Overview

• DIW experts have suggested adding a "Boomer-Soli" surcharge on retirement incomes that exceed a set threshold to shore up the pay-as-you-go pension system.
• According to the DIW report, the extra levy could boost the system’s financial stability in the face of long-term demographic challenges.
• The German Trade Union Confederation dismissed the proposal as unfair redistribution among retirees and faulted the plan for excluding other major income sources like rents and corporate profits.
• CDU lawmaker Gitta Connemann argued that retirees cannot be informed overnight of a retroactive cut of up to 10 percent in their expected benefits.
• No formal legislative measures have been introduced and the proposal now awaits recommendations from a newly formed cross-party pension commission.