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Senior at a bus stop in Cologne: By the end of 2022, the pension insurance company hopes to have recalculated all pensions
Photo:
Christoph Hardt / imago images / Future Image
For years the SPD and the Union have argued whether a basic pension will be introduced for poorer seniors and who will get it.
Since January 1, around 1.3 million pensioners have been entitled to a basic pension supplement.
Only they don't get it.
The calculations are complicated and the management does not get done.
The first payments should be made in summer at the earliest - the last pensioner will probably not get them until the end of next year.
Some will no longer experience that.
Around 26 million people in Germany receive a statutory pension.
Every twentieth of them should get a contract in the future.
Only those who have at least 33 years of contributions are entitled to a basic pension.
So who worked long hours but earned little in that time.
Years of upbringing and often free care for relatives are included in the contribution years.
Who gets the basic pension
To be more precise, these seniors only received 30 to 80 percent of the average wage at the time on average during their working life.
To make this a little clearer: If you apply today's salaries, these people received between 1,000 and 2,700 euros gross per month, while employees currently earn almost 3,400 euros averaged over all jobs subject to pension insurance, part-time and full-time.
Christmas and vacation pay already included.
In order to receive a pension of almost 1500 euros like the corner pensioner from the statistics, one would have to have worked full-time for 45 years - and always earned an average.
Those who work shorter hours, earn less and therefore pay less, also receive less pension.
Despite decades of work, the result is often only mini pensions of 500 to 800 euros.
According to the statistics of the pension insurance, every third pensioner with at least 35 years of contributions still receives only 1000 euros or less.
The German Trade Union Federation (DGB) recently calculated that after 45 years of full-time work with the current minimum wage, a pension of only 660 euros will result.
From now on, the basic pension will increase to 960 euros.
The new basic pension should bring an average of 75 euros.
In the case of particularly small pensions and many years of contributions, up to 400 euros are included, calculates the Federal Ministry of Labor.
In sample examples of descriptive employment histories presented by Deutsche Rentenversicherung, additional pensions of 100 euros to a good 300 euros come out.
The long wait for the bid
The law already applies, but the administration is still calculating.
As of the summer, the pension insurance company hopes to be ready with the calculations and the corresponding software so that eligible new pensioners will receive the allowance automatically and retrospectively.
The important keyword is automatic.
Prospective pensioners do not have to calculate the basic pension themselves, nor do they have to apply for it separately, it just comes.
After the prospective pensioners, it is the turn of the particularly old pension recipients.
That is also correct.
They too have had the right since January and before they possibly die, they should have received the little extra money.
After the elders, the younger ones will gradually join the group.
The pension insurance hopes to have recalculated all pensions by the end of 2022.
The branch of the German Pension Insurance in Berlin alone has currently set up more than 100 new positions for this purpose - and, as it proudly announced this week, has already been filled.
The completely screened basic pensioner
Why is this taking so long?
Well
First of all, our MEPs determined what requirements pensioners must meet in order to have a right to a basic pension at all.
And then they said that if you have enough income from other sources, you still won't get the basic pension supplement - because you don't need it.
On the other hand, it does not matter whether someone has assets or a property.
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In other words: The pension insurance first looks to see who could be entitled, then checks itself whether the pensioner has a higher income through company pensions or widows' pensions.
If this is not the case, the pension insurance then contacts the tax office and checks whether the pensioner may have other income.
At the headquarters of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung they are talking about a new data highway to the tax office.
Only a good five million pensioners pay taxes in old age at all.
Such news greatly increases the likelihood that this senior citizen does not have any significant additional income.
On the other hand, if you have to pay taxes as a pensioner, you probably have enough pension that you are not entitled to a basic pension.
After a long dispute, the grand coalition decided: 1,250 euros income is okay, after which there are deductions from the basic pension.
Anyone with an income of more than 1,600 euros cannot receive an additional basic pension.
For married couples and registered partnerships, 1950 euros and 2300 euros respectively apply as the limit.
Those who live together without a marriage certificate are examined individually.
For the tax office check, the pension insurance clarifies the incomes for 2020 and 2019 as standard.
Generous allowances for the very poor
The other way around: For pensioners who meet the legal requirements for the basic pension and have not yet paid any taxes, the income is probably low enough.
Low enough to qualify for a basic pension.
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Then it could only happen that someone soon gets the basic pension and instead of housing benefits or basic security and he or she has little from the supplement in the end.
But that's not supposed to be.
That is why the legislature intervened here too.
With the Basic Pension Act, the grand coalition introduced several new allowances which largely prevent this.
For example, an additional 100 euros per month can be kept in full from the statutory pension with basic pension.
A part beyond that is not taken into account either.
Basically, as is the case today with Riester and company pensions.
And with housing benefit, an additional allowance is introduced for pensioners with at least 33 years of contributions so that the basic pension is not fully counted as income for housing benefit.
If in doubt, basic pensioners should have them recalculated
Politicians in the grand coalition often complain that too much individual justice is expected in Germany.
But here they themselves - more at the insistence of the Union - built a model that requires a huge administrative effort and then leads to tens of thousands of retirees dying before they can get the money due to them sometime between summer 2021 and autumn 2022 for the first time got.
When justice is so complicated to calculate, mistakes can of course occur with both the pension insurance and the tax office.
For example, because the pension entitlements from the statutory pension were incorrectly offset.
Or because the income reported by the tax office has been incorrectly taken into account.
Those affected can and must then take the classic administrative route after receiving their basic pension decision.
First lodge an objection, and if that doesn't help, go to the social court as a second step.
Or before the tax court if, from their point of view, the tax office has incorrectly stated the income.
The German pension insurance has already announced as a precaution that it will strictly adhere to what the tax office specifies when it comes to income issues.
So my colleagues and I will look at the details from summer and see whether the new model works in practice!
And if you think that you are entitled to an additional pension and it doesn’t come, be sure to check with your pension insurance.
Take advantage of the long run-up to retirement
Those who already know that things will get tight in old age, but still have a few years to go before retirement, can deduce four things from the basic pension project:
In any case, work long enough to fill up the 33 contribution years.
Then, if in doubt, you are also entitled to a basic pension.
Especially do not cancel small Riester and company pensions.
They also bring an additional income in old age that has not been offset against other social benefits since 2018.
Also like to invest free income - for example in index funds.
Because if it works and wealth arises, it will not be taken into account when calculating the basic pension.
And then stay healthy.
So that, in case of doubt, you can benefit from your retirement and the new basic pension.
