We owe the elderly a happy life without worries, because they have built up everything we enjoy today. In reality, we often let them suffer with too little pension. Poverty in old age is the result – a disgrace.
Fewer and fewer active young people have to pay into the pension fund for the baby boomers. In Germany, pensioners receive only 51 percent pension after tax (net replacement rate), a disgrace for such a rich country in Europe.
The pension is secure, but it is losing its worth. Prices for energy and housing are also rising considerably. The result is a structural pension inequality.
Proposals:
- The exemplary pension systems of the Netherlands and Denmark should be adopted by other countries: The Dutch receive 100 percent of the net pension rate for average earners at the actual retirement age of 63. In the Netherlands everyone receives a basic pension of € 1200 without means test. For every year they live in the country, two percent is added for pensioners. The full rate is paid after 50 years. There are also private options. In Denmark, the net pension rate is 80 percent. The basic amount for everyone is € 847 per month. The maximum rate is paid to citizens who have lived in the country for at least 40 years. There is also a company pension scheme and private insurance.
- Moreover, pension payments should always be tax-free without unfair double and subsequent taxation – in other words, more net for all pensioners.