The capital pension - liberation or risk?

Capital pension: liberation for the pension or risk? As of: October 22, 2026 • 11:24 a.m

From 2028, capital pensions will complement the German pension system: contributions will be invested in funds to strengthen retirement provision. Can the capital pension fulfill the great hopes?

The "birth certificate" of the capital pension is Recommendation 28 of the Old Age Security Commission: "The Commission recommends the introduction of a mandatory funded pension component within the framework of the GRV (statutory capital pension)".

What does that bring? The CDU politician Pascal Reddig describes a fictitious model career starter in his Bundestag office. He is in his early 20s and has statutory pension insurance. "If he pays two contribution rate points into such a capital pension, then he can get over 770 additional euros in pension in old age - calculated in today's euros."

Good for the fictional young professional - especially if he doesn't start with a top income and can put a lot aside privately for old age. Or as the Pension Commission discussed: "How can we reverse the dilemma that the contribution rates continue to rise and the pension level in Germany is falling? And the only way forward, if we want to finance it somehow, is to rely more heavily on funded pension provision."

The Pension Commission is presenting its recommendations today. But the proposals have already leaked. more

The plan: The pension contribution will increase from 2028. Halfway gently in several annual 0.5% increments until the planned two percentage points are reached. This additional contribution goes month after month into an extra account with the statutory pension insurance. This income is then invested on the capital market, controlled, certified, without political influence and - importantly - with effective costs of a maximum of 0.1 percent per year.

The Pension Commission suggests that everyone can choose between two options: either a “public, internationally competitive fund”, such as. B. the Fund for Financing Nuclear Waste Management - KENFO.

Anyone who does not want to pay into such a public fund should be able to choose between a limited selection of specially approved investment funds. In both cases, additional income is to be generated, which will make the pension system more independent of demographic developments.

Berlin member of the Bundestag Annika Klose knows how much money is transferred to stocks and equity funds; she sat on the old-age security commission for the SPD: "If you now have the full two contribution rate points, then you are talking about a roughly calculated amount of over 35 billion euros annually." Always in addition to the classic income from the statutory pension, which is currently a good 420 billion per year.

For Annika Klose, the addition planned with the pension reform is not a free-floating idea that could come: "I consider the new capital pillar to be the core."

Opinions about the timetable for the reform also differ among the parliamentary group leaders of the Union and SPD. more

If it works to generate a similar return for legally insured pensioners as the models in Norway or Sweden: In the period from 2000 to 2025, the Swedish standard pension fund AP7 achieved an annual increase in value of 11%.

“Now you can say, maybe they were just lucky,” says CDU politician Reddig. But even in phases such as the financial crises or the bursting of the telecom bubble, there was a return of 11 percent.

Sweden's pension system as a model for Germany? Arne Bartram, ARD Stockholm, tagesschau, Das Erste, June 23rd, 2026 • 8:00 p.m. Schwerdtner: "What is certain is that the financial industry benefits" That may be true, interjects Left Party leader Ines Schwerdtner, who rejects the capital pension idea. Nobody can look into the future, says Schwerdtner, and the federal government doesn't know how safe the planned facilities are and whether the citizens will actually get anything in return.

"We live in very uncertain times, as everyone would agree. With wars and crises. It is certain that the financial industry benefits, but whether the citizens benefit from it is not at all certain."

This won't affect younger people as much as the fictional young professional from many calculation examples. Because with 45 years of contributions ahead of them, the capital markets should develop solidly. But SPD politician Annika Klose agrees with one thing: "It is more difficult in the early years, for the cohorts that are now five or ten years before retirement; for them it will be more noticeable if a financial market crisis should occur."

The Junge Union has long been a power factor in the party. The youngsters presented themselves accordingly confidently. more

In any case, the capital pension will not produce enough return in the first few years to immediately improve the pension solidly - there will have to be tax subsidies. Just one of a number of still unresolved problems if the statutory pension system, which was previously financed by a pay-as-you-go system, receives a completely new element. What role will this play in the future when it comes to reduced earning capacity or survivors' pensions?

The coalition's pension experts suspect that the new capital pension will be approved in principle in a reform law this year. Because of the many tricky details, the actual law will follow with a little more calm next spring. Just no careless mistakes.

And no argument like the one that broke out over the planned abolition of the so-called pension at 63. CDU politician Pascal Reddig says: "This is a big achievement. After we have discussed pension policy for many years, this is the first major reform in 20 years. And that's why we should implement it and not talk it out."

This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Oct 22, 2026 | 9:07 a.m