The German statutory pension

1. How contributions work

The statutory pension is pay-as-you-go: today’s contributions fund today’s pensions, and your own record builds an entitlement for later. For employees the contribution is split with the employer and deducted automatically, up to an income ceiling.

Your payslip shows your half. The employer’s half does not appear as your money but counts towards your record all the same.

2. Your pension record

Deutsche Rentenversicherung maintains a Versicherungsverlauf listing every insured period. Gaps happen — a period abroad, study, a job change handled badly by an employer — and they are much easier to correct early than decades later.

Check the record when you receive it rather than filing it away. Missing periods are a common and fixable problem.

3. The annual Renteninformation

Once you have accumulated enough insured periods, you receive an annual letter projecting your future pension. The projections are assumptions, not promises, and they usually show several scenarios.

Treat it as a planning input alongside occupational and private provision rather than a guaranteed figure.

4. Frühstartrente: a Cabinet-approved draft, not a current pension payment

The Federal Cabinet approved a draft Frühstartrente law on 12 August 2026. It proposes a federal contribution of €10 per month from age six until 18 into capital-funded private retirement provision for qualifying children.

The draft is designed to build a child’s own retirement capital, not to pay spendable cash to parents. The government intends the law to enter into force on 1 January 2027 and first payments during 2027, but the parliamentary process is still ongoing.

Because this is not yet effective law, do not buy a product solely on claims that it is already approved for Frühstartrente. Final eligibility, certified-product and administration rules must come from the enacted legislation.

5. If you have worked in more than one country

Within the EU and EEA, and with countries that have a social security agreement with Germany, insured periods can be aggregated so that time in several countries counts towards qualifying. You generally receive a separate pension from each country rather than one combined payment.

If you leave Germany permanently, your contributions remain on your record. Refunds are possible only in narrow circumstances, so do not assume you can simply withdraw them.