Altersvorsorgedepot calculator

How it calculates

The Altersvorsorgedepot is the centrepiece of the Riester reform from 2027. Think of it as a pension wrapper around an ETF portfolio: no capital guarantee, money locked until retirement, and the state paying a share of your contributions. The calculator follows one contract year by year under the new rules:

1. Basic top-up (Grundzulage). 50 % of your own contribution up to €360 a year, plus 25 % of the part from €360 to €1,800. The most you can get is €540 a year.
2. Child top-up (Kinderzulage). For each child you receive Kindergeld for, 100 % of your contribution, capped at €300 per child. You tell it how many more years you expect Kindergeld.
3. Starter bonus. If you are under 25 at the start of the year, a one-off €200 in the first year.
4. Minimum. Below €120 a year there is no Zulage at all. You may pay in up to €6,840 a year, but only the first €1,800 are subsidised.
5. Tax check (Günstigerprüfung). From your gross salary the calculator works out your taxable income with the 2026 rules (single assessment, no church tax). Your contribution up to €1,800 plus the Zulage is deductible. If that saves more income tax and solidarity surcharge than the Zulage, the difference is refunded to your bank account; it does not go into the depot.

Contributions go in at the end of each month and the Zulage at the end of each year (in practice it arrives a few months later). The return you enter is after costs. The Standarddepot, which every provider must offer, may cost at most 1.0 % a year all-in; other depots have no cap. Gains are not taxed while you save.

Worked example: €150 a month at 34

You are 34, earn €52,000 gross a year, have no children and pay in €150 a month, the full €1,800 a year. That earns €540 Grundzulage. At €40,100 taxable income the deduction saves €732 in tax, so €192 comes back on top of the Zulage. In total the state adds €732 a year, 41% of your own money.

At 7% a year after costs, the depot holds about €285,089 at 67: €59,400 of your own money, €17,820 in Zulagen and €207,869 of growth. The €6,336 of tax refunds are not included; you received those along the way.

A plain ETF savings plan with the same own money, earning 0.3% a year more because a broker ETF is usually cheaper, reaches €235,056 before tax. The depot is €50,033 ahead. After tax the gap narrows, because every euro paid out of the depot is taxed as income, while the ETF pays the flat capital gains tax on the gain only. At a 20% tax rate on the payouts you keep €228,071, against €208,179 from the ETF plan.

Who gains most

The subsidy favours small contributions and families. With just €10 a month you get €60 a year, half of what you pay in. With €30 a month and two children you get €780 a year on €360 of your own money; by 67 that grows to €116,542 at 7%, against €47,011 in a normal ETF plan.

Higher earners gain through the tax check: the higher your marginal tax rate, the bigger the refund on top of the Zulage. And because payouts are taxed in retirement, the depot works best if your tax rate then is lower than now.

The price is flexibility. Payouts start between 65 and 70, either as a payout plan running to at least 85 or as a lifelong annuity, and up to 30 % can be taken as a lump sum at the start. Money you may need before then belongs in an ordinary depot.

Things expats should check

Eligibility follows your pension insurance, not your nationality. Employees paying into the German statutory pension and civil servants qualify, and from 2027 so do self-employed people who file a German tax return and members of a professional pension scheme (Versorgungswerk), as long as they are under 67. A spouse who is not eligible can still get top-ups through you if they pay at least €120 a year themselves. Zulagen and the deduction are per person, and at most two new contracts are subsidised.

If you might leave Germany, read the rules carefully: moving outside the EU or EEA after the payout starts counts as harmful use (schädliche Verwendung) of the subsidies. And if you already have a Riester contract, it keeps the old rules unless you opt in to the new ones; opening any new contract from 2027 moves all your contracts to the new rules. An old Riester contract can be transferred into an Altersvorsorgedepot without repaying its Zulagen. The Altersvorsorgedepot guide goes through the choices.

What it can’t see

It taxes the payouts at one flat rate on the whole depot. Your real rate depends on your state pension and other income in retirement; the German pension gap calculator shows how big that gap is. It uses one steady return, while the Standarddepot shifts into safer funds before the payout. It ignores couples, joint assessment, church tax and tax tables after 2026. For children there is also the Frühstart-Rente, whose depot can continue as an Altersvorsorgedepot from 18. Zenarios puts the depot next to your salary, pension, taxes and plans and runs them together, year by year. How long the money lasts in retirement is what the withdrawal calculator answers.

Common questions

What is the Altersvorsorgedepot?

A new kind of private pension contract in Germany from 1 January 2027, created by the reform of Riester pensions (Altersvorsorgereformgesetz, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 156). It holds funds and ETFs without a capital guarantee, and the state adds Zulagen (top-ups) and a possible tax refund. The money is paid out from age 65 at the earliest.

How much does the state add?

The basic top-up (Grundzulage) is 50 % of what you pay in up to €360 a year, plus 25 % of the part between €360 and €1,800. So €1,800 a year (€150 a month) earns €540, and €360 a year earns €180. Each child you receive Kindergeld for adds up to €300 a year, and savers under 25 get a one-off €200. Nothing is paid below €120 a year.

Can expats open an Altersvorsorgedepot?

Eligibility depends on your insurance status, not your passport. Employees paying into the German statutory pension and civil servants qualify; from 2027 so do self-employed people who file a German tax return and members of professional pension schemes, if they are under 67. If you move outside the EU or EEA after the payout starts, that counts as harmful use of the subsidies.

Is the money taxed?

Not while you save. Payouts from subsidised money (up to €1,800 a year plus the Zulagen) and its growth are taxed in full as income in retirement (§ 22 Nr. 5 EStG). Compulsory members of statutory health insurance pay no health or care contributions on them.

What is the Günstigerprüfung?

The tax office checks whether deducting your contributions (up to €1,800 plus the Zulage) saves you more income tax than the Zulage is worth. If so, you get the difference back with your tax assessment. In the calculator's example, €52,000 gross and €1,800 a year, that is about €192 a year on top of the €540 Zulage.

Sources

• Altersvorsorgereformgesetz, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 156 (29 May 2026)
• Federal Ministry of Finance: FAQ on the private pension reform (5 May 2026, German)
• Bundestag: vote on the pension reform (27 March 2026, German)

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By Constantin Metz, the maker of Zenarios · Reviewed 25 October 2026. Results are estimates from your inputs and simplified rules, not financial, tax or legal advice. How Zenarios calculates