Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Hand up who knows a government that would survive this...

Merkel and Kohl were not that far off. And if we consider not only real democracies but also "flawless" ones, we can find a few more governments.

We have this in our own hands by correcting the demographics. Have children, at least two. Then it will be fine again.

Been there, done that. :cool:

So I lived in AUS for 3 months, but didn’t work. Basically it was an extended family visit/holiday. In that respect, I was not familiar with the pension system in detail, especially since my father only had tourist visas for repeated exits and entries and his wife was a guardian there.

But I think I read something back then and remember that it didn’t seem totally stupid to me.

But in my opinion and from my experience in Queensland, owner-occupied housing is rather of poorer standard in substance (thin wooden stud frame with single-layered plasterboard).

I find the Australian pension system alienating. I know from family circles that a retiree who was a teacher there all her life has to be afraid that she will run out of money in old age. She currently lives in a property she owns and is using up savings. Either you have privately secured a pension there, or you somehow get nothing. If her cash assets ran out, she would have to sell the house first before she gets something from the state like Hartz 4. I find that somehow harsh.

Merkel and Kohl were not that far apart. And if we consider not only real democracies but also "flawless" ones, then a few more governments can be found.

Fair enough ;)

I actually wanted to point out that demography is not the root of the problem, but that the productivity growth of the last decades(!) has not proportionally ended up in the pension fund. Demography is an aggravating factor, not the cause.

And having more children may ease matters in 20+ years, but before that they have aggravated them for two decades.

It’s easier said than done - in more ways than one.

Above all, the transition phase must be taken into account, which takes about 20 to 30 years, during which old and new cases exist side by side, and these generations definitely have to bear more burden, and that is also the main reason why no one dares to tackle it.

I actually wanted to point out that demography is not the root of the problem, but that the productivity growth of recent decades(!) has not proportionally ended up in the pension fund. Demography is an aggravating factor, not the cause.

You are right about that. However, the problem is not just the short-sightedness of governments. Our entire social system is built on the production factor labor. This now becomes a double problem. On the one hand, demography is unfavorable; on the other hand, the capital factor has performed significantly better in recent decades. The Riester pension originally aimed somewhat in that direction, and people were supposed to build up a pension on the capital market in addition to the statutory pension insurance (GRV). Unfortunately, in Germany we basically consider the stock market to be as much of the devil as personal responsibility and have focused on how to protect people from losses. What resulted was a state-subsidized pension provision through insurance (after all, professionals make the decisions there!) and with a contribution guarantee (who would invest in something that pays out less in the end?). In doing so, it was ignored that, on the one hand, professionals do not make better decisions, that they generate a lot of costs, and that the guarantee leads to 90% of the portfolio being tied up in government bonds due to low interest rates. In the end, a return of almost nothing comes out, and that before costs. A similar problem exists with occupational pensions (BAV). A construct similar to a 401k would be far superior.

Residential property, in my opinion and from my experience in Queensland, is rather poor quality in substance (thin timber framing with single-layer plasterboard).

Change things for a different climate. Australia simply has the exact opposite focus compared to Germany. Namely, you have three seasons where you want to get the heat out of the house as quickly as possible, and in winter you just throw another blanket on. That also has different advantages or disadvantages. For example, if I want to lay another cable, I don’t have to tear open the entire wall. But I also have to admit that there are no strict standards for house construction in Australia. I have friends who get upset about that. The fact that, with climate change, Germany’s weather is moving more towards Australia’s, I find quite striking. I don’t find it so bad; with the low humidity here, it is actually better than in QLD. However, I insist on having air conditioning in our houses because I see how my mother copes with the heat there at an older age. You can also see this with the heatwaves in recent years in France, etc.