41,126,000 front doors.
Almost everyone in Germany has a Girokonto. Yet 31.9% of people live in households that could not pay an unexpected bill from their own money.
Come inThe deal at thirty
Turn the dial to a birth year and read what a home loan, prices and owning looked like at thirty. Before 1991 the rate and price lines describe West Germany; ownership counts households headed by 25 to 34 year olds.
Twelve doors. Eight drives.
Eight lives found in every edition, and four that belong here: the single parent, the care home bill, life after the Wende and the first generation who came to work.
Spin the year.
From Weihnachtsgeld and the Nebenkostenabrechnung to the new prices of 1 January, the staggered summer holidays and the July pension rise: when money moves, November 2026 to October 2027.
Twelve moves worth making.
Each sized from a published figure. None lends to someone already in difficulty. Some are table stakes, already required or widely shipped; the rest go beyond the mandate, and those lead.
Three home truths.
The pulse right now.
Germany, side by side.
The same measure, on the same definition where one exists, in six rich countries. Germany is the filled dot. Each line runs from the lowest of the six to the highest, or from zero for shares. Tap a row for the figures and the source.
Honest numbers argue.
Where good sources disagree, we show both and say why.
Sources and method.
All sources
Built 14 November 2026. Every number carries its source and a confidence grade: H high, M medium, L low, U unverified. Lives are overlapping archetypes, not a census. Quotes are from published reporting and link to the original.
© 2026 Ben Yamin. All rights reserved.
Home Truths is an independent analysis for information only. It is not financial, investment or legal advice, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by any bank, government body or the organisations cited. Source data, map boundaries and quoted words remain the property of their owners and are used under their licences or as attributed quotation.