2013 Conference

Financial Services

Financial Services

In the course of the ongoing debate regarding the critique of the German Riester pension the Swedish premium pension has often been referred to as a role model regarding potential amendments and reforms. The Swedish pension reform of 1998 has led to a reorganization towards a stratified scheme, consisting of a pay-as-you-go and a fully funded element. The mandatory implementation of the Swedish premium pension has proved to be the major difference in comparison to the voluntary German Riester pension. In addition, numerous differences between the two systems can be outlined, of which most are due to the differing methods of implementation in the country’s old age provision system. This paper evaluates the possibilities and limitations of a complete adaptation of the Swedish premium pension (German premium pension) as well as a partial modification of the existing Riester scheme (Swedish-Riester). It becomes evident, that despite systematic differences between the two schemes, the German Riester pension can in particular benefit from the Swedish premium pension with regard to transparent, coherent and consistent product information.