Suche
Mein Konto
Retirement provision study: Several trillion euros to maintain the status quo
Expert report on retirement provision in Germany: Billions in burdens for the future. How can the status quo be maintained? Learn more!
Retirement provision study: Several trillion euros to maintain the status quo
A study by experts in social insurance technology and business mathematics has shown that to maintain the current level of statutory old-age insurance in Germany, a total capital of several trillion euros is required. Various solution options, including state-organized capital-funded concepts based on shares, are being discussed by the federal government and other parties. These approaches are based on the assumption that equity investments generate high returns.
The concepts examined often focus only on partial goals such as pension and contribution levels, without announcing specific quantitative goals. It remains unclear how much capital is required in total and what annual effort must be made to achieve defined goals. The consideration of investment risks in relevant time periods is also viewed critically.
According to the study, several trillion euros would have to be invested within a period of 10 to 25 years in order to secure the current pension and contribution levels until 2050. This would burden every citizen with five to over ten percent of their disposable income. The political failures of past decades, combined with the baby boomers entering the retirement phase, are making it difficult to develop generation-appropriate solutions.
The study highlights that necessary efforts lead to significant burdens for citizens, companies and the state. A transparent approach to acceptance of necessary measures is advocated. It is emphasized that debt-financed approaches that are optimistically based on high returns should be viewed critically as there is a significant risk of loss.
The report shows that the dimensions of possible funds would be sufficient, for example, to purchase the entire DAX several times. This raises further regulatory questions. It is suggested to develop an equivalence formula that is fair and works across generations in order to keep pension levels, contribution burdens, retirement age and state subsidies in a solid balance.