Finance and insurance in Germany and Canada compared

Being a business major, I have always thought that the majority of our studies will involve theories involving business and finance. There will be some practical applications that may or may not benefit our studies but are nevertheless it is there, a part of the program for our particular degree. It could be there for the very purpose of serving as a buffer – although I do not believe this reason. But I recently encountered a project that is quite practical in nature and also taught us a lot of things in the process.

German finance marketing project

The project was to compare the German finance market from its counterpart in Canada. The purpose of the exercise is to find out if there are any differences between the two and what they are if ever. This was of particular interest to us because we have not done anything like this before. We are eager to find out whether the two countries’ financial markets are more of the same or if they are different right down to the very foundations of the market.

My classmates and I decided to discuss the topic and also to share what we know about the German finance market. The discussion became very interesting and quite lively. One thing that we have discovered through our own research and talking amongst ourselves is that there are some similarities between the Canadian and German finance markets but there are also some aspects that have a marked difference. For example when it comes to the subject of Krankenversicherung (health insurance) and Berufsunfähigkeit (occupational disability insurance), the two countries both have instituted effective and pro citizen policies on paper.

But the difference is that in Canada these insurance types are also becoming quite a relief to Canadian citizens on the implementation level, but in Germany, the ineffectual attempts to try and fix the finances of the health insurance system has not resulted in anything positive and it still failed to control rising costs for this service. There is even talk of completely overhauling the system, and this could possibly mean performing what could probably be the largest overhaul for the system.

Loans in Germany

Taking out loans or Kredite is also being subjected to quite a work out in the German finance market because of the market has been maintained closed by the government – This can be evidenced in the fact that any kind of transaction that you make in a German bank in the country requires the person to pay fees for almost all transactions and processes that are done inside the establishment.

The extra charges imposed by the financial institutions is not only hurting credit but also the processing and the price of such institutional services as Altersvorsorge (pension insurance) and Autoversicherung (car insurance). With a domestic finance market that has managed to be closed for quite some time, the effects of the policy is now being felt more and more by the consumer. This is basically the reason for higher interest rates on loans and a more expensive overall cost for acquiring the aforementioned insurance instruments.