tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post6490805285941969025..comments2024-03-13T18:03:14.612+01:00Comments on South Of Watford: Spanish Pensions Work....So They Must Be Stopped!Graemehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-84939591378853403942010-02-08T11:31:28.114+01:002010-02-08T11:31:28.114+01:00@santcugat
I think I read somewhere recently that...@santcugat<br /><br />I think I read somewhere recently that Andorra has now started collaborating with the Spanish tax authorities but your point is completely valid, especially in a situation where so much of the profits of the boom are stored in €500 notes.<br /><br /><br />@ejh<br /><br />I'm pretty sure its 50, because the pension is calculated on the last 15 years of the working life - but check your own situation just in case there are different categories or rules for different types of autonomos. The main importance is that once you are into the final calculation period they apply a new lower ceiling on contributions.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05948656158638818739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-49353499722151202882010-02-07T13:26:50.805+01:002010-02-07T13:26:50.805+01:00Most autonomos pay the minimum social security con...<i>Most autonomos pay the minimum social security contribution until they reach 50, at which point they have to raise their contributions hugely to stand any chance of receiving a decent pension.</i><br /><br />Serious question - is it 50, or is it 45? I was given to understand that it was 45, and as I'm 44, it's quite important that I should be right on this.<br /><br />Obviously I agree with you about the ideological hostility. Part-belief in the necessary rightness of the market, part-deep hostility to anything which well-off people believe involves them paying for other people. I'm sure we'll get a lot of privatisation of pension provision across Europe in the next few years, or at very least severe pressure to do so on the grounds that pensions can't any longer be afforded. (I believe Merkel's coalition partners are very hardline on this issue, for instance.) Probably, as a result of this pressure, a lot of people will seek to make their own private provision in one way or another, and this will in itself reduce their own willingness to defend the state system.<br /><br />As I always say, things are going to get worse before they don't get better.ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27941559.post-16225315958259867512010-02-07T01:39:06.214+01:002010-02-07T01:39:06.214+01:00Sure, you can try to take money from pensioners an...Sure, you can try to take money from pensioners and poor people, but at the end of the day, there's a limited amount of money there.<br /><br />How about a little bit of enforcement on the higher income tax levels. Why isn't Spain buying lists of tax hiding Spaniards, or putting some pressure on Andorra (or just start scanning passports). <br /><br />In the US, the top 1% of earners pay more in income taxes than the bottom 90%. The rates are lower, but enforcement is really hardcore.<br /><br />Here in Sant Cugat, four of our neighbors have licence plates on their cars from Andorra. I can guess how much of their incomes goes to the Spanish government.santcugathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03954580358605135521noreply@blogger.com