Is it better to leave the severance indemnity in the company or invest it in a pension fund? From the point of view of returns, in 2017 those who chose the second path were right. According to the Pension Fund Supervisory Commission (Covip), which presented its latest annual report to the House on Thursday, i trading funds and those open yielded 2,6 and 3,3% respectively in 2017, while the new ones PIP Class III (individual pension plans) yielded 2,2% and those for class I separate management 1,9%. THE equity sub-funds achieved the greatest gains: +5,9% in traded funds, +7,2% in open-ended funds and +3,2% in class III PIPs. During the same period, the tfr (Employment severance indemnities or the so-called liquidation) has revalued by 1,7% net of taxes.
WATCH OUT FOR THE COSTS: THEY ARE VARIABLE AND DIFFICULT TO COMPARE
But beware: not all pension funds are created equal. "The management of pension savings involves costs for administrative and financial management - explains Mario Padula, president of Covip, in his Considerations - High returns tend to obscure the importance of these costs, which in any case affect pension benefits, reducing them ”. Their weight varies significantly between the different pension funds, therefore the number one of the Commission invites the legislator to introduce new transparency rules to "increase the comparability between the different pension products". Some tools created by Covip also go in this direction, such as the "Cost sheets" and the "Cost comparator".
HOW MUCH DO ITALIANS PAY INTO PENSION FUNDS?
On the diffusion front, something is moving. In Italy, there are still relatively few people enrolled in supplementary pensions, but they are increasing: last year they reached 7,6 million, 6,1% more than in 2016, and overall they paid 14,9 billion EUR. Contributions per individual subscriber amounted to an average of 2.620 euros, but the figure varies greatly depending on the region of origin (in the richest ones it reaches 3-3.500 euros) and age (the under-34s do not reach 1.300 euros). It should also be borne in mind that almost one in four members (23,5%, equal to 1,8 million people) did not pay even one euro into their pension fund in all of 2017.
COVIP PROPOSAL: CARRY ON UNUSED RELEASES ON SUBSEQUENT TAX YEARS
Precisely to encourage young people and low-income people to enter the world of supplementary pensions, Covip launches a proposal to the new Parliament: "It would be useful for the tax incentives on contributions to include the possibility of carrying over the benefits to subsequent tax years that have not been used in a phase of fiscal incompetence - concludes Padula - This scheme would respond to the need to increase the degree of social security inclusion among those audiences of male and female workers who in perspective run a greater risk of poverty in the final phase of working life and at the same time it would contribute to enhancing the social function of pension savings".
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