Title: Pension adjustment and its problems. A critical overview of the measures, exemplified on the basis of the German pension scheme

Authors: Katharina Kröger

Addresses: Economics and Demography, Institute for Gerontology, University of Vechta, Driverstr. 22, D – 49377 Vechta, Germany

Abstract: German citizens claiming an old-age pension have long been encouraged to have benefits coming from different pension schemes. It is not known, however, whether this mixed source system can continue to perform adequately since measures for adjusting pension payments to reflect economic changes vary according to the sources of pension income. A pensioner who finds their income from one strand of their pension scheme reducing cannot be sure that another strand will compensate, and that poses a threat to their level of financial security. The aim of this paper is to analyse the adjustments made to retirement incomes from the theoretical point of view, as well as to show the opportunities and risks presented by the mixed source systems of old-age pension provision. The paper gives a brief overview of the German pension adjustment system, which will be used to illustrate purchasing power risks. The results will provide useful information for social partners and policy makers, which could assist a target-oriented review of pension schemes.

Keywords: pension adjustments; Germany; old-age provision; old-age pensions; benefits; mixed source systems; pension payments; economic changes; pension incomes; income sources; pensioners; income strands; financial security; opportunities; risks; purchasing power; inflation; indexation; adjustment systems; social partners; policy makers; target-oriented reviews; pension schemes; state pensions; old people; elderly people; income changes; security levels; healthcare research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2011.043418

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2011 Vol.2 No.4, pp.375 - 394

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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