QCOSTARICA – In order to save the Invalidez, Vejez y Muerte (IVM) – Disability, Old Age and Death – pension fund, the board of directors of the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) eliminated early retirement for men.
The measure that will take effect in two years implies retirement for men at 65 years and women at 63 years.
Currently, men can retire at 62.
The objective is to give the fund sustainability until 2050.
As the Caja is an autonomous institution, the change does not require legislative approval.
The Covid-19 crisis has created an important gap in the Caja’s pension system, while the reserves of the pension scheme have already begun to be used.
In 2020, the fund reported the lowest level of growth of reserve in the last nine years, due to unemployment reaching 25%.
As of last December, the balance amounted to ¢2.38 trillion colones, an increase of just 3.83%, compared to the same period in 2019.
The drastic reduction in income forced the CCSS to touch the fund’s reserve, specifically ¢25 billion, during last year and the first months of 2021, to face the payment of pensions.
If nothing is done, the pension fund would start collapsing in 2037, according to the superintendency of pensions.
