"Time for a Change" - Veronika Grimm's Proposal for Inflation-Tied Pensions
Inflation-adjusted pension benefits to be implemented for economic growth.
Looks like economist Veronika Grimm has lit a fire under the new German government for shirking pension system solutions. She wants more than just pushing back the retirement age, you see.
In a heated Deutschlandfunk exchange, Grimm accused the government of drawing broad strokes in their coalition agreement, with vague talks of quick fixes abound. The agreement did promise to establish a pension commission, tasked with making reform proposals, but Grimm's not satisfied.
Why so grumpy, you ask? Grimm's got a bone to pick regarding pension age. She reckons it needs to swing along with longer life expectancy, not leisurely. Her plan involves incrementally nudging up the retirement age by about a year each decade. This, she explains, will keep the ratio of pensioners to workers in check. Current statutory retirement age, in case you're wondering, clocks in at 67 years.
But wait, there's more. She's got her eyes on those folks who can work up to the normal retirement age due to good health. Grimm wants to scrap the early pension for these lucky devils. What's more, she thinks existing pensions oughta swell in line with inflation, not wages. "Discomforting?" Grimm admits. "Yep, but necessary to secure our future," she says.
Grimm also claps back at Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Barbara Bas, who's pushing for boosting income by pulling civil servants into statutory pension insurance. Grimm views this as a bandage solution, a temporary fix masking higher costs. Bas' plan wouldn't fly unless civil servant claims were cut.
Instead, Grimm raises the question of whether certain professions should still be civil servants. She's talking about top-tier loyalty roles like law enforcement and the judiciary. Grimm's proposal? Ditch them from the civil service.
Sources: ntv.de, chl/dpa
- Pension
- Pension Policy
- Inflation
Additional Insights:
- Grimm's suggested measures aim to secure the sustainability of the pension system [1]. This involves both controlling expenditures through a higher retirement age and maintaining pensioners' real income by linking pensions to inflation.
[1] Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312813215_On_Theoretical_foundations_for_linking_pensions_to_inflation
The economist Veronika Grimm proposes tying pensions to inflation as part of her efforts to secure the sustainability of the pension system. This includes adjusting the pension policy to incrementally increase the retirement age.
Grimm's proposed measures for pension policy aim to control expenditures through a higher retirement age and maintain pensioners' real income by linking pensions to inflation, as revealed in her research.
