They suspend transfers in Afores; you can change until march

After several calls for people not to change their Afore retirement savings during the disability period, which were consistent during 2022, the National Commission of the Retirement Savings System (Consar) made the decision to suspend the account transfers until mid-March; however, if the negative movements continue, this measure could be extended until conditions improve.

According to information from the regulatory body of the Afores, in this period of suspension that began on December 16 and will end on March 16, the Afores can carry out the work of attracting accounts, receive documentation, start the process, but the The process will be stopped at Procesar, which is the company that operates the Afores’ database and through which the transfer processes are channeled.

Once the suspension period ends, Process will release the processes and the changes will take effect. But if the handicaps continue, the transfers will continue to be suspended.

“Due to adverse market conditions, Consar took measures to suspend transfers for a period of three months in order to safeguard workers’ savings,” the Commission reported in the report El Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (SAR ) at the end of 2022.

This is the first time in the history of the Afores that a measure of this type has been taken, and it is carried out in order to protect the savings of workers in times of disability.

The issue of limiting transfers in some way inhibits the individual from making decisions about their savings. A worker could now decide to transfer but the final result will be reflected until March, when financial conditions are expected to be better, said Moisés Pérez Peñaloza, director of retirement and financial well-being for Latam at AON.

“I think that more than suspending the transfers, we must work on the financial education of workers, be clear about what long-term savings means,” he emphasized.

Changing your money from one Afore to another in difficult times when a decrease in resources is reported causes losses in savings because the Afores have to sell the assets in your account that they have invested and they do so when they are “cheap”, which makes it the impairment into an actual loss.

During the past year, both the Consar and the Mexican Association of Afores called for workers not to carry out actions that affect their savings, such as transferring their account to another company, withdrawing money due to unemployment or marriage, however, these movements did not stop.

How much was your savings reduced?

This month your retirement savings account statement corresponding to the last four-month period of 2022 will arrive at your address, where you can review the total accumulated balance, the returns (loss or capital gains) and how much commission was charged.

For example, the account statement received by Ana Cristina, who is located in Sura, indicates that the balance from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 went from 142,479 to 139,302 pesos, and in the income section a negative balance of 7,615 pesos, added to this, 802 pesos are subtracted from the commission payment to the Afore.

yuridia.torres@eleconomista.mx