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The three traffic light parties have very different ideas about how pensions should be made future-proof. Employees from three generations view their own pensions at least as differently.
Craftsmen from three generations work on a Baumstark construction site in Rüsselsheim, Hesse. Your personal view of future retirement is very different, because it is only a few years until retirement for the most experienced employee, a whopping 30 years for the colleague next door and almost half a century for the trainee.
Michael Klee has already set his sights on the end of his working life as a painter and varnisher: he will retire in 2029. “I’m glad it’s only a few more years,” says Klee. He sees his pension, which he has already had calculated, as secure: he will receive around 1,600 euros from the statutory pension fund, plus another almost 300 euros from the private pension insurance. “That means I’ll have about as much money as I currently have,” said the craftsman.
There are fewer and fewer employees for every pensioner
Anyone who is so close to retirement actually doesn’t have to worry, says Alexander Ludwig, an economist at Frankfurt’s Goethe University. “An average employee shortly before retirement can still rely on a relatively stable pension level.”
The situation is completely different for people in the middle or even at the beginning of their working life. Because of demographic change, there is great uncertainty about future pensions. Statistically speaking, there are fewer and fewer contributors per pensioner. In 1990 there were five, and in 2021 there will only be three employees for every pensioner. From 2035 onwards, only two employees will have to pay for one pensioner.
Hoping for that Generational contract
Nobody can know what this development will mean in euros and cents when plumber Edis Kurtisi retires in 2053. But the worrying message has long since reached the craftsman. “I’m a bit afraid of what this will look like for me in around 30 years.”
He saves 100 euros every month for his private retirement provision. He also hopes for a “generational contract 2.0” within his own family. “When my son grows up, hopefully he will take care of me like I take care of him now,” Kurtisi says, laughing.
End of retirement at 63?
The government wants to set the pension level until 2039. But the so-called pension package 2 will not solve the general problem in pension insurance, according to economic expert Ludwig. In view of demographic developments, there is no getting around the fact that everyone in society has to make sacrifices.
“I’m a big fan of giving the population here pure wine,” says Ludwig. In his opinion, this also means that the “pension at 63” will be abolished. When introducing it for long-term employees, politicians primarily focused on people who worked physically hard, such as those in construction. Meanwhile, high earners with office jobs are also enthusiastically taking advantage of early retirement. This puts a strain on the pension fund and exacerbates the shortage of skilled workers. While the FDP is in favor of abolition, the SPD in particular is against it.
Generational capital brings too little
The traffic light has agreed on another idea. The so-called generation capital is intended to stabilize contributions. The principle: The federal government gradually invests in stocks. From 2035 onwards, ten billion euros should flow into the pension fund every year from the returns in order to relieve the burden on contributors.
Expert Ludwig believes the approach is correct. But it is already foreseeable that income is far too low to noticeably stabilize pension contributions in the future.
“Get involved early and stay on the ball”
Deniss Kvaks can therefore prepare for higher pension contributions; He is currently training to become a plant mechanic. His retirement could start in 2070, so there are still decades left for private pension provision. But like so many young people, the trainee has other priorities. “I want to have fun with my friends and go on vacation. That’s more important to me than saving for retirement now.”
Expert Ludwig knows this attitude among young people all too well and still believes it to be wrong. The uncertainty in the pension system is simply too great. “Everyone has to take care of this as early as possible and then always stay on the ball,” is his appeal. So that not only the current generation of pensioners can look at their own account balance in a comparatively relaxed manner.