Slovakia's State Pension System Will Cover Only Half of Workers' Salaries, Expert Warns

Slovakia's state pension system will provide retirees with only half of their former salaries, according to projections from the Social Insurance Agency, prompting calls for workers to build alternative savings. Michal Mešťan, a pension expert and dean of the Economics Faculty at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, described the Social Insurance Agency's pension forecasts as "step A" in retirement planning. He emphasized that "step B," which the agency does not address, requires individuals to conduct their own "homework" by examining their income and expenses to create alternative savings as early and intensively as possible. Slovakia operates a pay-as-you-go pension system where current workers' contributions fund current retirees' benefits. The warning highlights growing concerns about the sustainability of Slovakia's aging population and the adequacy of state-provided retirement benefits for maintaining living standards in old age.