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Financial Literacy and Retirement Savings in Germany

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  • Ivonne Honekamp

Abstract

The German pension reforms in 2001 and 2004 increased the importance of private supplemental savings for retirement. Calculating the appropriate retirement income needed and choosing the right product postulates some degree of financial knowledge, also referred to as financial literacy. This paper investigates the relationship between financial literacy and private retirement savings. Germans seem to have a good grasp of basic financial concepts. However, individuals with low education face some problems and at the same time seldom possess a private retirement account. This is different for women, who are less literate than men, but not less likely to save for retirement.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivonne Honekamp, 2012. "Financial Literacy and Retirement Savings in Germany," NFI Working Papers 2012-WP-03, Indiana State University, Scott College of Business, Networks Financial Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:nfi:nfiwps:2012-wp-03
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    Cited by:

    1. Gianni Nicolini & Marlene Haupt, 2019. "The Assessment of Financial Literacy: New Evidence from Europe," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Rob Ranyard & Simon McNair & Gianni Nicolini & Darren Duxbury, 2020. "An item response theory approach to constructing and evaluating brief and in‐depth financial literacy scales," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 1121-1156, September.

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