The 66-year-old pensioner Susanne now has almost more money than when she was working. She doesn’t actually need her extra income, she says. But it’s “great to have.”

When she was a little younger, she quickly “bought a lambskin coat for 1,500 euros during her lunch break.” Of course, she had a Porsche for a long time, but it had lost its appeal. “Maybe that’s part of it,” says 66-year-old pensioner Susanne to “Spiegel”.

Currently, around 3,438 euros in pension and company pension end up in her bank account every month. In addition, she has smaller income – the 870 euro rental income from an inherited house in southern Germany, for example. The fact that she didn’t sell the latter when a bank once offered her a seven-figure sum for it still gnaws at her today.

“Today the house is taking the opposite route to my apartment in northern Germany and is falling in value,” says Susanne. That’s terrible, a potential “money grab”.

But of course that’s not all. She earns around 77,000 euros a year through her freelance part-time work as a one-woman advertising agency. She doesn’t need the money, but it’s “great to have it.” In addition, she occasionally receives “some kind of bonus” from her last employer. “I didn’t complain,” says Susanne.

In general, money doesn’t play a big role in her life. After completing her teaching degree, she earned enough money in the advertising industry. Her partner also receives a pension and continues to work full-time. They hardly talked about money.

“Money is an issue, especially when you don’t have enough of it,” says Susanne. “Luckily that’s not the case for us!”

She once kept a cash book during her studies. But that is “extremely strenuous” and therefore not worth it. In general, she is a frugal person who doesn’t need any luxury.

She only goes on vacation with her partner once or maybe twice a year. For example, to England or Greece for a week. “They are not luxury holidays,” says Susanne. 8000 euros were enough for both of them together.

On the other hand, you can spend 400 euros on fancy food, that’s their weakness. But she doesn’t actually track these expenses that closely. “When we go out to eat, my partner usually pays for it,” says Susanne, “so I can’t say exactly what [we spend there].” Once a week they “at least go to a restaurant.”

These days, she also spends money on fashion more for fun than necessity. “It’s not always about needing,” says Susanne, “but about wanting.”

The case of a software engineer recently showed that not every high earner finds it easy to make provisions. Although he earns 10,600 euros a month, he said he could hardly save anything.

At best, he had 500 euros left, usually less, at the end of the month.