臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.29 NO.2

Portability of Social Security Pension in Taiwan 192 International comparisons have shown that pension plans in different countries employ different strategies for pension portability. For noncontributory public pensions plans, citizens may lose pension rights if they leave the country before a minimum number of years of residence. Canada and Finland’s universal pension plans are examples of this model. By contrast, contributory pension plans usually offer a refund of contributions, a lump-sum payment, or vesting rights to participants. For example, Germany and South Korea’s pension plans provide a refund to participants who leave the scheme before they earn a vesting right, whereas Japan’s universal pension plan provides a lump-sum payment. Public pension plans usually offer vesting rights to participants who have made contributions for more than a certain number of years. Germany, South Korea, and the United States’ pension plans are examples of this model. Occupational pension plans may use a lump-sum payment, vesting rights, or asset transfers for pension portability. For example, the United Kingdom’s occupational pension offers a lump-sum payment to participants who leave the scheme with less than 2 years of contributions, and it provides an option to transfer pension assets to a new plan if they have more than 2 years of contributions. By contrast, the occupational pensions of the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States provide vesting rights. Taiwan’s pension plans employ different approaches to pension portability. Public pension plans as well as the Laborer’s Pension Plan, Civil Servants’ Pension Plan, and National Pension Plan all provide vesting rights for early leavers, whereas the Military Personnel Pension Plan offers a refund of contributions. Regarding occupational pension plans, the Educational Personnel’s Retirement Pension Plan and Military Personnel Retirement Pension Plan both provide a refund of contributions to early leavers. The Civil Servants’ Retirement Pension Plan provides a refund to those who leave the scheme before making contributions for 5 years and vesting rights to those with more than 5 years of contributions. Regarding defined-contribution occupational plans, only the Laborer’s Retirement Pension Plan offers vesting rights. Other plans include the Private School and Administrators’ Retirement Pension Plan, the Political Appointees’ Retirement Pension Plan, and the Contract Employees’ Retirement Plan, all of which provide a refund of contributions to early leavers. In sum, participants in Taiwan’s public and occupational pension plans can at least obtain a refund of their contributions if they leave the schemes before they are eligible for pension benefits. For the sake of pension portability, most pension plans offer vesting rights. Notably, none of Taiwan’s pension plans employ the strategy of assets transfer.