Your pension has a bug – and it’s the same bug all over Europe
Pay-as-you-go pensions run on one equation, and ageing breaks it from Lisbon to Warsaw. Seven countries compared, Germany worked through.
Read// 0x03 pension
Your pension has a bug. Patch it yourself.
Pay-as-you-go pensions need lots of workers per pensioner. Europe has fewer every year, and the hole gets plugged with tax money that was promised to someone else long ago. So I ran the numbers twice: once with what politicians promise, once with what the budget can carry. Guess which one looks nicer. Treat the state pension as a bonus. Then every euro that does show up is good news.
// the bug report
Four numbers no pension statement shouts about.
42.0 → 76.6Italy: people over 65 per 100 of working age, 2024 → 2054
Every one of them would like a pension. Somebody has to pay it. Guess who.
39.8 → 59.7Germany, same measure
Europe’s biggest economy. Not Europe’s exception.
0.5%Iceland: state pension as share of an average salary
After a full career. The lowest in this list, and at least honest about it.
74Denmark: retirement age for today’s starters
The cheapest pension reform: move the finish line.
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance 2025. Figures for an average earner, public pension only. Checked 2026-09.
// read these first
The short list.
// do the maths