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Chile's Private Pension System at 18: Its Current State and Future Challenges
by L. Jacobo Rodríguez
L. Jacobo Rodríguez is assistant director of the Project on Global Economic Liberty at the Cato Institute.
Executive Summary
In May 1981 Chile replaced its government-run pay-as-you-go retirement
system with an investment-based private system of individual retirement accounts.
The new system has allowed Chile and other Latin American countries that have
followed the Chilean example to defuse the fiscal time bomb that is ticking
for countries with pay-as-you-go systems, as fewer and fewer workers have to
pay for the retirement benefits of more and more retirees. More important, Chile
has created a retirement system that, by giving workers clearly defined property
rights in their pension contributions, offers proper work and investment incentives;
acts as an engine of, not an impediment to, economic growth; and enhances personal
freedom and dignity.
In the 18 years since the Chilean system was implemented, labor
force participation, pension fund assets, and benefits have all grown. Today,
more than 95 percent of Chilean workers have their own pension savings accounts;
assets have grown to over $34 billion, or about 42 percent of gross domestic
product; and the average real rate of return has been approximately 11.3 percent
per year, which has allowed workers to retire with better and more secure pensions.
Its success notwithstanding, the Chilean system has found many
critics, who often point to high administrative costs, lack of portfolio choice,
and the large number of transfers from one fund to another as evidence that
the system is inherently flawed and inappropriate for other countries, including
the United States. Some of those criticisms are misinformed. Many other criticisms
reflect real problems, but they are largely the result of excessive government
regulation.
The spirit of the reform has been to relax regulations as the
system has matured and as the fund managers have gained experience. All the
ingredients of success -- individual choice, clearly defined property rights in
contributions, and private administration of accounts -- have been present since
1981. If Chilean authorities address the remaining shortcomings with boldness,
we should expect Chile's private pension system to be even more successful in
its adulthood than it has been during its first 18 years.
Index of Social Security Choice Papers
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