DARMSTADT / SÜDHESSEN – (red / ain). After the financial crisis more than ten years ago, central banks around the world cut interest rates. With low interest rates, the global economy should be revived. But ten years later, the European Central Bank remains on the same course. Did the Germans then change their saving behavior? A study by the polling institute Yougov on behalf of Commerzbank provides the answers.
Nationwide, 2000 people were interviewed, 100 of them in Hessen. Two thirds of the respondents in Hesse stated that their use of freely available money has changed in the past ten years. Just under a third invested more money in enjoyment and joie de vivre, for example for traveling or visiting restaurants. More than 20 percent increasingly bought consumer goods such as cars or technical devices. Investments in real estate were also popular: just under a fifth used the persistently low interest rates to invest in a house or apartment, for example in an energetic renovation. 16 percent bought a house or apartment. In some cases, however, excessive prices would be called, says Sven Hilpert, head of the Commerzbank Darmstadt branch with a view of the Darmstadt, Offenbach and Aschaffenburg region.
One in four Hesse states that, despite low interest rates, they put even more money in the savings book. However, Hilpert does not consider this a good option: “We manage 1.69 billion euros in private deposits here in the Darmstadt branch – and that completely without interest.” According to a Comdirect study, the loss in value since the end of 2010 has been 1638 euros per citizen. Nevertheless, according to the current Commerzbank survey, only 16 percent of those surveyed in Hessen invest more money in securities. Banks and savings banks in southern Hesse have been advising their customers for a number of years and are “missionary”, said Matthias Martiné, spokesman for the board of Volksbank Darmstadt-Südhessen eG when presenting the balance sheet in the spring.
Call money account offers illusion of security
After that, global stock prices plummeted and the economy was in a deep recession. “Anyone who now has the courage to invest in securities should achieve a decent return in the medium term,” says Chris-Oliver Schickentanz, chief investment strategist at Commerzbank. The capital markets should recover in the second half of the year.
But why do so many people find it so difficult? “For decades you could not go wrong with a savings book and call money account,” says Schickentanz. That burned in deeply. People have “immense fear of loss”. And the overnight deposit account still offers the illusion of security. In addition, many did not want to deal with the topic. According to the survey, just under a third of Hesse has found out about alternative investments in the past ten years.
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