THE BEST POLICE: Finding your own way

The company pension is not only possible in the five implementation methods already mentioned, but also in three different forms: as a pure contribution promise (RBZ), where there is no pension guarantee whatsoever; as a contribution promise with a minimum benefit (BZML), where at least the amount of the contributions paid must be guaranteed; and as a contribution-oriented benefit promise (BOLZ), which is independent of a contribution guarantee, but where the benefit arising from the contributions must nevertheless be clearly defined – there is also a minimum benefit promised at the time of conclusion.

The direct insurance policies for occupational pension schemes analyzed and evaluated by FOCUS MONEY with Franke and Bornberg always focus on the BOLZ variant. They allow various high guarantees to be combined with promising investments. However, within this variant, employees can usually choose between different policy concepts. “It is important that customers not only focus on projections and predicted maturity values, but also understand how the respective product works,” says Michael Franke, managing partner of the analysis company Franke and Bornberg. “Because this is the only way to correctly assess the risk-reward ratio associated with the respective form of investment and find the right insurance solution.”

It all depends on individual taste: whether annual guarantees and surpluses (classic), bullet guarantees based on the same principle (new classic), a limited index participation instead of surpluses (classic index) or a division of the funds into investment pools with different focuses (hybrid policies). With guarantee-oriented hybrid policies, the guarantee level is ensured by continuously shifting the balance between security assets and return-oriented fund investments. With contribution-oriented hybrids, the customer decides on the distribution. But the principle always applies: the safer a product is, the more return opportunities it costs. Now the employee just has to decide.