The announced reform of the funding of statutory health insurance providers lets health insurance funds levy unlimited additional lump-sum contributions. The associated reform of social compensation fixes two faulty designs of the current system. On the one hand, the determination of the amount...

Due to its complexity and incomprehensibility the mechanism for the annual pension adjustment in Germany has experienced rising criticism. We compare the actual formula and alternative adjustment proposals on the basis of different criteria. It will become evident that the current formula is...

The financial and economic crisis also left its mark on the privately funded old-age provision (Riester-Pension) in Germany: an analysis of the SAVE panel dataset shows that the coverage with Riester-contracts stagnated in 2008. Only households with low incomes exhibited small but positive...

Pensioners receive pension payments as well as health insurance and nursing insurance benefits. But pensioners are also contributors to the health and nursing insurance. So the pensioners fund part of the expenditures they cause by themselves. This study takes a closer look at the different...

The spread of the state subsidized private pension scheme (Riester pension), taken as a whole, still continues very dynamically. Ten years after the introduction of the Riester pension, however, its distribution among certain groups of the population remains fairly low. One reason seems to be...

Against the background of the increasing legal retirement age, broader opportunities for a smooth transition to retirement are often demanded for elderly workers who are disinclined or unable to continue working full-time. This study compares different options for a transition to retirement. It...

We examine financial literacy in Germany using data from the SAVE survey. We find that knowledge of basic financial concepts is lacking among women, the less educated, and those living in East Germany. In particular, those with low education and low income in East Germany have little financial...