Charakterystyka emerytur kapitałowych finansowanych ze środków zgromadzonych w otwartym funduszu emerytalnym

The article discusses the rules governing the exercising of the right to fully-funded pensions. The pensions were introduced into Poland under the pension system reform. The law specifies two types of benefits: a periodic annuity (effective as of 2009) and a lifetime annuity (from 2014). A fully-funded pension is a personal benefit whose level depends on the amount of funds the insured person has accumulated on an individual account kept by the chosen Open Pension Fund. Both the fully-funded pensions and those paid under the so-called first pillar are protected by the state. A periodic annuity is a fixed-term and temporary benefit, which means that a person reaching the statutory age of 65 years becomes illegible for it, receiving a lifetime annuity instead. It is worth noting that the age when the fully-funded pensions can be drawn is the same for men and women (65 years). Therefore, the social insurance system complies with the rule of non- discriminatory treatment of its clients. Nevertheless, the fact that women save for shorter periods and draw periodic annuities may affect the final amounts of lifetime annuities they will draw.