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Europe's 5 most generous pension systems

The strikes roiling France right now are about government plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the pension age, which determines when people can begin accessing their pension funds, from 65 to 67. France is not the only country facing a budget crunch partially because of its generous pension system. Here are five examples.

2. The Netherlands

  • By Ariel Zirulnick Correspondent

In The Netherlands, the average earner receives 105.5 percent of his average net income (after taxes) back, which is possible because many people receive more back from their pension funds than they paid in each year. People become eligible for their pensions at 65. That comes out to EUR 39,700 a year (about $49,800 a year), or about 30 percent of average earnings. Pension spending is 5.4 percent of annual GDP.

The new government has pledged to raise the retirement age to 66.

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