The president of the employers’ association Gesamtmetall, Stefan Wolf, has advocated a gradual increase in the retirement age to 70 years.
“If you look at the demographic development and the burden on the social and pension funds, then the reserves have been used up. We will have to work longer and more,” Wolf told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday). “Step by step we will have to go up to the retirement age of 70 years – also because the age continues to rise,” said the head of Gesamtmetall. Otherwise the system will no longer be financially viable in the medium term.
According to the current legal situation, the age limit for the pension will be gradually raised from 65 to 67 years without deductions by 2029. Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) rejects a further increase. As early as May, after a push by economists to retire at 70, he said: “We have agreed in the coalition that we will not increase the statutory retirement age. And nothing will change that.”
To ensure that no gas supplier has to file for bankruptcy due to increased purchase prices, all end customers are to pay a levy for a year and a half from October. Consumers are faced with significant price increases: up to 254 percent.
The expensive shock is spreading throughout Germany. More and more companies are suffering from the rising gas and food prices. So does the baker Achim Dörzbach from Baden-Württemberg. He has to close down now.
Germany is in the midst of a price shock, in addition to energy, food, clothing and many other areas of life are becoming increasingly expensive. Now a Savings Bank President is sounding the alarm: Because the persistently high inflation rate is putting pressure on the money reserves of Germans.
