Why should we establish and improve the social security system?

Establishing and perfecting the social security system is an important part of establishing the socialist market economic system in China, which is of great significance for deepening the reform of the economic system, establishing a modern enterprise system and promoting the transformation of government functions. As the most important thing in the whole social security system, the reform direction and trend of endowment insurance deserve our close attention and serious discussion. Progress and Challenges in the Reform of the Endowment Insurance System in China 1984 China has implemented a pilot project of co-ordinating the retirement expenses of employees in state-owned enterprises and collective enterprises in some areas, and established a retirement pension fund for employees. Since 1986, the relevant government departments have issued documents for many times, demanding the gradual establishment of a multi-level old-age insurance system combining basic old-age insurance, enterprise supplementary old-age insurance and personal savings old-age insurance. The state, enterprises and individuals share the burden, and it is clearly stipulated that the basic old-age insurance premium paid by enterprises generally does not exceed 20% of the total wages of enterprises, and the individual contribution is not less than 4% of my salary. The final goal of individual contribution is 8% of his salary, the average contribution ratio of enterprises is 20.33%, and that of individuals is 3%. The income of enterprise basic endowment insurance fund11765438+76 million yuan (RMB, the same below), the expenditure10365438+87 million yuan, and the accumulated balance was 57.856 billion yuan. China's basic old-age insurance has covered urban enterprises and their employees, and will be gradually extended to urban individual workers. After 65438. The endowment insurance system with China characteristics has been formed. However, due to the limitation of national strength and the need of China's political and economic system reform, it is in the process of deepening. China's current endowment insurance system still faces many problems, which are shown in the following aspects: 1. The pressure of population aging is increasing. The aging population has brought more and more pressure to China's future economic development and social stability. The aging of western developed countries usually occurs after entering the industrialized society, and the aging speed is slow. China is in the initial stage of industrialization. When the demand for funds for economic construction is concentrated, it will become aging and make the allocation of resources in trouble. According to the statistics of the World Bank, the proportion of people over 60 in 1990 is 6.8% in Asia and 8.9% in China. China has entered an aging period, and the proportion will reach 10.2% and 65440.2% in 2000 and 20 10 respectively. By 2026, the proportion will reach 18%, and a quarter of the world's elderly will be concentrated in China. At present, the balance model of the basic old-age insurance fund in China adopts the partial accumulation system combining pay-as-you-go and fund accumulation, which will lead to a sharp increase in the demand for funds and a heavier social burden when China's population is aging. This is very unfavorable to the stability of national finance. 2. The social insurance authorities still try to arrange the old-age insurance by the government, and set too high payment standard and replacement rate for the social old-age insurance, which leads to the heavy burden on the state and enterprises, which some participants can't afford. At the same time, it also squeezed the development space of commercial life insurance. The replacement rate of social endowment insurance in China is about 90%, while it is generally 45-50% internationally. The payment standards of units and employees account for more than 25% of the total wages of employees. If the number of retired workers increases by 2.9% and the pension increases by 8.8% annually, the proportion of China's pension in the total wages of employees will reach and exceed the internationally recognized upper limit of 29% in 2025, and will continue to rise to 2080. If more than 29% is subsidized by the state, it will inevitably lead to a serious financial crisis and national economic crisis. Therefore, the level of social security should adapt to the development level of China's productive forces and the affordability of all aspects. 3. The current old-age insurance system is incompatible with the changing trend of national income distribution. Since the reform and opening up, China's national income has tilted towards individuals, and the macro-control ability of national finance is weak. From 1980 to 1995, the proportion of fiscal revenue in GDP decreased from 25.7% to 10.9%. At the same time, the personal income of residents has increased rapidly. At current prices, the income of urban residents increased by 1978 to 1995, and the balance of urban residents' deposits also increased by 34.3. From 654.38+05.49 billion yuan to 2346.67 billion yuan. In sharp contrast, most of the social pension expenses in China are still borne by the state and enterprises. Second, life insurance companies should play an important role in the old-age insurance system. As mentioned above, there are still many problems in the reform of China's endowment insurance system. In the process of deepening the reform of the old-age insurance system in China, it is necessary to further reduce the financial pressure of the country. Encourage individuals' awareness of self-protection and give full play to the positive role of market mechanism. According to the three-pillar pension insurance structure theory advocated by international insurance experts (the three pillars are the basic annuity of government organizations, the occupational annuity of enterprises and industry organizations and the personal savings annuity), China's pension insurance system should be reconstructed. In China's future endowment insurance system, life insurance companies will become a very active and decisive force. Not only as the host of the third pillar, it will also play an important role in the use and management of funds in the second pillar. Life insurance is a high-level commercial guarantee established by contract on the basis of voluntary principle, while social endowment insurance is enforced by the state according to law. The two have a reasonable division of labor and close cooperation. Guarantee the people's life in their later years and the long-term stability of the country. Introducing the market mechanism of life insurance into the endowment insurance system has the following positive effects: 1. Life insurance company is an important part of the endowment insurance system. Limited by the national strength, although China's social endowment insurance covers a certain range, it has not reached the level of covering the whole society, and life insurance companies have great potential in the blank field of social security. The level of social endowment insurance is limited to some extent, and those with higher income levels can ensure a rich old age through life insurance companies. 2. Life insurance companies can allocate resources more reasonably, improve the utilization rate of funds, and make pension funds make the best investment strategy, so that pension funds can produce the best capital allocation and the highest return on investment. An economist in the Policy Research Department of the World Bank once pointed out that the government is not the best investor. In many countries, the balance of provident fund is very small, and in the whole1980s, most countries suffered losses. Under the competitive system, the accumulated pension plan operated by life insurance companies is more likely to invest funds in the combination of government bonds, corporate bonds, stocks and real estate, and through strengthening management, reduce operating expenses, thus better protecting the interests of pension recipients. Promote the organic unity of fairness and efficiency of the old-age insurance system. 3. The accumulation mode of pension funds of life insurance companies is more suitable for the development trend of rapid aging and urbanization of China population in the future, which is in line with the trend of the reform of pension insurance system from pay-as-you-go to fund accumulation mode in all countries of the world and the change of national income distribution pattern in China. Latin American countries, such as Chile and China, which have similar development stages, have also suffered from insufficient national financial resources. The implementation of a complete fund accumulation system has promoted the development of economy, financial market and insurance and banking institutions. 4. Life insurance companies undertake part of the management of pension funds, which can promote the perfection and development of the financial market system. As institutional investors, life insurance companies can increase institutional competitors in the market and reduce excessive fluctuations in the capital market. A large number of pension funds have entered the capital market. It will play an important role in promoting the development of China's economies of scale. 5. The reason why life insurance companies play an important role in endowment insurance in many countries lies in their incomparable advantages. (1) Life insurance companies have experienced actuaries who can accurately determine the compensation standard and level. According to the prudent actuarial principle, pension can be used steadily and paid safely. (2) Life insurance companies have a large number of investment and financial experts. Under the influence of market mechanism, life insurance companies will formulate the best investment portfolio to ensure the maximum preservation and appreciation of pension funds under the premise of ensuring safety. At the same time, by strengthening cost accounting, we will try our best to reduce operating costs and provide high-quality and efficient services for pension owners. (3) The pension payment promised by life insurance companies is extremely safe, and the interests of pensioners can be fully guaranteed. The operation of life insurance companies is closely supervised by the government's financial supervision department, which urges life insurance companies to operate steadily and withdraw enough liability reserves. Ensure adequate solvency and liquidity. (4) Commercial life insurance companies operate endowment insurance business in line with international practice. Life insurance companies play an important role in the operation of the endowment insurance system, whether in western developed countries with mature endowment insurance system or in Latin American countries with perfect endowment insurance system. In the United States, their group pension plans are generally initiated by employers, but employers generally do not directly invest in pension funds. Investment services are usually provided by life insurance companies, banks, investment companies and other institutions engaged in financial services. The capital accumulation tools provided by life insurance companies mainly include group deferred annuity, deposit management contract and special pension fund investment insurance contract. American individual pension savings plans (including individual pension accounts and individual pension plans) are provided by life insurance companies, banks and mutual fund companies. Sponsored by credit cooperatives and other financial institutions. Switzerland strictly stipulates that group pension plans must be managed by life insurance companies. British government pension insurance is a pay-as-you-go system, and occupational and personal annuities are completely accumulated. The latter two funds are mostly operated and managed by life insurance companies. The privatization of pension funds in famous Latin American countries, represented by Chile, not only promoted their economic development, but also promoted the development of financial markets. Development and expansion of insurance and banking institutions. Third, the policy support that life insurance companies should get to start endowment insurance business can promote social and economic stability and provide the elderly with a sense of security. Because the business purpose of pension business is obviously different from other life insurance businesses, the government should give policy support to the pension insurance business of life insurance companies in terms of taxation and investment. At the same time, life insurance companies will continue to accept the strict supervision of relevant government departments to promote the safety, profitability and liquidity of pension funds. 1. In terms of taxation, referring to the experience of western countries, enterprises and individuals are exempt from income tax when paying eligible pension insurance plans, that is, pension insurance premiums are paid before tax. At the same time, in order to fully ensure that pensioners get enough pensions when they are old, the investment income of the fund should be exempted from income tax and capital gains tax. Employers can distribute their income equally throughout their life by contributing to the pension insurance plan. Under the excessive progressive income tax system, payment can delay their income from the higher income period to the lower income period, thus greatly reducing their actual tax burden. Tax exemption of investment income can make the pension fund roll into the pension insurance plan, and finally pay taxes when paying pensions. In fact, it reflects the government's preferential tax treatment for pensioners and encourages enterprises and individuals to contribute to the realization of national policy objectives. Of course, the state should also formulate measures to prevent enterprises and individuals from abusing tax incentives. In addition, countries also give certain tax incentives to the pension payment of life insurance companies. For example, in Britain, if the trustee agrees to pay the death pension under the old-age insurance scheme, he can be exempted from income tax and inheritance tax. In order to fully protect people's old age and promote social stability, western countries also encourage individuals to participate in the old-age insurance provided by life insurance companies, and give tax incentives and tax subsidies. For example, according to Swiss regulations, a couple who buy life insurance for the elderly can get a tax subsidy of about 5,000 Swiss francs a year. 2. In terms of investment, the endowment insurance fund is funded by long-term payment. The payment responsibility of endowment insurance is a long-term liability of endowment insurance plan. According to the requirements of asset-liability matching, the use of funds should also be long-term investment, so as to shield inflation, obtain stable high returns and avoid reinvestment risks brought by short-term investment. According to the experience of western countries, stocks and bonds are the main asset forms that are most suitable for the investment of pension funds, accounting for 90% of American pension funds. In the United States, the stock price has been rising steadily for the past 20 years, and retirees who invest in the stock market are much richer than those who only invest in bonds or simply save. Treasury bonds are the most secure, while corporate bonds are slightly less secure, but they provide a higher rate of return to make up for risks, and are the most commonly used forms of assets when investing in life insurance funds. Of course, the relationship between risk and return is well known, and foreign counterparts are diversifying their investments. The rich experience accumulated in ensuring the security and profitability of pension funds is worth learning. Because China's financial market is not perfect, the investment risk is largely reflected in ensuring the safe use of funds. According to China's Insurance Law, the use of funds by life insurance companies is limited to bank deposits, buying and selling government bonds and financial bonds. The interest rate of bank deposits has been lowered again and again, and the development of the national debt market is not perfect. The use of tens of billions of life insurance funds faces a dilemma. In order to make life insurance companies play a greater role in China's pension system, the state should give necessary policy support to the investment of life insurance companies. At the same time, life insurance companies, as institutional investors, turn life insurance funds into real investment, which plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the development of financial markets, ensuring the old age of pensioners to the greatest extent, and promoting the sustained and healthy development of China's national economy.