Enlarge image
Pedestrian zone in Dortmund
Photo: David Indian song / dpa
Times are troubled.
This makes it all the more important to have the till well filled – as best as you can.
I've put together ten tips for you in the new year: first some for more money in your wallet and account and then some tips for automatic changes that you should keep in mind.
Tip 1:
Apply for housing benefit if you earn little but are not entitled to citizen benefit.
The number of households that can receive housing benefit is expected to triple from 600,000 to two million in 2023.
And the average payments should rise to almost 400 euros per month (!).
Citizens with their own house or apartment can also apply for housing benefit.
That means a subsidy.
Housing benefit is calculated individually and must be applied for.
Below you will find a sample calculation showing how much money those entitled to housing benefit can earn in Berlin and Munich.
The housing benefit guide from Finanztip tells you how best to proceed when applying.
If you receive housing benefit and have children, you can often get child benefit in addition to child benefit - this is again up to 200 euros a month.
Tip 2:
Read the meter and check your deductions for electricity, gas and district heating.
The electricity and gas price brakes should take effect from January and would have to reduce the down payments for many households, especially if they had risen significantly in the autumn.
If your provider has not yet suggested a new discount, get in touch and clarify how high the discount should be in the future.
Don't worry, you cannot lose the government aid for the electricity and gas price brakes, which are always taken into account in your billing.
It's simply a question of when you can adjust your deductions so that you don't pay significantly too much now - money that you only get back later.
Tip 3:
Check your health insurance.
At Finanztip you will find the current contribution rates for practically all public health insurance companies.
More than 50 of the 73 open funds have increased their additional contribution by an average of 0.25 percentage points.
Some like the AOK Rhineland-Palatinate and the Bahn-BKK but also by half a percentage point.
The BKK exclusively even by 0.7 percentage points - that is 28 euros more per month with a gross salary of 4000 euros, 14 euros for you and 14 for your employer if you are employed.
You can find the cheapest open cash registers for your federal state here.
Switching is child’s play, the new cash register does most of the work for you.
In the past, the health insurers had to report increases in the additional contribution separately, but they do not currently have to do so.
The traffic light coalition decided that, because as a member you can check in the members' magazine or on the website of the cash register whether it will be more expensive for you.
I only know from the BKK VBU and the AOK Plus that they sent their members an individual message with the information about the increase.
Exemplary.
Do you know of others?
Tip 4:
Find a fixed deposit account.
Last year there was no interest at all, and some banks even charged a custody fee for amounts of EUR 10,000 or more.
In the meantime, there is a three percent interest rate for two years of fixed deposits.
With 20,000 euros in the account, that is 600 euros in interest per year.
You can find a list of good interest rates here.
Incidentally, the saver's allowance will be increased to 1,000 euros in 2023, so that you can invest more than 30,000 euros in the fixed-term deposit account at three percent interest without having to pay taxes.
Tip 5:
If you haven't yet filed your property tax return, you need to get started now.
The deadline expires at the end of January.
In many cases, you do not need a tax advisor for the declaration.
They're currently overloaded.
Save yourself the 200 or 300 euros consulting fee and use this help to complete the property tax return.
Tip 6:
From January 2023 you can retire earlier and earn as much as you want without this reducing your pension.
Of course, you have to pay tax on the additional earnings.
If you draw a so-called partial or 99 percent pension, i.e. do not retire completely, you can even increase your future pension entitlements with contributions from the additional earnings.
The best of both worlds: already receive a pension, but still work in the job of your passion and in the end get even more pension.
Incidentally, you can also improve your pension entitlements by caring for family members and do not receive any money for this, but receive additional pension points.
Tip 7:
From May at the latest, the 49-euro ticket should be available nationwide for local public transport.
For some, this saves half of the previous costs for the monthly ticket, for others it makes public transport attractive in the first place.
Let's see whether FDP Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing, after the resounding success of the 9-euro ticket, will actually agree on this innovation with his country colleagues.
In Berlin, for example, there is a 29-euro ticket for a transitional period, but that is not valid nationwide.
Tip 8:
In the summer, the pension should increase again.
In the west by 3.5 percent, in the east by 4.2 percent, it is currently said.
That's less than inflation, but a lot better than nothing.
The exact figures will not be determined until spring .
Tip 9:
Child benefit will be increased to 250 euros for each child from January.
That is significantly more than ten percent additional for the increased costs for young people.
When the little ones aren't that small anymore, make sure you don't lose the child benefit.
You are also entitled to child benefit if the children are over 18 and already in training or studying.
However, you have to apply for this separately.
The 250 euros per child could make a real difference in the household budget - whether in yours or that of your offspring.
more on the subject
Compare offers: How to get interest on your money A column by Hermann-Josef Tenhagen
It's about hundreds of euros: Three tips on how to save money on car insurance A column by Hermann-Josef Tenhagen
Relief in times of inflation: Why you should now pay less for your electricity A column by Hermann-Josef Tenhagen
Tip 10:
The new citizens' income is coming.
It's about time too.
If you used to get 449 euros a month, it will be 502 euros in the future.
That probably doesn't quite offset food inflation, but it's better than nothing.
In the future, the annual adjustment should take inflation into account in advance rather than afterwards.
Life partners will receive up to 451 euros in 2023 (previously 404 euros), children aged 14 to 17 receive 420 euros (previously 376 euros).
The principle »support instead of just demanding« should really come.
The so-called mediation priority is abolished.
This means that the unemployed do not have to take every job immediately.
Further training and the catching up of professional qualifications are better supported, both in terms of advice and financially.
And publicly funded social jobs can be permanent.
A small balance sheet will soon be needed: Which aids are sufficient?
Where is too much help and with the watering can?
And where is the money supposed to come from?
But we won't deal with that until next year.
Until then, I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023.
