Stop working earlier? A dream of many employees. These special payments can be used to offset pension deductions.
- If you want to retire earlier , you have to dig deep into your pocket.
- From the age of 50, you can pay extra contributions to the statutory pension insurance to compensate.
- Experts say what extra contributions that means - and what needs to be considered.
Formerly retired: How special payments compensate for pension deductions
Retire earlier: That sounds tempting. As a rule, however, it means that those affected have to accept discounts on the statutory pension . However, if you voluntarily make special payments for statutory pension insurance during your professional life , you can compensate for these losses.
You can calculate the reduction in your pension when you retire to the old part of the pension: For every month that you retire before reaching the statutory age limit, there is a discount of 0.3 percent. That is 3.6 percent over a year. So if you want to retire at the age of 63 instead of 67, you would receive 14.4 percent less statutory pension every month.
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Formerly retired: Extra contributions from the age of 50
There is a way how you can prevent the later losses * - by making provisions in good time: From the age of 50 you can pay extra contributions into the statutory pension insurance - and thereby reduce the discounts. "The amount of the special payments is calculated based on the remaining working hours and the time you go earlier," the German Press Agency quotes the spokesman for the German Pension Insurance Association, Dirk von der Heide.
But that really costs money *, as calculation examples from Deutsche Rentenversicherung show : If you would receive 800 euros a month in retirement and would like to retire one year earlier, you have to pay an additional 6,820 euros into the pension insurance to compensate for the reduction in pension. And if you want to retire three years earlier with a pension of 1,200 euros per month, you have to spend around 33,160 euros for this purpose.
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Earlier retirement ?: Get information in good time, advises Stiftung Warentest
If someone is considering retiring to the old part earlier, they should inquire in good time, Stiftung Warentest advises. In order to determine early enough how much to deposit, one should seek advice about ten years before the planned retirement , the recommendation.
There are flexible rules for when the special payments can be made : insured persons either pay the amount at once or spread it over individual years. "Currently, however, only up to two payments are possible per year, so you cannot deposit anything every month," says Dirk von der Heide. You can decide yourself about the amount of the respective payment.
Read also : Woman (60) is completely shocked - when she learns how much pension she will get later
Paid in, but you don't want to retire for?
What happens if special payments have been made but the person concerned does not want to retire earlier? "Insured persons who do not retire prematurely despite having paid contributions to compensate for pension deductions will receive an increased pension in line with the contributions paid," reports the German pension insurance. A reimbursement of the compensation payment is not possible.
Sources: dpa, German pension insurance
Also interesting: Stiftung Warentest: These are the twelve most common mistakes in life and pension insurance
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* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
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