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This pension supplement can change a lot
Updated June 29, 2026 – 11:12 am.Reading time: 5 min.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz: He insists on accelerating the payment of stock pensions – billions should be placed on the stock exchange. (Source: Lisa Johannsen)
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What if some of your future pension contributions were invested in stocks? Other countries have been making billions from this for years – in Germany skepticism still prevails. Now that may change.
The Pension Commission recommends legislatively Interest to complement financed elements. In particular, we are talking about the state capital pension according to the Swedish model. In the long term, their income should help stabilize pension levels, especially for the younger generation.
But what does this mean exactly? How much money would the government have to invest for such a fund to have an impact? Why are countries like this? Sweden And Norway been successful at this for years? What risks arise if part of your pension money is invested in capital markets?
The fears are certainly justified, says financial expert Christian Röhl. However, in the end it is the result that matters. This may be the strongest argument in favor of a funded pension.
Contributory pension: why a rethink is needed now
The Pension Commission does not want to replace the funded pension, but to add a funded part. Christian Röhl, chief economist at Scalable Capital, talks about a paradigm shift, but above all an overdue step. “We simply cannot afford to give up the wealth-creating power of capital markets when it comes to securing the future,” he explains.
However, creating a capital pension requires one thing above all: time and a lot of money. According to the Commission, ideally the capital stock should grow over a decade. At the same time, the current level of pensions should remain stable. To this end, the Commission proposes a transition coefficient, which is intended to ensure the financial security of the transition from the current pension system to the later funded supplementary pension.
- Merz and Bass: Fully and quickly implement pension proposals
Presenting the 33 recommendations, Chancellor Merz spoke of “at least 30 billion euros” that could be invested additionally each year. This would correspond to approximately two additional percentage points of pension contributions. Under the Commission’s proposals, workers and employers would each contribute half of this start-up funding.
From generational capital to fund pensions
The traffic light government has already developed a similar concept in 2023 with so-called generation capital. Then ten billion euros were initially allocated. Payments would then have to increase by three percent annually and be financed from federal funds rather than from pension contributions.
Compared to this, the currently discussed 30 billion euros seems significantly more ambitious. However, on an international scale, it is quickly becoming clear that even this amount will only be a starting point. Compared to the sovereign wealth funds of Norway or Sweden, Germany is only at the beginning of long-term wealth creation.
Norway and Sweden: this is how the model works
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund (Government Pension Fund Global) currently manages a record €1.8 trillion to €1.9 trillion in assets, making it the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. If Germany were to pay €30 billion annually into the state pension fund, it would take about 63 years to achieve comparable assets.