Now people should make more provisions for their own retirement benefits. But many people can’t do that financially, even though they work a lot.
F Riedrich Merz recently announced that private pension provision should play a more important role in the future than the statutory pension. In doing so, he declared an overdue reform of the statutory pension system to have failed and sold us Plan B as Plan A. The idea of the three pillars of pension provision – statutory, company, private – is not new. But the statutory pension has so far been the most important pillar for many. It is true that it is too little real insurance to live on, is unfair to care workers and is based on a questionable financing model.
Leo Lührs
is a social worker in Hamburg. As a certified financial investment specialist, she gives workshops and online courses on all aspects of money.
But at least the state pension reliably comes into your account every month, no matter how old you get. The financial industry has coined the wonderful term longevity risk for this problem: The older we get, The more expensive it becomes for banks and insurance companies.
When the state pension was introduced at the end of the 19th century to pacify the working class who went to the barricades against poor working conditions, the end of life was still very short. The government now has to deal with the fact that unfortunately we are becoming healthier and therefore living longer. In the hyper-neoliberal sense, more and more responsibility should be shifted from the state to the individual.
The Chancellor mused that yes 100 euros per month in the stock depott the children should be able to receive financial education from their parents. He himself, pension-powdered and in possession of numerous stocks, lacks awareness for mere mortals. Because you have to be able to afford the risk of stocks as a retirement provision. Anyone who invests needs available financial backup in case the prices are bad. However, almost every other lower-risk investment offers little return, as does the same Riester or the company pension.
The average pension gap for employees is several hundred thousand euros and can probably only be reduced by an early death if even the Chancellor says goodbye to the future of state security.
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