Pensions have been a hot-button issue in Germany for many years, but this week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz himself reignited the controversy. "Statutory pension insurance alone will, at best, still provide only basic coverage for old age. It will no longer be sufficient to secure one's standard of living in the long term," Merz said at an event hosted by the Association of German Banks in Berlin. For that reason, additional funded elements of workplace and private retirement savings are necessary, the chancellor said: "And to a far greater extent than we currently have, which is largely based on voluntary participation." This would amount to placing greater emphasis on stocks and other forms of investment in the future, which would be a controversial strategy, because the stock market is subject to major price fluctuations. Today's gains can be tomorrow's losses — and vice versa.…