Retirement provision in Germany: the 3 pillars explained
Statutory pension, workplace pensions and private provision interact — yet a gap remains for most people. Here's the overview, plus a free calculator for your own situation.
The basics
The 3-pillar model
German retirement provision rests on three independent building blocks.
Statutory pension insurance
The base for most employees, funded on a pay-as-you-go basis. The pension level is capped by law at 48% until 2031 (Rentenpaket 2025) — lower than decades ago.
Workplace pension (bAV)
Employer-organized, often subsidized supplementary provision — e.g. direct insurance or a pension fund. Not every employer offers it at the same quality.
Private retirement provision
Everything you build yourself: an ETF portfolio, property, Riester/Altersvorsorgedepot. This is where you have the most control — and the most responsibility.
The real effect
Why a pension gap often remains anyway
With a pension level capped by law at 48%, the statutory pension doesn't reach the desired standard of living for most people. The difference between desired income and actual pension is called a pension gap — and can be calculated concretely for your own situation.
Calculate your own pension gapWhat's changing
New from 2027: the Altersvorsorgedepot
Germany's parliament has passed the Riester pension's successor: a subsidized securities account with a cost cap that can be opened from 1 January 2027, for the first time including the self-employed.
All key facts on the AltersvorsorgedepotYour plan
How Planafolio supports your retirement provision
Not investment advice — real numbers from your own portfolio.
Free needs analysis
Enter your age, capital and savings rate — the needs analysis shows whether a gap is looming, already in the free tier.
Statutory pension included
Unlike a plain portfolio tracker, Planafolio factors your expected statutory pension into the plan.
Monte Carlo simulation (Pro)
Instead of a single forecast, the simulation shows thousands of possible market paths — a more realistic picture than one fixed return assumption.
Frequently asked questions
Retirement provision questions
Statutory pension, workplace pension and private provision complement each other — if one pillar falls short, the other two can ideally make up for it. For most people today, the private pillar is decisive.
That depends heavily on your desired standard of living, past salary and statutory pension — there's no blanket figure. The free pension gap calculator works it out for your own situation.
The earlier, the more compound interest contributes to the result — starting a decade earlier at the same savings rate can make a substantial difference in the end.
No. This page and the linked calculators are a general guide with simplified assumptions, not individual financial or pension advice.
Keep track of your own retirement provision
Import your portfolio via CSV, see your needs analysis — free, no credit card required.
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