their pay, and the base figure is found by averaging the last six months of their career.
It seems that this is inviting fraud, as I would certainly try my best to work as much overtime as possible during that last six months. Inflate the pay and get a better pension than I deserve.
Those who avoid sucking at the government teat are shafted in a lot of other ways as well. Private sector employees have to give up over 10% of their pay in order to fund the pensions, while government workers are only taxed less than 8%. Pretty good work if you can get it.
Read the whole thing. Like I said, it is short and to the point.
I am sure that when the time comes, the Germans, who have a retirement age of 67, will be thrilled to bail the French out of this fiscal problem.
The German slogan will be: “No more Mr. Nice Guy.”
So Robert, between this and Greece, the Germans end up conquering Europe after all.
And China conquers the U.S.