Boomer in retirement: How your age income can be financed

I make a good life in retirement. A thought that most people of the so-called Boomer generation once had. This includes the years of the 1950s to the mid -1960s. The proposal of some economic researchers, boomer to support narrow pensions and the “System”To ask for the cash register has caused a lot of wind. We too at star received great response to opinion contributions on this topic.

I know a lot of boomer. Your introduction to the world of work was tough, tell me. Later, in the 90s, things went better. Then, around the turn of the millennium, it became clear that the pension would not be quite as lavish as it thought. Too few children at the start, it said. In any case, with regard to securing the statutory pension insurance. Tunishing mood, drastic reforms. The way out: Private. In addition something company. Everything could be enough together – for beautiful life. At least to some extent.

And lo and behold: the effort went and opens for millions of boomers. First, the pension insurance did not go under. Never before have there been so many insured persons in Germany, i.e. contributors as today. And the pension height not only depends on the number of contributions, but also on the productivity of the German economy. Second, private and company pension schemes pay off, despite welding financial market capers in the past 30 years. Unless you were victims of commission greed or even fraudsters. And so the vast majority of the 21 million resting staff are very fair. Deservedly.

The fact that around one million in this group, around five percent of pensioners, have to make do with very low references today is a social policy malus. Also the prospect that the proportion of these people will increase in the future. However, there is no one behind it “system”-Problem of pension insurance, but work economy: low income, under-, partly broken employment biographies. Personally, family or health -related. In addition, drastically increased cost of living. Basic pension plus housing allowance plus food of a board – no too nice life.

Again and again it turns out: to bring people to work, full -time, to organize them to serious and inexpensive retirement provision, in terms of operational and private, is and remains the best protection against poverty in old age. To implement all of this is the socio -political task of the hour. Bärbel Bas, the responsible SPD Federal Minister, has recently made suggestions that go in the right direction.

And the boomers who are difficult? You cannot do anything that you are so many and will therefore cost a lot for a good 20 years. But they actively participate in their financing: the taxable proportion of their pensions will continue to increase. You pay capital gains tax on any investment income.

In order to pay for their pensions, there will be only a fair and therefore tolerable way for everyone, young and old for a while: the tax, i.e. the state budget. With the federal government’s grant, claims of the insured persons who are not covered by the contributions are paid. For many years. Pensions are paid entirely from tax funds. Economic purists don’t like that. But it works as long as the German economy does not collapse completely and sustainably. Which, at least since the boomers are in the world, has never happened before.