Author: Dr. Carroll Haak/Location: Berlin
The conclusion of so-called Riester-contracts (optional and tax-subsidised pension scheme to compensate for cuts in state pension, named after the former Federal Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, Walter Riester) is pos-sible since 2002. Consequently, if payments have been made since the im-plementation of the new provisons in 2002, the maximum duration of old-age provision expenditure will be seven years in 2009. The article analyzes the accrued savings in Riester pension plans to gain insights regarding the assessment of the individual economic success of tax-subsidised pension provision. The analysis is based on the survey “Individual Old-Age Provision 2009” (“Individuelle Altersvorsorge 2009 – IAV 2009”). This survey provided data about the distribution of pension entitlements in the three tiers of pen-sion provision for the birth cohorts 1942 to 1961
