As of: January 25, 2024, 10:47 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
According to experts, Riester and Rürup contracts almost never produce the promised returns.
In addition, customers usually face much higher costs than initially stated.
Munich – Private pension provision is important, but state-funded Riester pensions have become a slow seller.
The citizens' movement Finanzwende explains why this is understandable.
In a study, she calculated the likely returns of 111 Riester and Rürup offers available in the previous year.
“The findings are bleak and no glory for insurers,” says Britta Langenberg from Finanzwende.
Not a single Riester offer covers inflation compensation
The benchmark was to achieve inflation compensation of an average of two percent annually over the entire contract period from signature to death.
Of the 22 Riester pensions examined, none would create an offer.
With 89 Rürup contracts, two would mathematically get over the hurdle.
On average for all Riester pensions, the study came to a meager 0.8 percent term yield and 1.0 percent for Rürup contracts.
This does not result in real customer benefit, as the financial regulator Bafin only warned in May 2023.
“No customer wants to lose money,” emphasizes the consumer advocate.
But according to the study, that's exactly what happens in reality.
However, Finanzwende did not calculate any state subsidies that, for example, Riester savers receive for children.
Langenberg admitted that if you have a lot of children, the returns that can be achieved increase significantly.
Tax effects were also not taken into account.
“In the savings phase before retirement, high costs in particular prevent a better return, while in the retirement period, from the consumer's point of view, there are unfavorable assumptions about life expectancy,” summarizes actuary Axel Kleinlein.
Enjoying your retirement without a care in the world – that’s how everyone would like to imagine their retirement.
Unfortunately, the reality is very different for many people.
(Symbolic photo) © Imago
He has calculated for a financial turnaround and says that insurers are calculating with unrealistically high life expectancies.
In order to achieve the two percent target return, insured people would have to live to an average of 99 years and Rürup insured people would have to live to 100 years.
The calculations are also complicated and characterized by assumptions, says Kleinlein.
“In individual cases, you only know the return on annuities when the customer has died,” he clarifies.
But in several places in the study he made assumptions that would result in higher returns.
Reforming the Riester pension is no longer worthwhile
At the same time, the experienced actuary criticized the information that insurers give their customers when concluding contracts.
The information sheets are difficult to understand, especially when it comes to costs.
“Real comparability between individual offers is therefore not possible,” says the expert.
In one extreme case, he calculated true costs that were 4.5 percent higher than those shown by the insurer in the model calculation.
“These are sad results,” criticizes Kleinlein and sees system errors primarily as responsible for meager returns.
My news
Table shows when pensioners have to pay taxes read
Important post for pensioners: What the new letter from the pension insurance means read
GDL rail strike: What “Mr. Weselsky likes to keep quiet” read
Heil announces a pension package and defends himself against criticism: “There is no pension at 63 anymore” read
Revolt at Skoda Germany: Read “False self-representation at the expense of the customer”.
Pension increase in 2024: This is what the pension will look like after reading out 3.5 percent
“Riester and Rürup can no longer be saved,” he says.
Langenberg only emphasizes this for Riester pensions.
Both are skeptical about ongoing attempts by politicians to save the system.
(tmh)