The popular saying is Germany is a country of savers and lately I wonder if that’s still true. What I observe is a high degree of natural frugality but I can’t confirm if that translates to savings. My understanding is money is a topic people typically shy away from but I’ve heard the dating scene is different. I have heard stories of direct questions on salaries, apartment size and how you spend on first dates. I personally hope that the frugality translates to a high savings rate and these savings are invested.
Since I have no way to know what people earn, save and invest, I am going to use publicly available data from Destatis to make hypothetical earn, save, invest scenarios. I will use the output to generate savings rate, networth calculation, FI number and years to work optionality.
I am very excited to do this as my aim is to also show how everyone on the earning spectrum can work towards financial independence. I know there’s social security protection in Germany but this is under pressure more than ever. Additionally, pension payments in retirement is nowhere close to what is currently earned. I regularly check my pension status on Pensionfriend and find myself sending more money to my brokerage after clutching my pearls. Yes, there’s quite a gap between my current living cost and what I will get as pension payouts. Stack that with my desire to be work optional and take time off work as soon as possible and the gap widens.
This series will definitely force me to reflect on my own finances, how I track versus others and hopefully throw up new opportunities for me to improve.
“All information shared on my page and for the German income series are for entertainment only and do not constitute financial advice”