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Mahdi Barzkar
Owner and insurance broker authorised under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act · Register number D-H3YB-K7WLO-18.
Plan today and keep options open
Retirement planning designed around your life
Retirement provision is a long-term decision. We therefore look beyond a single product and consider your goals, time horizon, existing entitlements and desired flexibility.
Understand the starting point
Statutory entitlements, workplace arrangements, private contracts, assets and expected expenses form the overall picture. Forecasts remain assumptions and should be reviewed regularly.
Connect goals with financial capacity
Example questions include: What monthly amount is sustainable? How important are adjustments, pauses or access to funds? Which fluctuations could you tolerate? The answers are individual.
Explain costs, opportunities and risks
Depending on the arrangement, costs, guarantees, market risks, tax questions and payment rules may differ. A decision should follow only after a specific, understandable comparison.
The three pillars of retirement provision
In Germany, income in old age usually comes from several sources. They are commonly divided into three pillars. How they work together differs from person to person.
- Statutory provision: mainly the statutory pension insurance. Certain groups have their own systems, such as civil servants' pensions or professional pension schemes (berufsständische Versorgungswerke).
- Workplace pensions: provision through your employer, for example via direct insurance (Direktversicherung), a Pensionskasse or a Pensionsfonds. Employees are in principle entitled to salary conversion (Entgeltumwandlung).
- Private provision: for example state-subsidised forms such as the Riester pension or the basic pension (also called Rürup pension), private pension insurance and your own assets.
Estimating the pension gap realistically
The pension gap is the difference between the income you are likely to need in old age and what you are likely to receive from all three pillars combined. These points help with a first estimate:
- Gross and net: The amounts in the pension information (Renteninformation) from the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) are gross figures. In retirement, taxes and contributions to health and long-term care insurance may be due.
- Purchasing power: Due to inflation, an amount will probably be worth less in a few decades than it is today. The inflation calculator on this website illustrates the effect.
- Expenses in old age: Some costs fall, while others, for example for health or care, may rise.
- Tools: The pension calculator and the pension gap calculator on this website provide rough orientation, not a binding forecast.
Thinking about saving and payout together
Retirement planning often focuses only on paying in. How the money is paid out later is just as important. Not every form of provision allows every option: the basic pension, for example, is in principle paid out as a lifelong pension.
- Lifelong pension: You receive regular payments for as long as you live. This protects you from running out of money before the end of your life, but ties up the capital permanently.
- Lump-sum payment: An amount is paid out at once. This offers flexibility, but dividing it up over the years is then up to you.
- Withdrawal plan: Assets are drawn down gradually. How long they last depends on the withdrawal amount and on investment performance. The withdrawal plan calculator on this website illustrates this relationship.
Retirement planning for the self-employed
Many self-employed people are not compulsorily insured in the statutory pension insurance. Exceptions apply to certain occupational groups, for example some craftspeople, or artists and writers via the Artists' Social Insurance Fund (Künstlersozialkasse). Anyone who is not compulsorily insured has to organise retirement provision themselves and should also consider protection in case of reduced earning capacity. Because income can fluctuate, flexibility is often particularly important: Can contributions be adjusted or paused? Can capital be accessed if needed, or is it tied up until retirement? Voluntary insurance in the statutory pension insurance can also be part of the review.
Do not cancel existing pension contracts hastily
When going through old documents, people sometimes come across contracts that no longer seem suitable today. Even so, cancellation should be carefully weighed and checked against the specific contract documents.
- Guarantees: Older contracts may contain guarantees or actuarial bases that are no longer offered in this form today.
- Surrender value: On cancellation, often only the surrender value is paid out. Especially in the first years, it can be lower than the total contributions paid.
- Subsidies: With subsidised contracts, allowances or tax benefits may have to be repaid. Some contracts, such as basic pensions, cannot be cancelled at all, only made paid-up.
- Alternatives: Depending on the contract, options include making it paid-up, a lower contribution or a contribution pause.
This content provides general orientation. Situations and benefits mentioned are examples; the specific need, policy terms and individual advice are decisive. It does not state a price, acceptance or cover decision.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
When should I review my retirement planning?
A change of job, starting a family or changing goals can be useful triggers. A regular overview may also help without a specific event.
Are forecasts guaranteed?
No. Illustrations are based on assumptions. Guaranteed and non-guaranteed elements must be clearly distinguished.
Will the statutory pension be enough in old age?
That depends on your employment history, your expenses in old age and other income. The statutory pension usually replaces only part of your previous income. How large a possible gap is can only be estimated with your specific figures.
What does salary conversion (Entgeltumwandlung) mean?
With salary conversion, part of your gross salary is paid into a workplace pension. Employees are in principle legally entitled to this; under certain conditions the employer must pay a subsidy. The later benefits are usually taxable and may be subject to health and long-term care insurance contributions. Lower social security contributions during the saving phase can also slightly reduce the statutory pension. Whether salary conversion suits you depends on the individual case.
What happens to my workplace pension when I change jobs?
Entitlements from salary conversion remain yours; employer-funded entitlements do so under certain conditions. Depending on the type of scheme and the contract, the pension can, for example, be continued with the new employer, made paid-up or continued privately. The contract documents show which options exist.
When should I start planning for retirement?
There is no generally right time. Starting early lengthens the period in which contributions can have an effect and spreads the burden over more years. What matters, however, is that the amount is sustainable over time and that reserves and protection against major risks are not neglected.
Next step
Put your topic into context with us.
Send a short request without health or contract details. We will contact you to agree on the next step.