I have an old pension/insurance scheme back in my native Denmark, from the days when still had a day job. It's pretty small numbers, but I've kept it going, heck you never know.
Today I got a letter from the pension company, there's a new law passed in Denmark, which will apparently tax the kind of pension I get, somehow in the future. To make the people swallow the medicine, they have put on a sugar layer in the form of an upfront compensation right now.
The monies due me is 314 Danish kroner ($63). If I want to get them paid out now instead of added to my pension, that's fine, only it will cost me 340 Danish kroner ($68) in fees! :-)
All I'm thinking is, what will all this bullshit cost the Danish people in administration costs, overall? Geez.
I've heard told that in Denmark over half the population is either living off the state in the form of benefits/pension, or working for the state. I guess in another fifty years nobody will be doing any production at all.
7 comments:
Isn't Denmark supposed to be one of the happiest places in the world? Apparently it has something to do with the richest and poorest in society - the smaller the gap, the happier the society is.
It certainly makes for a certain comfort.
But perhaps also for a certain mental/spiritual laziness.
Been wondering how 'stuff' happens in Denmark following the antics of an 'aquaintance' ... actually he's the ex-boyfriend of a girlfriend of mine.
Just to paint a picture, this guy is 40ish, has the life skills of a parasite and seriously believes he can make a living from break-dancing. He's a Sardinian national who has (apparently) been in Amsterdam for several years, living at the same address as his (ex) girlfriend, who is also a foreign national, working within the baking system.
For 5 months this year he was in Eilat, learning to scuba dive. Last year he spent a similar amount of time in Thailand, doing the same thing, followed by further time in Sardinia ... during which time he has been in receipt of benefits from within the Danish system!!!
How the Hell does he do that?
I'm not sure whether to get wound up about the situation, or just join him! :-)
Nevertheless it's very very important to make preparations for the time when you'll be older and less able to earn money because of the fading powers of your body. And also, we want to enjoy the harvest of our working lives at that time, don't we.
There are also taxes on pensions here in Germany. The state people (upper levels) want to make sure they can sustain their style of living (among other things) haha.
I understand why you left Denmark, I also wouldn't want to work for people with functioning limbs and brains.
I'm a bit overdoing it, but I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.
Philocalist, you said it, in a nutshell.
I'm especially amazed that Denmark keeps paying benefits to people living in other countries, after all you are not taxed if you live in other countries (not by Denmark anyway, I hear it's a bit more complex for US citizens).
I guess fears of the "nanny state" are true.
Yes indeed!
Personally I think we should see it not as something pushed onto the population by the state, but rather something the population does to itself out of fear.
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