We all get old. And most people after a certain age no longer want to be dependent on having to work. That’s why we retire. Sounds trivial right? But from where do you get your income when you are no longer working? That is what we call a pension. 

Where does your income come from

Most people want to make sure that they have the same living standard when they retire compared to their working life, because then you finally have time to travel, spend time with your loved ones or do whatever you want to do when you retire. So, where does your income come from in your retirement? 

One source of income is the go­vern­ment pension. And although we have a very good social system in Germany, the go­vern­ment pension system is no longer working. When you work for 40 years in Germany with a 60k annual salary, you will only get 1400€ net pension. When you want to calculate your go­vern­ment pension, feel free to do so on the pension cal­cu­la­tor on our website. 

The money that you pay in is not saved for you

The reason for the pension being so low is that the German go­vern­ment pension works very coun­ter­in­tui­tively: Normally with a pension plan you would think that the money that you pay in, you will get out as a pension plus some interest, that’s how private pension plans work. That is not the case with the German go­vern­ment pension. The money that you pay in is not saved for you, but directly paid out to current pensioners. 

The first question that might pop in your head is: All well and good, but what happens, when there aren’t enough people paying in to support the current pen­sio­ners? That is exactly what is happening in Germany right now. When in 1970 there were 5 working people to support one pensioner, currently there are only two people, with a further falling trend. You can see the exact ratio also in the forecast on the pension cal­cu­la­tor on our website. 

So you only get a small fraction of your pension from the go­vern­ment. That means the majority of your pension, you have to take care of yourself. That is why re­ti­re­ment planning is so important. 

How do you do that in the most effective way?

The question is, how do you do that in the most effective way? That is exactly the question that we tackle in our con­sul­ting. After reviewing your in­di­vi­du­al situation and needs, we show our clients how to use the German system to your advantage for your re­ti­re­ment and what go­vern­ment bonuses and tax breaks are available and how to use them in the most effective way. Our goal is always that you have a smile on your lips, when you think about your retirement. 

If you want to see how you can take care of your re­ti­re­ment the most effective way for you in­di­vi­du­al­ly, feel free to schedule a free initial con­sul­ta­ti­on with us.