Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner wants to stabilize the statutory pension insurance with the share pension and also make progress with private provision through a new mega-fund. To this end, he wants to massively expand the share reserve formed in the 2023 federal budget – and does not rule out financing through new debt.
“We need a three-digit billion sum in the medium to long term so that the income from the share investment can have a noticeable effect on the stabilization of pension contributions and the pension level,” Lindner told the Tagesspiegel.
The FDP leader described the ten billion euros that will be made available in 2023 in “a first step” as the “foundation for starting a funded pension system”. The goal is to “keep both pension contributions and pension levels at a stable level”.
“Return potential of the stock markets”
In view of the gradual retirement of the baby boomers in the coming decade, politicians are faced with the task of securing their pension levels without having to increase the pension contributions of the following generations too much. In order to guarantee this, Lindner intends to make massive use of “the return potential of the international stock markets”.
To finance the three-digit billion sum, the finance minister said he had ideas, but “there was no final decision-making process by the federal government”.
Lindner referred to the financing of the first step in the amount of ten billion euros, which will be carried out entirely through new debt and will flow into the new share reserve as a loan from the federal government. “We take advantage of the fact that the state has to pay less for its bonds than the capital markets bring in,” he said.
This could then also apply, at least in part, to the financing of further steps. The further way is still open, said Lindner. “However, it should be in our common interest to strengthen the statutory pension insurance for the benefit of pensioners through sufficient capital cover,” he emphasized, referring to the talks within the traffic light coalition.
In a second step, Lindner wants to turn to stronger capital market financing for private supplementary provision. “One option is a fund for which the state is responsible but which is managed independently of politics,” said Lindner. “It would also be conceivable to save in a completely private depot, for which appropriate tax incentives are created.” In order to clarify this, the federal government has just set up a “focus group on private old-age provision”.
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Source: Tagesspiegel
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