How to Maintain the Financial Stability and Adequacy of Teachers Pension

Abstract

Korea Teachers Pension (private school pension) is a mandatory pension and a social security system for private school teachers to ensure the stability of subscribers by a supplying pension when they (and their dependents) face future economic risk due to retirement or death. Therefore, the Teachers Pension must provide stability and sustainability in regards to adequacy of income and to function as a pension. However, the Government Employees Pension System (CEPS) of Korea (the most representative special occupation pension) recorded a fiscal deficit in 2001 and with an accumulated deficit that is expected to grow; subsequently, various plans for the reform of CEPS have been actively discussed. The Korea Teachers Pension system is based on the CEPS scheme and is not free from the CEPS discussions on reforms of national pension. The current system for the Teachers Pension needs to be improved because it is expected to be depleted within the next 30 years due to low fertility and an aging population in Korea. This study discusses existing Teachers Pension schemes problems and suggests a projection method and revised plans to improve it. We use long-term financial projections of the Teachers Pension to estimate the fund exhaustion point and the minus balance of the financial scale as well as analyze the supply-demand burden structure that reflects the future population structure to propose Teachers Pension reforms that will improve stability and adequacy.