As of: February 15, 2024, 9:42 p.m
By: Alina Schröder, Ulrike Hagen
Comments
Press
Split
Work longer if you are in good health?
This is what an economist demands.
He proposes abolishing the “pension at 63”.
© Dwi Anoraganingrum/Imago
The burden on the pension system in Germany is intensifying the discussion about “pension at 63”.
Martin Werding is in favor of rapid reform.
Bochum – When it comes to when to retire, opinions are divided.
Retiring earlier probably sounds tempting for most employees, but is this actually acceptable given the shortage of skilled workers and the high burden on the pension system?
Martin Werding, member of the Economic Advisory Council, calls for a radical change in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
and says: “Abolish the pension at 63!”
Economist calls for an end to “retirement at 63”: “eliminate false incentives”
The CDU has already called for the abolition of the “pension at 63” several times and instead suggested that employees should work four months longer for each year of increased life expectancy.
Werding supports the call for reform and explains: “I and the Economic Advisory Council, of which I am a member, suggest eliminating false incentives for employees to leave working life early.”
Those who receive an early pension without deductions are “usually above average in health and are urgently needed as skilled workers”.
Therefore, more “negotiation scope should be created for employers to retain these employees”.
If you leave early, your pensions should be adjusted to the longer term with deductions, like for all other employees.
In Germany, the deductions, i.e. the financial deductions from the full pension in the event of early retirement, increase every year.
But a trick shows how high pension discounts can be avoided.
“The window is closing”: Economist calls for quick measures
According to Werding, the possibility of early retirement for long-term employees should be limited to low-income earners.
“For example, an early pension without deductions could then only be available to insured people who earned less than 60 percent of the average salary of all insured people per contribution year.” The economics professor from the Ruhr University Bochum emphasizes: “The probability that they have carried out particularly stressful activities and are at their limit in terms of health before they reach the standard retirement age, is significantly higher for this group.
However, the measure to retain those receiving early pensions without deductions as skilled workers must be implemented quickly.
“Time is running out, the window is closing,” warned Werding.
“Even if changes are decided now, it will take six months to a year for them to take effect.
Then another 300,000 skilled workers will be gone.”
My news
Trick saves dying houseplants in no time: With a spice you can read it
Read how much pension members of the Bundestag collect – without having paid in a cent
Deposit limit exceeded: Supermarket notice threatening customers with a ban on entry
“I'm really on the verge of despair”: Woman (29) wants to move back into a shared apartment - because she has no choice
Be careful, telephone fraud: under no circumstances should you answer your cell phone with these telephone numbers
“Almost like it was stolen”: the price of this schnitzel on an alpine pasture in a famous ski resort is not only irritating to holidaymakers
Restrictions for “pension at 63”: tax-free pension only for one group
But early retirement seems particularly attractive.
Finally, according to reports, in 2023 around 300,000 people will have applied to the German Pension Insurance (DRV) to leave working life early as part of the “pension at 63”.
That's more than ever before.
The German pension insurance explains that a good 30 percent of all pension entrants can now be assigned to this group.
“If we want to stick to the regulation with regard to people in strenuous jobs, we have to at least make adjustments,” said Werding.
You therefore have to “hold people accountable for longer who still have room for maneuver.”
His specific suggestion: “In the future, we will only allow pensions from the age of 63 to long-term low earners.”
“Pension at 63” is still in demand – VdK criticizes the proposal
However, the idea of abolishing the “pension at 63” is met with resistance, particularly from social associations.
Verena Bentele, President of the social association VdK Germany, told
IPPEN.MEDIA
: “The zero-deduction pension for those who have been insured for a particularly long time is primarily intended to reward people who have worked extraordinarily long hours with 45 years of contributions and have paid into the pension fund for a long time.”
Bentele added: “Linking the exemption from deductions to a complicated income limit is unfair.
This would allow far fewer people to take early retirement who are already unable to work up to the standard retirement age.
Anyone who has worked for so long and often under high stress deserves to retire - no matter what their income was."
Werding's proposal is also not suitable for compensating for low wages.
These “are now being corrected via the basic pension supplement”.
However, the abolition does not currently seem to play a role in the traffic light: Green Party leader Ricarda Lang recently said that the “pension at 63” would remain the same for the time being.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
Learn more about our AI principles here
.