Energy costs a factor as Germans worry about old-age poverty

German Chancellor Merkel surveys an offshore wind site [image credit: evwind.es]

The bad news for Germans is that energy costs as a percentage of income seem set to rise inexorably under current policies aimed at eliminating coal and nuclear power generation. That means spending even more on expensive and unreliable renewables plus vast new transmission lines, as well as importing more power when renewables fall short, with all the inevitable high costs these things incur. Of course Germans are far from the only ones facing these issues.

More and more Germans are worried about not being able to make ends meet when they retire, a new study has shown.

Rising energy costs and low interest rates are also feeding fears of financial insecurity, says DW.com.

With a rapidly aging population, Germany’s pension system is under stress, and rising living costs, low interest rates, and the growth of the temporary and low-wage employment mean that many people face challenges to achieving financial security for their retirement.

“Many Germans no longer think that their pension is secure,” said Bernhard Lorentz, one of the study’s authors and the head of EY’s Government & Public Sector. “Politicians must take these worries seriously.”

“The low interest rates we currently have are making it much more difficult to build wealth and prepare privately for retirement,” he added.

Illness, environment also cause worry

For the second year in the row, the fear of poverty in old age was the fastest growing category. A total 56 percent of all respondents were either very or slightly scared of financial insecurity in old age, an 18 percent jump from 2017.

This fear did not top the study’s list of things Germans are worried about, however. More people said they were scared of illness, environmental pollution and a “refugee crisis” in Europe.

However, 69 percent of respondents said they were very or slightly worried about rising energy costs, an increase of 15 percent from 2017, while 71 percent feared increasing cost of living, a 16 percent increase.

EY conducted their study at the end of November, polling some 1,000 consumers via telephone in a representative survey.

Continued here.