Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

An Altersvorsorgedepot is a private retirement investment account that providers can offer from 2027. You pay money into your account and can invest it in products such as ETFs and other funds. Depending on your contract, you choose the investments yourself or your provider chooses them for you.

The account is offered through a certified retirement savings contract, which is subject to special legal rules. If you are eligible, you can receive government allowances and tax benefits. The value of your account depends on how the underlying investments perform and can fluctuate.

You can invest in ETFs and other funds in both types of account. They differ in which investments are allowed, how government support and taxation work, and when you can access your money.

What you can invest in

In an ordinary brokerage account, you can buy investments such as individual shares, bonds, ETFs and other funds, depending on what your bank offers. For an Altersvorsorgedepot, the law sets out which investments are allowed.

These include certain ETFs and other funds as well as certain public-sector bonds denominated in euros. You cannot buy individual shares, corporate bonds, structured certificates or crypto assets directly for your Altersvorsorgedepot. However, an approved ETF can hold shares in many companies, for example.

Which of the legally permitted investment products are offered for your Altersvorsorgedepot can vary by provider and contract. At the time of purchase, an ETF or other fund must be rated no higher than risk class 5 in its key information document (Basisinformationsblatt). ETFs and other funds in the higher risk classes 6 or 7 cannot be purchased.

Government support and taxes

In an ordinary brokerage account, you receive no allowances and no tax deduction for your contributions. Distributions and gains from sales can be taxed. For ETFs and other funds, a Vorabpauschale (a taxable advance amount) can also apply.

With an Altersvorsorgedepot, you can receive government allowances and tax benefits if you are eligible. During the saving phase, returns in the account are not taxed as they arise. This means money that would otherwise go toward tax can stay invested longer and earn further returns. On payout, subsidized contributions, the allowances and the returns on them are generally subject to income tax in full. Different rules apply to unsubsidized contributions. Find out more in the questions on government support and taxes.

When you can access your money

In an ordinary brokerage account, you can usually sell your investments at any time and use the proceeds as you wish. An Altersvorsorgedepot is intended for retirement. The payout phase generally cannot start before age 65. It can start earlier if you already receive a statutory old-age pension before then.

You cannot freely access the money before the payout phase starts. If subsidized capital is paid out outside the permitted rules, you usually have to repay the allowances and tax benefits attributable to it. An exception can apply under certain conditions for a home you own and live in yourself. Find out more under “Can I pause contributions or access my money before retirement?”

Costs

Similar costs can arise with both types of account, for example for account management, for buying and selling investments and for ETFs and other funds. Which costs arise and how high they are depend on the provider and the product.

Which account suits you?

Whether an Altersvorsorgedepot or an ordinary brokerage account suits you depends on factors including your eligibility, the costs and how flexibly you want to access your money. You can also use both types of account side by side.

Yes. The value of your Altersvorsorgedepot can fluctuate and can also fall below the total you have paid in yourself. There is no guarantee that your capital will be preserved. How much the value fluctuates depends on which ETFs, other funds or bonds your money is invested in and how it is spread across these investments.

If you want a guarantee, you can choose a guaranteed product instead. At the start of payouts, these products promise at least 80% or 100% of the contributions paid in. In exchange, the potential returns may be lower.

The risk does not end when the payout phase starts. In a payout plan, the remaining capital stays invested, so market losses can still reduce your payments at that stage.

The calculator shows a steady path with a fixed return and no market fluctuations. To see what this means for the results, read “How accurate are the calculator’s results?”.

Whether you can receive government support depends mainly on your employment and insurance status. What matters is whether you belong to a group of people defined by law. Residence, tax liability or citizenship alone is not enough.

The following people in particular are eligible in their own right.

• People with compulsory statutory pension insurance, for example employees and apprentices, people in a mini-job who are not exempt from compulsory pension insurance, self-employed people with compulsory insurance, parents with credited child-raising periods and family carers who are compulsorily insured because of the care they provide.
• Civil servants, judges and career soldiers, if they have agreed to their data being sent to the Central Allowance Office.
• From 2027, self-employed people and freelancers under 67 who have income from a trade or business or from self-employed work and file a tax return for the year.
• From 2027, employed compulsory members of a professional pension scheme (berufsständisches Versorgungswerk), such as employed doctors, pharmacists or lawyers, if they are under 67, have paid a pension levy (Versorgungsabgabe) and have agreed to the data transfer.

For example, people voluntarily insured in the statutory pension system, people in a mini-job with an exemption from compulsory pension insurance and people receiving a full old-age pension do not qualify on that basis alone. Anyone who also meets one of the requirements above can still receive support.

If you are not eligible in your own right, you may be indirectly eligible through your spouse or registered partner under certain conditions. For this, you need your own contract and must pay in at least €120 a year. The two of you must not be permanently separated and must live in the EU or the EEA. Separate rules apply to indirect support. You do not receive the full €540 basic allowance or a tax deduction of your own.

The calculator assumes that you are eligible in your own right, but it does not check whether this is actually the case. The “Married” field only changes the simplified tax estimate (income-splitting rates, Splittingtarif). It says nothing about whether you or your partner receive support.

Allowances are available from €120 of your own contributions a year, which works out at €10 a month. If you pay in less, you receive neither the basic allowance nor the child allowance for that year. All amounts in this answer apply to people eligible in their own right (see “Who can receive government support?”).

Basic allowance. You receive a 50% allowance on the first €360 of your annual contribution and 25% on every further euro up to €1,800. You reach the highest basic allowance of €540 with €1,800 a year, which works out at €150 a month. Here are some examples.

Child allowance. For each child you receive child benefit (Kindergeld) for, you get as much child allowance as you pay in yourself, up to €300 per child per year. So you get the full €300 per child once you contribute €300 a year of your own money. That means €300 in total, not per child. For example, with two children and €120 of your own contributions, you receive a €60 basic allowance and two child allowances of €120 each, €300 in total. With €300 of your own contributions, you receive a €150 basic allowance and two child allowances of €300 each, €750 in total. The child allowance is paid only once per child, so to one parent only. The law determines which one. Married parents can jointly have this allocation changed if the legal requirements are met.

Career-starter bonus (Berufseinsteigerbonus). If you are under 25 at the start of the contribution year and pay in at least €120, you receive a one-off €200 on top of the basic allowance.

How much you can pay in overall. Your own contributions receive support up to €1,800 a year. However, you can pay up to €6,840 a year into a contract, which works out at €570 a month. There is no allowance and no tax deduction for the part above €1,800. Even so, the returns on that part are not taxed in the contract until payout, and then only the returns are taxed, not the contributions themselves (see “What tax benefits are available and how are payouts taxed later?”). The €1,800 and the allowances apply per person, not per contract. Having several contracts does not get you more support.

How you receive the allowances. You apply for the allowances through your provider. The easiest way is to give your provider a standing authorization (Dauervollmacht), so it submits the application for you every year. The Central Allowance Office (Zentrale Zulagenstelle für Altersvermögen, ZfA) checks the application and pays the allowances to your provider. Your provider then credits them to your Altersvorsorgedepot.

In addition to the allowances, there are two tax benefits. You can deduct your contributions as special expenses (Sonderausgaben), and returns in your Altersvorsorgedepot are not taxed as they arise during the saving phase. Tax is usually due on payout.

Tax deduction and the tax office comparison

In your tax return, your own contributions of up to €1,800 a year plus the allowances you are entitled to can be counted as special expenses. The tax office then automatically checks whether this deduction benefits you more than the allowances. This comparison is called the Günstigerprüfung. You receive only the part that goes beyond the allowances as additional tax relief. So you do not get the support twice.

The additional tax relief does not go into your account. It is reflected in your tax assessment instead. Depending on your tax situation, this can result in a refund or a smaller additional tax payment.

No tax during the saving phase

Interest, distributions and capital gains in the account are not taxed as they arise. No Vorabpauschale applies either. As a result, more money stays invested over the years and can earn further returns. The returns are generally taxed only on payout.

Can I also use my saver’s allowance?

Your Altersvorsorgedepot does not use up any of your saver’s allowance (Sparer-Pauschbetrag) during the saving phase. You can use this allowance for investment income outside your Altersvorsorgedepot, for example gains and distributions from an ordinary ETF brokerage account or interest from an instant-access savings account. It is currently €1,000 a year, or €2,000 for married couples assessed jointly.

Unused amounts cannot be carried over to the next year. An ordinary brokerage account can therefore be a useful addition to your Altersvorsorgedepot.

Taxation in retirement

Payouts from subsidized contributions, allowances and the returns on them are taxed in full at your personal income tax rate, just like other income. If your income in retirement is lower than during your working life, your tax rate may then be lower. This is not certain.

Unsubsidized contributions, mainly the part above €1,800 a year, are treated differently. With a payout plan, these contributions are not taxed again, only the returns on them are. If payouts are made from age 62 and the account has existed for at least twelve years, only half of those returns are taxable. Regular payouts generally cannot start before age 65. With a lifelong pension, only a legally defined income portion (Ertragsanteil) of the unsubsidized part is taxable instead.

Depending on your health insurance, health and long-term care insurance contributions may also be due on payouts, for example if you are voluntarily insured in the statutory system in retirement.

What the calculator estimates

The tax refund shown represents this additional tax relief. It is a rough annual average based on your gross income, without the solidarity surcharge, church tax, other income or deductions. The net retirement income only takes into account the estimated income tax under the 2026 tax rates, not health and long-term care insurance or church tax. Both figures are for guidance only and are not a tax calculation for your case.

You can pause or reduce your contributions. However, the money is generally intended for retirement and is not freely available to you before then.

Pausing or reducing contributions

You can pause or reduce your contributions at any time. There is no mandatory minimum annual contribution. The money you have saved stays invested and you keep the support received so far. If you pay in less than €120 in a year, you receive no allowances for that year.

Whether costs continue during a pause depends on your provider and product.

Accessing your money early

You have no general right to have the money paid out before the payout phase starts. Whether an early payout is possible depends on your product.

If subsidized capital is paid out early, you usually have to repay the allowances and tax benefits attributable to it. The provider normally withholds them directly. The returns included in the amount paid out are also taxable. You do not have to repay any support for unsubsidized contributions, but the returns on them are taxed as well.

Under certain conditions, you can use subsidized capital for a home you own and live in yourself without repaying the support. Your product must provide for this option. The amount used is still taxed later.

Switching providers

You can transfer your balance to another certified retirement savings product in your name. You keep the government support when you do. Find out more under “Can I switch providers later?”.

What this means for you

An Altersvorsorgedepot is less flexible than an ordinary ETF brokerage account. Money you might need for emergencies, larger purchases or a career break is therefore better kept separately, where you can access it freely.

The costs depend on the provider and the specific product. The following costs, among others, can arise with an Altersvorsorgedepot.

• Provider costs, for example for account management, administration or buying and selling investments
• Ongoing costs of ETFs and other funds
• In some cases, costs for switching providers

Costs can vary from product to product. It is therefore worth comparing them before you sign a contract.

Effective costs

The effective costs (Effektivkosten) show by how many percentage points costs reduce the annual return on average. You can find them in the product information sheet (Produktinformationsblatt).

For example, if the assumed return before costs is 6% and the effective costs are 1%, then in simplified terms the return after costs is 5%.

Why costs matter over the years

Even small differences in annual costs can add up to a lot over a long period. An example with a constant return and a payment of €2,340 at the start of each year for 37 years shows the difference.

With a return of 8% before costs and annual costs of 0.1%, the account value comes to around €500,600. With costs of 1.0%, it comes to around €401,500. The difference in this example is just under €100,000.

Costs of the standard account

For the standard account (Standarddepot), the effective costs are capped by law at 1.0%. This cap does not apply to other Altersvorsorgedepots. Their costs can be higher or lower.

Costs in the calculator

In the calculator, you can enter both percentage costs and a fixed euro amount per year. The percentage costs are deducted from the assumed return. The default is 0.1%.

In the euro field, you can enter a fixed annual account fee or estimated trading fees, for example. If a savings plan purchase costs €1.50 and is made twelve times a year, that would be €18 a year.

Take care not to enter costs twice. If you base your percentage costs on the effective costs of a product, fixed fees and trading costs may already be included.

The calculator simplifies costs to an annual percentage and a fixed annual amount. It does not separately account for one-off fees, such as for switching providers.

Yes. Until the payout phase starts, you can have your saved capital transferred to another certified retirement savings product in your name. This is possible with the same provider or a different one. The notice period is three months, effective at the end of a calendar quarter or at the start of the payout phase.

If your current provider receives your notice between April 1 and June 30, your account can end on September 30. Your current provider then transfers the saved capital directly to your new Altersvorsorgedepot.

At the start of payouts, you can, for example, switch to a provider that offers a lifelong pension.

With this kind of transfer, your money stays within subsidized retirement savings. You therefore do not have to repay the support received so far. Different rules apply if you have the balance paid out early instead. Find out more under “Can I pause contributions or access my money before retirement?”.

What a switch may cost

If you switch to another provider within the first five years after taking out the contract, your current provider may charge at most €150 for this. After five years, the transfer is free of charge at your current provider. The transfer is also free of charge if you switch within the same provider or if the provider makes certain changes to its costs.

The new provider must not charge any acquisition or distribution costs on the transferred subsidized capital. However, it can charge a one-off administration fee of up to €150.

What the calculator takes into account

The calculator does not model a change of provider. It works with one Altersvorsorgedepot and constant assumptions for return and costs.

When do payouts start?

Payouts generally start no earlier than age 65 and no later than age 70. They can start earlier if you already receive a benefit from a statutory old-age security system, for example an early old-age pension.

With an Altersvorsorgedepot, you can freely choose the start within a window of at least five years. You tell your provider the date you want no later than three months beforehand. The calculator assumes a start at age 67.

What payout options are available?

The saved capital can be used for a lifelong pension or a payout plan. If your provider does not offer a lifelong pension, you can switch to a provider that does at the start of payouts. The calculator only models the payout plan.

How does the payout plan work?

The capital stays invested and is paid out in monthly payments. The plan must run at least until your 85th birthday. You can also choose a later end date.

The payment amount is set at the start and then recalculated at least every three years. For this, at least 80% of the remaining capital is divided by the number of months left until the end of the plan. As a result, the payment can change over time and is not guaranteed. At the end of the plan, the remaining capital is paid out with the last payment.

A payout plan runs for a limited period. If you live longer than the plan runs, you receive no further payments from it afterward. You can choose a later plan end or opt for a lifelong pension.

The calculator’s default plan end is age 95. You can change it to any age between 85 and 120 and set whether the payment is based on 100% or 80% of the remaining capital.

Can I withdraw part of the money as a lump sum?

At the start of the payout phase, you can have part of the capital paid out all at once, depending on your product. By law, this lump-sum withdrawal is limited to at most 30% of the capital. The rest is used for the monthly benefits. In the calculator, you can choose a lump-sum withdrawal and set its amount.

How are payouts taxed?

Monthly payments and the lump-sum withdrawal are taxed as described under “What tax benefits are available and how are payouts taxed later?”. A larger lump-sum withdrawal increases your income in that year and can therefore lead to a higher tax burden.

What happens to your money depends on whether you die before or after payouts start and on which payout option you have chosen.

During the saving phase

The capital saved in your Altersvorsorgedepot can be inherited and passes to your heirs.

During a payout plan

Capital not yet paid out can also be inherited during a payout plan. The remaining balance passes to your heirs.

With a lifelong pension

A lifelong pension generally cannot be inherited. If no guaranteed pension period (Rentengarantiezeit) has been agreed, payments end when you die.

With a lifelong pension, a guaranteed period of ten or twenty years can be agreed. If you die during this period, the pension continues to be paid to your surviving dependents until the end of the guaranteed period. Whether a guaranteed period is offered and how long it is depends on the specific product.

What happens to the government support?

If subsidized capital is paid out to your heirs, the allowances and additional tax relief from the tax office comparison (Günstigerprüfung) attributable to it usually have to be repaid. The provider normally withholds them before the payout. Unsubsidized capital is not affected by this repayment.

The gains included in the payout may also be subject to income tax. If the value of the entire estate exceeds the personal tax-free amount, inheritance tax may also apply.

Special rules may apply to payments from an agreed guaranteed pension period.

The exception for spouses

The government support is kept if the capital is transferred to a certified retirement savings product in your spouse’s name. For this, the two of you must not have been permanently separated at the time of your death and must have had your residence or usual place of residence in the EU or the EEA. The same applies to registered partners.

This exception does not apply to unmarried partners, children or other heirs.

The calculator does not model death and assumes that you live to the end of the payout plan.

Yes. Until payouts start, you can have the balance of your Riester contract transferred to a new Altersvorsorgedepot.

How does the transfer work?

You open an Altersvorsorgedepot and terminate your Riester contract, stating explicitly that the purpose is to transfer the balance. Your current provider sends the capital directly to the new provider. You keep the government support received so far.

Before switching, check what costs apply to the transfer. Guarantees from your Riester contract do not continue to apply to the transferred balance in your Altersvorsorgedepot.

If you have the balance paid out to your own bank account instead, you usually have to repay the allowances and additional tax relief attributable to it. This also applies if you then pay the money into an Altersvorsorgedepot yourself.

Is there new government support for the transferred balance?

No. The transferred balance is not a new contribution. It receives no additional allowances and no tax deduction. It also does not count toward the annual contribution limit of €6,840.

What happens to the support for other Riester contracts?

Once you have a new Altersvorsorgedepot, the new support rules apply to you. This also affects any other Riester contracts you still have. Find out more under “Can I keep my Riester contract instead?”.

How does the calculator handle the transfer?

Under “Riester & Frühstartrente”, you can enter the amount that reaches the new account after any costs. The calculator invests it once at the start. It grows at the same assumed return as your contributions and receives no new support.

As a simplification, the calculator treats the entire transferred balance as subsidized and counts it as fully taxable on payout. If your Riester savings also include unsubsidized contributions, the calculator may therefore overestimate the later tax. It does not take into account the guarantees and terms of your old Riester contract.

Yes. Riester contracts taken out before 2027 continue to run. You can keep paying in or leave the contract dormant. As long as you do not switch to the new support rules, the previous support rules generally apply.

What happens if I also open an Altersvorsorgedepot?

You can keep your Riester contract and open an Altersvorsorgedepot alongside it. You do not have to transfer your Riester savings to do so.

Once you take out an Altersvorsorgedepot, the new support rules also apply to your Riester contracts. Other terms of your existing Riester contract generally stay the same. These include, for example, agreed guarantees, costs and payout rules.

You can also switch to the new support rules without a new Altersvorsorgedepot. To do so, tell your Riester provider that you want to use the new rules. After that, you cannot switch back to the old support rules.

Which support rules are better?

That depends on your personal situation. Under the previous rules, there are fixed allowances if you pay the required minimum contribution of your own. Under the new rules, the amount of the allowances depends on your contributions.

A comparison can therefore be worthwhile before you switch to the new support rules.

How does the calculator handle an existing Riester contract?

The calculator does not model a continuing Riester contract with its own contributions and allowances. It only works with the Altersvorsorgedepot.

If you pay into both, the €1,800 support limit and the allowances apply to you across both. The calculator ignores your contributions to your Riester contract and calculates the support as if you had only the Altersvorsorgedepot.

The calculator shows what would result under certain assumptions. Its results are scenarios, not predictions. They help you understand the rough amounts involved and compare different options. What you actually receive later can differ significantly.

Return and costs

The calculator uses the same return every year. On the stock market, performance fluctuates. Losses shortly before or during payouts in particular can change the result substantially.

The default return of 8% before costs is an example value. The default costs are 0.1% and €0 in fixed fees per year. These values do not represent any particular product. You can change the return and costs yourself.

Inflation

The calculator does not take inflation into account. The amounts shown are therefore not stated in today’s purchasing power.

Timing of contributions

In the calculator, annual contributions and allowances are each invested at the start of the year. Monthly contributions are invested at the end of each month. The actual date on which allowances are credited can affect the result.

Government support and taxes

The calculator assumes that you are eligible in your own right and meet the requirements every year. The tax refund shown is a rough estimate based on your gross income.

For retirement, the calculator estimates income tax using the 2026 tax rates. It does not take into account health and long-term care insurance contributions, church tax or the solidarity surcharge.

With a lump-sum withdrawal, the calculator assumes that unsubsidized capital is withdrawn first. This order has not been conclusively settled in law and can noticeably affect the calculated tax. The “Modeled tax deferral” shown is also a model value and not a certain advantage over an ordinary ETF brokerage account.

Payouts and Riester transfer

The calculator assumes that payouts start at age 67 and models a payout plan. A lifelong pension and death are not taken into account.

As a simplification, the calculator treats transferred Riester savings as fully subsidized. To see what this means for the tax estimate, read “Can I transfer my existing Riester savings?”.

Other limits

The calculator assumes a single Altersvorsorgedepot with no change of provider. It does not take into account a continuing Riester contract or a partner’s government support. Moving abroad, social benefits and using the money for a home are also not included.

It is best to try several variations, for example with a lower return or higher costs. This shows you how much different assumptions can affect the result.