As of: February 15, 2024, 10:01 a.m
By: Amy Walker
Comments
Press
Split
Experts have once again called on the traffic light government to reform pensions.
Private pension provision should not be forgotten either.
Berlin – The need for a reform of private pension provision is emphatically emphasized by Thomas Richter, Managing Director of the BVI Fund Association.
He warns urgently: “Politicians must act now.
It would be fatal if another legislative period were to pass without reforming private pension provision.”
He made this statement to the pension portal
ihr-sorge.de.
It is essential that all forms of retirement planning are future-proofed.
Traffic light pension package already announced
Demographic developments inevitably mean that fewer and fewer people in employment have to finance a growing number of pensioners.
In order to protect citizens from poverty in old age, innovative financing models for pensions are necessary.
Private provision must also play a larger role.
The traffic light government has already announced a pension reform, with the focus on statutory pension insurance.
Labor and Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) plans to present Pension Package II in the next few weeks.
It aims to stabilize the pension level at 48 percent and reorganize financing through a stock pension.
However, according to experts, these measures are far from sufficient.
In their most recent report to the federal government, the so-called “economic wise men” recommend more far-reaching changes: They propose abolishing early retirement for those who have been insured for a particularly long time, adapting the retirement age to life expectancy and restructuring company and private pension schemes.
Mandatory private pension provision as a solution?
In an interview with Ippen.Media,
Martin Werding, pension expert and member of “Wirtschaftsweise”, welcomes
the CDU’s proposal to make a funded private pension provision mandatory for all insured people.
“If such provision had existed across the board since 2001, the financing problems with pensions would be much less pressing today.
Although there are various forms of supplementary pension provision, such as private pensions, company pensions, real estate, etc., almost 20 percent of employees subject to social insurance contributions are currently not using any of them,” explains Werding.
More and more pensioners in Germany are dependent on basic security.
(Symbolic image) © IMAGO/snapshot-photography/T.Seeliger
The focus group on private pension provision commissioned by the federal government in summer 2023 also recommends making private pension provision options more flexible.
There should be more choices, especially when it comes to paying out pensions: “In addition to lifelong annuities, higher partial payouts, payout plans and investments in self-used property should be possible in the future,” is the recommendation to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
It should also be examined whether the assets saved in private pension insurance could also be used to improve the statutory pension, for example by purchasing pension points.
My news
Miele, Porsche & Co: Companies are leaving Germany – “Not even the financial crisis was that serious” read
Well-known luxury company is insolvent: branches in Germany affected after bankruptcy read
“Citizen money is a crime against our children” – Hard traffic light billing
Next bankruptcy in the fashion industry: shoe retailer from southern Germany is insolvent
1 hour ago
Habeck prepares the Germans for tough times: “The time for comfort is over” read
Setback for Germany: Next company withdraws from its homeland read
Traffic light is slow to implement pension measures
Thomas Richter from the German fund association BVI complains that no measures have been taken since these recommendations were presented.
He emphasizes that time is running out for retirement provision and that many of the suggestions “could be implemented quickly and with minimal effort,” as he told ihr-sorge.de.
Whether there will actually be a reform of private pension provision remains uncertain.
Even the pension package II, which was originally expected in the summer of 2023, is still a long time coming.
Despite all the urgent appeals, politicians do not seem to be allowing themselves to be put under pressure.