Solution
Workers today are aware that their state pension will no longer be sufficient for them to maintain their standard of living in retirement. So they would particularly welcome the chance to pay into a supplementary pension offered by you. You can choose to offer them one of two pension types: pension insurance or a pension fund.
On the insurance side, the Group Insurance (‘second pillar’) offered by AG Insurance sa/nv enables you to create a supplementary pension for your employees with no extra administrative costs for your business.
How does it work?
- You take out an insurance contract.
- You as employer determine the budget you want to devote to the pension plan. You also decide whether the employees themselves can contribute.
- You can extend the scope of the contract to include:
- Death cover guaranteeing the payment of a capital sum to the beneficiary or beneficiaries if the employee should die before reaching retirement age. You can also opt for accidental death cover. In this case, the beneficiaries are entitled to additional compensation if death is due to an accident.
- Premium cover, which guarantees the continued payment of the premiums if an employee is no longer able to work.
- If you wish, you can also extend the Group Insurance to include Income Care – guaranteed income cover , that ensures continuity of income if the employee in question is unable to work.
- When they reach retirement age, your employees receive a supplementary pension in addition to their state pension. They can choose at that point between an annuity or a lump-sum payment comprising the whole of the capital built up over time.
Advantages
Employer:
- Group Insurance is a ‘second pillar’ product, and as such benefits from both favourable social security charges and tax deductibility as a professional expense.
- An online application means you can easily carry out and track your transactions and your usual Employee Benefits tasks.
- Group Insurance enhances your pay package (motivational HR policy), boosting your staff retention and helping persuade new candidates to join your business.
Employee:
- The supplementary pension capital built up in this way allows your employees to maintain their standard of living after retirement.
- Group Insurance is more attractive in tax terms than traditional bonuses and end-of-year payments.
- If an employee wishes to purchase or renovate a property in the European Economic Area, he or she can request an advance on the accrued reserve.
Good to know
- You have to respect the law on supplementary pensions, when setting up and adjusting the Group Insurance plan.
- Rather than paying a cash bonus to your employees, you can pay all or part of it into a Group Insurance policy. Not only is this more beneficial to staff, the bonus plan also enables the employer to reward good performance in a tax-efficient way.
Useful link(s)
AG Insurance sa/nv – 53 boulevard Emile Jacqmain, B-1000 Brussels – RPM/RPR Brussels – VAT BE 0404.494.849 – www.aginsurance.be. Accredited insurance company licenced under code number 0079, under the supervision of the National Bank of Belgium, 14 boulevard de Berlaimont, 1000 Brussels.
BNP Paribas Fortis sa/nv, 3 Montagne du Parc, B-1000 Brussels – RPM/RPR Brussels – VAT BE 0403.199.702, registered with the FSMA under n° 25.879A and acting as a contractually appointed insurance agent on behalf of AG Insurance sa/nv.
