Most people at some stage start thinking about securing their retirement. The Government guarantees quality of life and a set regular income by means of social benefits for old people. However, an increasing number of people seek additional savings plans to complement state pensions. This is due to the fact that payments from state pensions are normally lower than income earned during a person’s working life. This idea will be developed this Thursday, in Granada, during the course ‘Previsión Social complementaria en España’, (Complementary Pension Schemes in Spain), organised by the Centro Mediterráneo of the Universidad de Granada. This course will be given by Jesús Martínez Castellanos – Commercial and Marketing Deputy General Director of the Spanish insurance company MAPFRE VIDA.

According to Jesús Martínez Castellanos, this increase of interest in pension and life insurance plans is due to two factors. Firstly, more and more Spaniards have started to think about guaranteeing the welfare and financial security for the last part of their lives. Secondly, these pension and life insurance plans offer tax incentives. However, and despite the fact that younger Spaniards are also starting to enter these private schemes, Spain is still far behind neighbouring countries: it is a common practice in Europe to start saving for retirement upon entering the labour market.

New models
During the above-mentioned course, Jesús Martínez Castellanos will explain the characteristics of complementary pension schemes offered to employees by their employers as well as pensions obtained through personal savings. In addition to this he will also talk about other models: reverse mortgage, home income and lifetime mortgage equity release plans. The objective of these latter models is to make it possible for old people to receive an income from their home.

Another of the new complementary pension schemes is directly related to the increase in the number of dependent people. In view of this, and in order to guarantee old people’s quality of life, private institutions will start to offer economic solutions or personal assistance.

Increased life expectancy has encouraged the development and implementation of complementary pension schemes. Jesús Martínez Castellanos stated that: “According to demographic studies, Spain might become, together with Japan and Italy, the country with the oldest population in the world. In Spain, people used to look after their parents when they reached old-age and became dependent. This is now changing, and in the future, as can be seen in other countries, it will be necessary for old people to have the economic means to deal with this situation.”

Reference: Jesús Martínez Castellanos, Commercial and Marketing Deputy General Director of the Spanish insurance company MAPFRE VIDA.
Telephone: (+34) 91 5811574. E-mail address: jmarti6@mapfre.com