Final Word readers have the pension blues

Miroslav Kalousek predicted last Aug. that 50-60% of Czechs would sign up for a second-pillar pension fund in the coming years. When ING PF forwent the second pillar two months later, its chairman, Jiří Rusnok, said that only 10% of eligible Czechs were planning to participate. So far, only 13,000 people had actually taken the plunge. Of the readers of the Final Word who responded to the recent CFA Forecasting Survey, 41% said they expect fewer than 100,000 people to sign up by June 30 of this year, and another 17% reckoned with fewer than 200,000. The average estimate of all respondents was 193,000. These aren't encouraging numbers. Perhaps even more crucial than convincing the public of the efficacy of pension reform is convincing journalists. Of the 100 who responded to the CFA survey, 0% said they thought pension reform would help stabilize Czech public finances over the long term.