Many people start putting money aside early on.

Parents, grandparents or godparents often do it first before they can do it themselves.

Some of these savers also know very well at a young age what they are saving for, such as living with their family in their own four walls.

Those who are able to realize such a dream goal early on can benefit greatly from it, especially in old age.

This is the result of an analysis of the LBS Group, the building societies of the savings banks.

Kerstin Papon

Editor in Business.

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According to the LBS, the acquisition of residential property is usually a challenge for young people.

Because they often have to severely limit themselves financially in order to be able to pay the loan installments.

The savings and earnings are usually still low.

The authors of the LBS study write that it is worthwhile, however, because owner-occupied housing is practiced old-age provision.

Hardly anything illustrates this as vividly as a comparison of the housing costs of households with similar incomes in different age groups.

The comparison was carried out by the Berlin research institute Empirica on the basis of the income and consumer sample (EVS) from the Federal Statistical Office from 2018. For this purpose, 60,000 households are surveyed every five years about their living conditions, assets and income.

Owners have lower housing costs

According to this, tenants with a monthly net household income of 2,000 to 3,000 euros at retirement age paid an average of around 640 euros in rent per month (ancillary costs included).

On the other hand, owner-occupiers of this age would have had to pay an average of 435 euros in monthly housing costs.

The database is from 2018, say the LBS experts when asked.

However, the statements are still true.

Because if the debts were lower or if they were repaid first, then the burden on the property owners would be much lower.

With the new EVS data in the coming year, only the prices are likely to be significantly higher.

What scares many people: According to the Federal Statistical Office, inflation in Germany rose from 7.5 percent in July to an estimated 7.9 percent in August.

Above all, high energy prices are seen as a driver.

Not only in this environment do many people worry about money and their lives, especially in old age.

According to a representative survey by the German Institute for Old-Age Provision, the sharp increase in the price of food, energy and other items is also having an impact on the precautionary behavior of German citizens.

Just under a quarter of those surveyed said they stopped paying into existing savings contracts as a result, women more often than men.

But everything has its price: according to the LBS experts, real estate owners would buy their advantage through higher housing costs at a young age.

In the age group of less than 40 years, for example, an average of 725 euros was incurred in 2018 for interest, repayment and additional costs.

In contrast, the average gross rent including heating for people of the same age was only 628 euros.

Benefits before retirement

However, owners do not have to wait until retirement to benefit.

Even in the group of 40 to 54-year-old Germans, and thus mostly in the late family phase, in which the education of the children often costs a lot, their housing costs are somewhat lower as a percentage of their net income.

The age at which owner-occupiers are better off than tenants in terms of costs also depends on where they live.

According to the study, the time is reached at the earliest in cities with 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants.

In larger metropolises, for example, it takes longer, mainly because the age at which people start owning their own home is higher.

This is due to the expensive real estate there and the high proportion of academics, many of whom would start their families comparatively late.

In smaller towns and communities, on the other hand, the lower rents in rural regions and in the environs of large cities should also have an impact on the fact that newcomers who “flee the city” tend to buy real estate at a higher age.

But the value of your own four walls is of course not only noticeable in financial terms.

According to Empirica, owners with a similar income usually have a better quality of life than tenants - with more space, better facilities and better location.

In addition, there are other, non-statistically measurable factors that generally make a clear difference between living in your own four walls and living in a rented property.

A lack of worries about rent increases or possible terminations are just a few examples.

But even a house or your own apartment must be maintained and, if necessary, renovated, which can sometimes be associated with high costs.

Nevertheless, the feeling of more freedom and space for development should not be shaken - at least if the financial things are planned with foresight and are well regulated.