According to economists, the pension fund is heading for a major financial hole in the corona crisis.
- The pension fund could experience problems due to the corona crisis *.
- But what does that mean for retirement?
- Experts explain the current situation.
Corona crisis empties pension fund - what happens to the pension?
The good news first: Because in 2019, with the exception of industry, large parts of the German economy were still going well and wages rose, the pension * will increase on July 1 despite the crisis: 3.45 percent in the west and 4.20 in the east Percent. Conversely, this coupling does not apply, a report by the German Press Agency explains quite clearly: Because of the pension guarantee , pensions cannot fall after severe recessions - as would otherwise be the case.
However, a gap arises in view of the current situation: According to economists, the pension fund is heading towards a major financial hole in the corona crisis * , as the report also says. The causes are the rapid increase in short-time work and the growing unemployment, which will decrease the premium income. Since the pensions must not be cut and the federal government wants to limit the amount of the contribution to a maximum of 20 percent, according to the pension expert Axel Börsch-Supan, the federal government will have to fill the gap.
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Even more federal grants for the pension
"Federal grants will probably have to increase in the double-digit billion range by 2022/23," quotes dpa the director of the Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy in Munich. A lot of money is already flowing out of the tax fund: The federal government had to inject a total of 72 billion in 2019 so that all pensioners got their money.
Read here: Tax returns for retirees - you should know that now
Pensions are increasing this year - what is after the corona crisis?
Börsch-Supan spoke of three phases: "This year, the pension is increasing due to the good economic development of previous years," says the Munich scientist. "In the next phase, it should actually be the other way round in the second phase. But that's where the pension guarantee works, which prevents pension cuts."
The federal government had actually taken measures to ensure that pensioners make their contribution if the income * of the payers falls: the catch-up factor, the report continues. "This means that pensions will not be cut even after a recession with falling incomes, but will rise more slowly in the following years to compensate," said the expert.
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