Pension reform: are the funds ready?

The more time passes, the closer the prospect of seeing the pension reform being implemented on September 1st. In the ranks of the majority, the main trials have been faced and, after the parliamentary niche of the Liot group, scheduled for June 8, the horizon will be clear for this new chapter. Behind the scenes, pension funds have already been busy for several months in order to be ready when the time comes and to avoid hiccups. Where are they in this preparation?

The pension reform will permanently disrupt the daily lives of the French and force them to work longer. With the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64 and the increase in the duration of insurance, these are important measures which will come into force on 1 September. For pension funds, it is also a major upheaval, which will modify working methods and transform the details of certain files. In this context, some retirees are worried about whether their pension will be impacted by possible computer hiccups.

In order to answer all these questions, the director general of the National Old Age Insurance Fund (Cnav), Renaud Villard, was recently invited to France Info. He notably affirmed that the Cnav was ready to take these changes into account, but also that a certain number of measures had been taken to avoid the slightest problem and not to cause additional stress for future retirees.

While the Cnav represents a total of 38 million affiliated people, Renaud Villard assured that everything was in order to manage the next changes related to the pension reform. He nevertheless admitted that it was a “big technical project and a big training project”. He goes on to explain that the planned schedule would be kept and that he plans “two months in advance”. October payments should not suffer any difficulties.

Regarding the revaluation of small pensions, the director general of the CNAV explained that “two waves” were planned. He thus evokes “the wave of September 1, paid on October 9 for all those who retired less than ten years ago”. A second will follow for “those who retired ten or fifteen years ago”.

For long careers, Renaud Villard thus affirmed that “all the archives of the employers” had been kept. It is therefore possible to find, in the archives, papers and employers from 40 or 50 years ago. In the event that there is no trace of these old bulletins, the situation is “much more difficult because it is word against word”.

Finally, when asked about the reliability of simulators present online, Renaud Villard was cautious in encouraging future retirees to take this information sparingly. He thus called on users to show “a very, very moderate confidence”.