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Pension Law

Many countries have in place some sort of legislation to ensure people who have worked and retired are given a regular sum of money to keep them going in elderly life, on top of their personal savings and investments, or in case they have none. However, the individual laws and regulations surrounding these pensions varies between jurisdictions. Common features include:

  • required age - often this is around 65, with penalties (lower monthly allowance) for retiring earlier and sometimes rewards (higher payment) Old black woman smilingfor doing so later
  • the person must have worked in the country, if it is a federal plan, or with the company if not, for a certain amount of years
  • whether or not it can be used in conjunction with disability pay
  • special cases for veterans who can often collect benefits earlier, especially if medically retired at an earlier age
  • the person's annual salary must be over a set amount to make contributions
  • the person must be over a certain age to begin making contributions
  • comapnies with good pension plans for employees may get tax breaks1
  • how the government and employees must be notified of their pension/benefits plan
  • how or if separate pension funds can be used together
  • how private savings and investments may affect monthly payment calculations
  • how much the employers and/or government will to contribute to the plan as it grows over a person's career
  • how much a person may contribute to their own pension account over their career
  • for companies, how long the person has been an employee may be a factor
  • if a pension is affected by the person taking up work again post-retirement2
  • how/if the pension may be shared between a person and their significant other
  • survivor benefits for the person's dependents and relatives after they have passed
  • how pension-related benefits can be split in a divorce
  • whether or not are automatically enrolled in their regional or company pension plan, and if they may opt out



1. Cornell (). PENSION LAW: AN OVERVIEW. [ONLINE] Available at: [Last Accessed 9/5/2014].

2. Government of Canada (2008). Canadian Pension Plan. [ONLINE] Available at: [Last Accessed 9/5/2014].

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