New GIM Study: Retirement Savings Between Momentum and Acceptance Barriers

With the retirement savings account and the early-start pension, two new reform products are entering the market. Both are designed to connect private retirement savings more closely with capital market logic, government incentives and long-term wealth accumulation.

The new GIM study “Retirement Savings Account and Early-Start Pension: Between Momentum and Acceptance Barriers” shows that there is clear interest in these new products. However, acceptance will depend strongly on comprehensibility, trust and simple product logic.

A brief look at the findings: For the retirement savings account, 53% of respondents have already heard of the concept, and 63% rate it positively. The projected willingness to take out such a product in the first few years stands at 26%. Openness is particularly high among Riester pension users and financially knowledgeable target groups.

The early-start pension receives even stronger approval: 79% rate it positively, and 71% say they have fully understood the concept. The projected willingness to take out such a product stands at 37% – particularly high among parents who are already saving systematically for their children.

For product providers, such as fund, ETF and insurance companies, as well as banks and financial service providers, this creates a clear task: the new products need to be explained in simple terms, positioned credibly and translated for specific target groups – from security-oriented advice to ETF-related capital market logic.

The full study is available from GIM upon request.