Sweden is the 17th richest country in the world in 2019. We have a good tax base. To maintain purchasing power and for the sake of fairness, we need to have pensions at a reasonable level. The compensation rate, or the pensions' share of the final salary, decreases with each generation. For more details, see what the Swedish Pensions Authority writes here.
Pension payments are primarily based on tax revenues. No amount of savings is enough to cover pension payments.
Refugees also need to have a decent pension. To get a guarantee pension, a person must have lived in Sweden for 40 years. In 2018, the guarantee pension corresponds to no more than approximately SEK 11,900/month , including housing supplement. 10 years of work should be enough to raise the level from the guarantee pension level. Today's calculation of the requirements for getting a decent pension level is based on the assumption that everyone is healthy for most of their lives and that recessions are short-lived and occur approximately every 45 years. Since around 1990, we in the Western world have had financial crises every eight years and permanently high unemployment and high sick leave rates.
Daniel Ankarloo, doctor of economic history and lecturer in social work, writes in a debate article in Göteborgs-Posten in 2012 that Sweden can certainly afford good pensions. There are no problems with welfare financing in general either.
Today, public health is threatened by escalating burnout and anxiety about the future. Since 2010, the number of sick leave due to stress has increased sixfold. It is not surprising, then, that anxiety about retirement plays a role in mental ill health, right?