country’s rules, and you cannot access this money until age 67 (in Spain) and invariably, in my opinion but seen through clients and performance charts, Spanish private pensions are generally not that good. Look at most Spanish banks’ pension funds and you will find high commissions, too much investment in the Spanish market, and not enough advice.
What should a retirement/pension plan look like? Well, it’s about having a plan/strategy, regularly reviewing and understanding it doesn’t have to be a ‘pension’. It can be property; indeed, one of the reasons private pension contributions are so low in Spain is because culturally they are property lovers, often not just one, but several. These are usually structured within a Spanish company and passed down through the generations, and can be a very attractive investment and also tax efficient. Buying property in Spain is expensive, approximately 13% in Catalunya for example, however if you rent this out as a long-term rental, up to 60% of that annual income is tax exempt.
What this doesn’t give you though is liquidity, so, if there is a property slow down, you could be stuck with that investment unless you want to take a loss on it, or you may have to leave it behind if you move on. It can also be a big hassle, with Okupas (a common problem in Spain of people unlawfully living in your property, and who are very difficult to get rid of, indeed sometimes it can take years to do so and cost a lot of money). Many people working now are almost in a ‘golden generation’ to think about their pension planning. Many of their parents have assets/properties that have grown very well, and will more often than not leave them a considerable amount of money (see my article on inheritance planning for a potential tax problems there!) They seem less worried about their retirement, than perhaps their parents were. Therefore, they don’t necessarily see the benefit of saving money into a pension when they might not need one, with the money being blocked until then and it restricting their current lifestyle.