Cash injection
Pension gap? Does not have to be! – This is how you start preparing
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Finally traveling, finally catching up on all the nice things for which there was never time before retirement. Free time is now there, but is there enough money for all the dreams? Only if we close our pension gap early. How it works? So!
The end of your working hours is approaching. You look forward to a good, relaxed and beautiful life in retirement. And suddenly you realize that your pension is not enough back and forth! Nothing lying under palm trees, no hobbies or weekend trips with friends. Everything is not included.
Up until 2002 this was not uncommon, as pension notices were only available on request. In the meantime, everyone over the age of 27 who has paid into the pension scheme for at least five years receives a kind of bank statement. But far too many still ignore the fact that the statutory pension alone does not mean a carefree life.
Keep your eyes peeled for retirement!
"Oh, it'll be forever until I retire. Who knows what's up until then." – Very few people want to deal with pensions, finances, investments and the like on a voluntary basis. Instead, what is in store for us is simply ignored. It is still mainly us women who are affected by poverty in old age. Mothers take parental leave, work part-time, or stay at home completely. But even at work, women still earn around 21 percent less than their male colleagues, which also has an impact on pensions. This makes it all the more important to find arrangements for old-age provision together as a couple, instead of pushing the subject off or blindly leaving it to others.
You don't have to make life unnecessarily difficult for yourself; in truth, it isn't as complicated as it looks with old-age provision. You just have to just start and you will be rewarded for sure. AND: Even small livestock make crap. Really!
By the way: Anyone who has brought up children is credited with child-rearing periods and child-consideration periods for the pension. These parental leave periods must be reported independently, only then will the state pay the average pension points into your account for this period. If not measured by your salary, but still better than nothing. You can find more information on this at www.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de.
I'm married, nothing happens to me
As Helma Sick and Renate Schmidt write so beautifully: A man is not a pension plan. At least not one to rely on. Because: you never know how it will happen. You may be happy for the rest of your life. Then of course this model works. However, many marriages fail for a variety of reasons and usually the woman chooses the shorter one, simply because her pension is already lower for the reasons mentioned above.
Filling the pension gap: how much money do I need in old age?
How much money you need in retirement is an individual question. But basically you should think about the following: While the costs for endowment and pension insurance in retirement are eliminated, the property – if available – is at best paid off and the children are out of the house, the costs for health services and health insurance will probably rise. In addition, of course, there should also be money for hobbies, travel and a bit of everyday luxury.
As a rule, it is assumed that around 80 percent of the last net income is needed to maintain the current standard of living and to be able to treat yourself to a little something at the same time. In order to find out how big your pension gap is, you have to take a cash drop now.
Ready to go on the computer!
The pension gap or pension gap refers to the difference between your income from pension and private provision and the money that you need or want to have available each month to live.
Kassensturz – all cards on the table
You should collect these documents once:
- Pension notice: it is better not to expect rising pensions here, the level will probably continue to fall
- Insurance: Insurance companies report the current status of endowment and life insurance policies once a year
- If available: Income from real estate and capital assets
You can easily calculate your pension gap with the gross / net pension calculator. In addition to the expected salary increase, this also takes into account the inflation rate. You can now continue working with this number.
For example, if you have private pension insurance, a Riester or income from real estate, you can deduct this from your pension gap and see which gap still needs to be filled.
Shocked by the result? Don't bury your head in the sand!
No matter how old you are, there is always something you can do. It is not too late to invest in your own future. In the coming weeks we will explain how you can best do it on Barbara.de.
You can also find important information about finances for women in Natascha Wegelin's book "How women can take their finances into their own hands", at Helma Sick and Renate Fritz "Reich in Rente" and our Brigitte podcast "What the Finance".