Surprises in a Growing Market Niche - An Evaluation of the German Private Annuities Market

Abstract

High replacement rates from public old age insurance might lead to the belief that little room is left for private sector annuities in Germany. Taking a closer look, we find a small market with a surprisingly large variety of products. Due to the recent pension reform and future ones to come the market is projected to grow substantially in the upcoming years. This paper describes the available annuity contracts and determines their money’s worth for different subgroups of the population.