Videos

The Situation - With a global pension gap forecasted to mushroom to $400 trillion by 2050 and income replacement rates decreasing, EU citizens are increasingly asked to rely on personal pension products to complement the insufficient government-sponsored mandatory and occupational pension plans. Unfortunately, our research has shown that fees and commissions severely hurt returns for pension savers. Pension savings products too often significantly underperform capital markets, and even sometimes destroy the real (after inflation) value of pension savings over the long-term. The PEPP - For these reasons, BETTER FINANCE welcomes the final compromise reached between the three top level EU Authorities for the creation of a pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) that would go a long way towards alleviating this worrying situation. If properly implemented, the “basic PEPP” should protect the long-term real value of your nest egg, shielding your savings from fees and inflation, and ensure you don’t have a bad surprise when you reach retirement age. To this end a PEPP will offer so-called “capital guarantee”. As it stands, however, the basic PEPP is not “safe” and the capital invested by EU pension savers is anything but “guaranteed”. BETTER FINANCE has repeatedly stressed that for a “capital guarantee” to mean anything, “capital” must be equal to the amounts saved, i.e. before the deducting all accumulated fees and charges directly or indirectly borne by pension savers, and, if possible, in real terms (offsetting the devastating impact of inflation on the “real” value of pension savings – their purchasing power - over time). Without such a protection covering the real value of capital invested (without deducting fees over decades), the purchasing power of the “capital guarantee” upon retirement will amount to just a small fraction of their lifetime savings. The Scam – In this short 2-minute video taking the viewer through 40 years of the life of 2 EU citizens as pension savers, BETTER FINANCE explains how a Capital Guarantee scam is putting the savings of EU Citizens at risk! Watch it here and spread the message! The Petition - There is still time to make sure that EU lawmakers do not mislead EU citizens about the Capital “Guarantee” of their pension savings! After all, a simple, open and cost-effective Pan-European Personal Pension with a true capital guarantee could go a long way towards ensuring a bright future with adequate pensions. Having failed so far to convince EU policy makers about this critical issue, BETTER FINANCE now calls on citizens themselves to stand up against this scam and demand a real and clear guarantee of their pension savings. Sign the BETTER FINANCE petition on www.avaaz.org and forward this video to your national Minister of Finance and to your Member of the European Parliament. To find your MEP’s email address go to http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/home

An international Conference by BETTER FINANCE and AURSF, in partnership with Bucharest University of Economic studies, marking a 10 Year Anniversary of BETTER FINANCE.

An international Conference by BETTER FINANCE and AURSF, in partnership with Bucharest University of Economic studies, marking a 10 Year Anniversary of BETTER FINANCE.

Les prochaines élections européennes de mai 2019 conduiront à une reconfiguration du Parlement européen et de la Commission européenne. Ces élections se révèleront être d’une importance capitale pour les utilisateurs de services financiers européens, représentés par BETTER FINANCE. BETTER FINANCE a souligné les actions prioritaires qui contribueraient grandement à la protection des épargnants et des investisseurs, et profiteraient davantage à l'économie réelle. Au nom des citoyens européens, nous avons demandé à tous les responsables politiques et groupes politiques européens, par le biais d'un appel public, de répondre clairement à un bref questionnaire afin de montrer leurs positions sur les questions de régulation financière. BETTER FINANCE annoncera les résultats (ou l'absence de résultats) lors d'une conférence de presse le mercredi 15 mai 2019. Nous informerons les médias et tous les électeurs européens des positions de chaque parti politique européen en ce qui concerne les droits des épargnants et des utilisateurs de services financiers à long terme. Nos priorités pour les cinq prochaines années sont disponibles à l’adresse suivante: https://betterfinance.eu/publication/better-finance-key-priorities-for-the-next-five-years-%E2%94%82-2019-2024/ Pour remplir le questionnaire, veuillez cliquer sur le lien suivant: https://betterfinance.typeform.com/to/clpmBz

The upcoming European elections in May 2019 will lead to a reconfiguration of the European Parliament and the European Commission. These elections are of the utmost importance for European Financial Services Users (i.e. most EU citizens), represented by BETTER FINANCE. BETTER FINANCE outlined the priority actions that would go a long way towards addressing the protection of savers and investors and strongly benefit the real economy. In the name of European citizens, we asked all European politicians and political groups through a Public Call to clearly answer a short questionnaire to show their colours when it comes to financial policy. BETTER FINANCE will announce the results (or lack thereof) during a press conference on Wednesday 15 May 2019. We will inform the media and all European voters of what each EU Political Party stands for with respect to EU citizens’ financial rights as long-term savers and users of financial services. The Key Priorities for the Next Five Years can be found here: https://betterfinance.eu/publication/better-finance-key-priorities-for-the-next-five-years-%E2%94%82-2019-2024/ To fill out the survey, please go here: https://betterfinance.typeform.com/to/clpmBz

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, BETTER FINANCE remembers its humble beginnings and the long way it has come to become the voice of European citizens as savers and investors and the role it has played towards greater protection for financial services users. The role of BETTER FINANCE and the importance of representing financial users at the European level has not only been acknowledged by its members but also by members of the European Parliament, such as Pervenche Berès, Sven Giegold and Wolf Klinz.

On the occasion of the 6th #Youth4Climate March in Brussels, BETTER FINANCE offers its support to the marching youths and highlights the importance of strong public policy in ensuring sustainable investment opportunities for investors. In short, a BETTER Sustainable future for us all #sustainablefinance

This is a video created by BETTER FINANCE© illustrating the capital protection scam for the basic PEPP (default investment option). The political agreement reached by the EU co-legislators does not provide for a true, real protection of the pension saver's accumulated capital at retirement: the so-called guarantee merely covers capital minus "all fees, charges and expenses that are directly or indirectly borne by the investor".

BETTER FINANCE Hearing at the French Parliament on the Funding of the Economy

Q&A 2: BETTER FINANCE Hearing at the French Parliament on the Funding of the Economy

Q&A: BETTER FINANCE Hearing at the French Parliament on the Funding of the Economy

Presentation of Better Finance and international business-investor programs of VZMD