Impending pension gap
Inflation brakes many people in private retirement provision
Life in Germany has recently not been so expensive. Nevertheless, the prices for many things of daily needs have increased. This also affects saving for old age.
A larger number of people in Germany provides less for old age due to generally increased prices. This is the result of an online survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the insurance group AXA.
According to this, 40 percent of the adults surveyed at the beginning of August this year approved the statement that they provide less for their retirement as a result of the major price increases in recent years. In the 2024 survey it was almost 38 percent, in 2023 the proportion was still 32 percent.
Finally a little relaxation in inflation
The large wave of inflation has expired for the time being, in June and July this year the consumer prices in Germany were comparatively moderate 2.0 percent above the state of the previous year. However, food is sometimes significantly more expensive than a year ago, and prices for services have been increasing above average for months. Consumers feel this in the wallet.
“The price increases in all areas of life pose great financial challenges – also in terms of retirement provision,” says Karsten Dietrich, Board of Management Personal Insurance at AXA Germany. “The problem is that the legal pension is not sufficient for today’s pensioners that they can keep their standard of living.”
Many have nothing left to save
A majority of 51 percent of the 2,009 respondents do not rely exclusively on the statutory pension with a view to retirement. At the same time, half of the survey participants also state that they cannot afford to save themselves financially, to save more for old age.
dpa
Source: Stern
