Berlin – More risk in the statutory pension insurance? A clear majority of people oppose the FDP’s goal of experimenting with pensions on the capital market. Two thirds (67%) of those entitled to vote reject the goal of the Federal Minister of Finance and FDP leader Christian Lindner of investing part of the pension contributions in the financial markets as a “share pension” in the future. This is the result of a survey by Kantar Public on behalf of IG Metall. Under the motto “No roulette with our pension!” trade unionists showed what they think of the FDP’s plans on the Friday before the FDP party conference in Berlin.
Even FDP voters are largely skeptical: 42 percent reject this system change to finance pension entitlements. 61 percent of the FDP supporters even say that they basically have little trust in Christian Lindner when it comes to pension policy. Among all eligible voters, 74 percent distrust the Federal Minister of Finance.
Basically, 90 percent of citizens prefer security and predictability when financing their old-age provision to high returns with greater risk. And if funds from the statutory pension insurance were invested in the capital market, 64 percent demand that the insured do not bear the risk of losses.
IG Metall warns against allowing the planned regulations on “generational capital” to become a precursor to the FDP stock pension. Executive Board member Hans-Jürgen Urban said: “Investing additional funds from the state budget in a fund to stabilize pension contributions is one thing. However, red lines are crossed when speculation is made with pension contributions and pension payments depend on investment success.”
With a roulette table and a Christian Lindner double, IG Metall protested at the FDP party conference against speculation at the expense of pensioners (see photo). Urban: “Equity markets are no guarantee for secure pensions. The insured need a double firewall: Politicians must protect contributions and pensions from volatile financial markets.”
Instead of a risky investment of pension contributions, IG Metall is calling for a fundamental reorganization of old-age security and solidarity-based financing of pensions. Hans-Jürgen Urban: “In order to make the statutory pension future-proof, we need solidarity reforms and not financial market experiments. The introduction of a solidary employment insurance, higher tax subsidies and moderately increasing contributions are the central levers for this.”
Survey: Representative study by Kantar Public on behalf of IG Metall