As of: February 1, 2024, 7:00 p.m
By: Karolin Schaefer
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Before you retire, you should obtain information about your retirement options.
You can often get even more out of your pension.
Bremen – Once you have reached the normal starting age, retiring is not a must.
Nor is it necessary to continue working until you reach normal retirement age.
Many people don't even know that retirement can be made flexible and that the pension can be increased under certain circumstances, explained financial expert Barbara Sternberger-Frey in the
SWR
program “Marktcheck” - and gives some tips.
Pension at age 63 – high deductions can be avoided
If you want to retire earlier, you may have to expect discounts.
Although there is no additional earnings limit for early retirement, the high deductions cannot always be offset by the additional earnings.
The pension deduction applies for the entire period of receipt and always remains the same.
With a few tips, retirement can be made more flexible.
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However, only part of the pension can be claimed in the event of early entry.
There are deductions for this part, but not for the remaining pension, explained Sternberger-Frey.
“This can work out better in individual cases,” says the expert.
Continuing to work after retirement: When the flexible pension can be worthwhile
The so-called flexi pension, i.e. working beyond retirement age, seems particularly attractive.
If you retire without deductions and continue to work, you can earn as much extra as you want.
With additional earnings, you can even acquire additional pension rights by paying contributions to the pension insurance from your salary.
“And the state rewards that,” said the financial expert.
For every month that you continue to work after your retirement, there is a surcharge on your pension of 0.5 percentage points.
The increase will then be paid out in the following year.
However, it should be noted that taxes also have to be paid.
Whether the whole thing is still worth it needs to be checked individually.
Pension at age 63: This is how you can compensate for high deductions
The retirement age without deductions will be gradually increased to 67 years.
If you don't want to work that long, you can retire at the age of 63 after 35 years of contributions.
However, the discounts are high and significantly reduce the monthly amount.
But there is a trick for that too.
The deductions can be offset by special payments.
According to the German pension insurance, these requirements must be met:
at least 50 years old
Meet the requirements for early retirement pension, such as having paid into insurance for at least 35 years
The German pension insurance will determine how high the special payment will be upon application.
According to the
SWR
broadcast, these are usually very high, but some can be deducted from taxes.
Financial expert Sternberger-Frey emphasized that the special payment can be fully deducted from taxes if it is made piecemeal.
Compensating pension deductions with special payments: This is what you should keep in mind
Anyone who has made the special payment can still retire later and benefit from an increased monthly payment.
To make it worthwhile in the end, you should receive a pension for at least 15 years, says the expert.
But that can hardly be estimated.
In addition, the special payment cannot be refunded.
When retirement is most worthwhile for whom must always be decided individually.
Those interested can seek advice from the pension insurance company.
In 2024 there will be some changes for pensioners and contributors.
Some pensioners may be able to look forward to a supplement from summer onwards.