A look at the programs of the parties with greater hope of a seat at the coalition negotiating table reveals little about the future role of the share.

Other topics such as climate, health, mobility and digitization determine the discourse.

There is a lot to be said about the possibility for companies to obtain money on the stock and capital markets in order to produce innovations in the aforementioned fields.

For individuals, however, two areas in particular are likely to be relevant in connection with stocks: retirement provision and taxes.

Gregor Brunner

Editor in business.

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Most parties agree on the pension. The previous pay-as-you-go model continues to receive support from all parties, but has reached its limits and needs to be supported by additional pillars. The proposals of the Union, SPD, FDP and Greens all go in the direction of a new component with funded old-age provision. There are differences in the specific design.

The SPD would like to introduce a "new standardized offer that is inexpensive, digital and cross-border and (according to the Swedish model) is also offered by a public institution". There is no mention of stocks, but the reference to Sweden suggests the form of a broadly investing pension fund. The FDP, which advocates a statutory share pension, also looks to the north. Currently, 18.6 percent of gross income goes into the statutory pension insurance.

According to the ideas of the free democrats, only 16.6 percent will flow there in the future and 2 percent into an independently managed fund.

The CDU and CSU speak of a generational pension that could be designed with a "state monthly contribution to investment in a pension fund - with protection from state access".

The Greens want to replace the Riester and Rürup pensions with a publicly and politically independent managed “citizen fund”, into which all citizens who do not actively object.

It is important to the party that the fund should invest based on sustainable criteria.

Good basis for negotiations

Gerrit Fey, head of the capital markets department at Deutsches Aktieninstitut, sees the statements made by most of the parties on old-age provision as a good basis for possible coalition negotiations. “The negotiating partners will juxtapose their various concepts and hopefully pull themselves together. It would be a bad signal if no agreement was reached to strengthen retirement provision with stocks. "

With regard to the introduction of a share-based pension fund, Henning Bergmann, Managing Director of the German Derivatives Association (DDV), points out that contributors also bear the risk of the volatility of the shares.

“Citizens need to know about the risks and be able to make informed choices.

Because, unlike Riester, there is currently no mention of a guarantee obligation for contributions paid in the debates. "

The tax plans of the parties will certainly have an impact on retirement provision.

Should the role of the share in saving and provision - regardless of whether it is privately or state-organized - be brought forward, it would be counterproductive to further disadvantage them from a tax point of view.

A withholding tax of 25 percent currently applies to the sale of shares with price gains and dividends.

A saver tax exemption of 801 euros applies for single persons and 1602 euros for married couples.

The SPD does not want to shake this system, the Union and FDP increase tax exemptions.

The latter also wants to introduce a speculation period of three years, after which profits can be collected tax-free.

The Greens would like to receive the tax, but see it as an advance payment for the individual income tax, which is ultimately to be applied to capital gains, while maintaining the tax exemptions.

This could lead to significantly higher taxes for individuals.

One project that has been under discussion since 2008 is the financial transaction tax.

The Union, the SPD and the Greens want to introduce one.

The FDP opposes it.

Proponents want to implement the tax in harmony with European partners.

However, the actual introduction is doubted.

Shares are becoming indispensable

Bergmann refers to the German EU Council Presidency in 2020, during which the Ministry of Finance announced the implementation of the project in increased cooperation with several other EU countries.

"The fact that no result was achieved even on this occasion shows how divided the states are among one another."

Fey warns of the contrary signals for savers: “Equities are needed as a long-term investment option with attractive returns for asset accumulation and retirement provision.

Therefore, long-term equity investments must be relieved of tax and the financial transaction tax project must finally be shelved. "

Even if the stock is currently taking up little space in the election campaign, it could become an important point of discussion during the coalition negotiations.

There is no getting around a reform of the pension system.

The parties largely agree on a funded support.

It is a matter of dispute which tax system should frame old-age provision in the future.

In each of the conceivable constellations “traffic lights” or “Jamaica” there will be a party that has to jump over its shadow and risk disappointed voters.