In the spring of 2016, more than seven years ago, the then Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) released the Riester pension for scrapping. “The Riester pension failed,” he said at the time. Federal Labor Minister Andrea Nahles (SPD) contradicted rather half-heartedly. One cannot simply speak of “failed”. But the high expectations associated with the Riester pension in the early 2000s have not been met.
Two federal governments and two expert commissions later, something could actually change. But what should change? Will there also be a government contribution guarantee for equity investments? What changes in the payout phase? Will all existing Riester contracts be changed accordingly? What about the idea of a government fund that everyone pays into? WORLD answers the most important questions.