According to the Frankfurt banker Emmerich Müller, belief in the care of the state is slowing down the necessary rethinking of old-age provision in Germany.
“I do believe that we as a society will eventually become sensible and take the path of funded old-age provision. But that will still take time, especially until we, the spoiled baby boomers, lose influence,” said the CEO of Bankhaus B. Metzler seel . Son
“The younger generation is much more open to the topic of funded old-age provision than the older generation.” Younger people can no longer rely on receiving an adequate statutory pension in old age and are forced to invest more privately, for example through share savings plans.
“Generational Injustice”
“My impression is that a younger generation is sometimes more realistic about the question of pension provision,” said Müller. “We older people have been socialized for decades with the promise: The state will fix everything. This has led to us shifting more and more of the burdens of the future to the younger generation. We promise ourselves the pensions that young people have to pay. It’s a question of generational injustice.”
A main problem in Germany is “that for decades we have not allowed a large part of the population to participate in the positive development of productive assets,” said Müller that a sovereign wealth fund, for example, can achieve.”
In this context, Müller welcomed the initiative of the FDP federal ministers Christian Lindner (finance) and Marco Buschmann (justice) to use various measures to make shares in Germany more attractive. At the end of June, the two ministers presented key points for modernizing the capital market under the title “Future Financing Act”.
“The thrust is absolutely right, but it’s a long process,” said Müller. “We’re more open-minded than we were 10 or 20 years ago, but we’re still a long way from a general stock culture in Germany.”
