The economist Martin Werding calls for a gradual increase in the retirement age to 69 years.
“We need a long-term plan for the state pension.
The discussion about reforming the system is inevitable and must not be postponed any longer," he told the "Bild" newspaper.
Otherwise, the false expectation would be raised that the entry age of 67 could always remain.
The economist, who has been a member of the German Council of Experts for the assessment of overall economic development since August, is in favor of linking the standard retirement age to life expectancy from 2030.
"According to the current statistical data, this would mean that retirement would be postponed by one month each year.
From about 2055 we would then be at an entry age of 69 years.” For people with health impairments, however, there must be hardship rules.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) had recently rejected calls for a further increase in the retirement age to over 67 years.
Such a step would be “wrong and unfair,” Heil told the “Rheinische Post” in mid-December.
This would mean "a real cut in pensions for many people who just can't work that long".