Pension reforms have taken place in most Member States and have often become a continuous process. In this context, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the people concerned to understand how the changes introduced affect them and how they should respond. Moreover, for Member States where funded pensions are expected to have a growing role, more attention in public policies should be devoted to financial literacy. There is widespread recognition in Member States that the level of financial literacy among the general public is inadequate for people to be able to choose intelligently between the various options open to them.

Host Country : Poland

Place and date : Warsaw, 27. - 28.5.2008

Peer countries : Bulgaria - Estonia - Germany - Hungary - Lithuania - Malta - Portugal - Slovakia - Sweden - United Kingdom

Stakeholders : AGE

Given the often complex nature of pension regulations, experience suggests that the provision of information per se is not enough for ordinary people to be able to understand the consequences for them of making different retirement choices. This is especially the case in a situation where private pensions are spreading, often encouraged by government to relieve financial pressure on public schemes. Accordingly, there is a greater element of individual choice than used to be the case.

The Peer Review is designed for Member States to exchange experience on how to ensure that people generally have enough information in a sufficiently clear form to enable them to make informed choices about their personal pension arrangements.

Peer Review manager

Ms Renate Haupfleisch (ÖSB Consulting GmbH)