Just before the new pension‑reform bill is brought to the Bundestag this Thursday, consumer‑protection groups warn that private retirement savings may fail once more. “History is repeating itself” Niels Nauhauser of the Verbraucherzentrale Baden‑Württemberg told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. “With this reform private pension will fail again”.
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) designed the overhaul to fix the shortcomings of the unpopular Riester pension. Yet the new law still relies on the private sale of financial products. Nauhauser criticises that, for lay people, nothing really changes: they remain at the mercy of financial brokers who will push products that bring the highest commissions.
According to the consumer advocate, the federal finance ministry is implementing a finance‑lobby agenda. As with Riester, society will discover in ten years that private retirement schemes continue to fall short for many citizens. He argues that a state‑run fund, modeled on the Swedish system, would be a better solution.
The cabinet approved Klingbeil’s plan in December. The reform will introduce, alongside existing guaranteed products, a new pension depot that offers higher market returns. The new products are set to become available in January 2027.
