75 Swiss francs is all that it cost for one savvy Swiss individual to exploit a loophole in Swiss retirement regulations to retire one year earlier and receive even more lavish benefits than he would have received had he remained a male on paper.
Thanks to a new law, Swiss citizens are allowed to change their sex on paper without needing to provide any documentation from a doctor or physician. All it takes is 75 francs and a desire to be referred to as a man or a woman.
Well, as it happens, retirement benefits in certain Swiss states differ by sex. In the wealthy Alpine canton of Lucerne, women are allowed to retire a full year earlier – at 64 vs. 65 for men – and women receive more generous benefits.
Switzerland’s local paper Luzerner Zeitung shared the story with the world, and it quickly went viral.
The individual in question lives in Lucerne, where pensions are really high: they can range from around $15,000 to $27,000 annually, depending on factors like age and gender.
There haven’t been any other reports of men in Lucerne also changing their sex so they can retire a year early. After all, when they turn 66, they can simply change it back if they want (or keep it and continue to enjoy higher payouts).
In response to the report of the sex-change retirement scam, the local media in Switzerland have dreamed up other ways in which men can exploit the system by legally changing their sex on paper.
source zerohedge.com