Pension: contribution rate, entry age, taxes - that will change in 2022 for retirees

Created: 01/14/2022, 13:00

For new pensioners there will be some innovations in 2022.

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At the turn of the year there are numerous innovations in pensions.

What retirees need to know now.

Munich - New year, new luck, new rules: On January 1st, many legal changes traditionally come into force in Germany.

For the year 2022, this also applies to pensions: As the German pension insurance shows, there will be some changes in retirement age, pension contributions and additional earnings in the coming year.

Retirement age: limit will be raised in 2022

The normal retirement age is rising again.

The age limit will be raised to 65 years and 11 months from January.

This increase primarily affects insured persons who were born in 1957 and will be 65 years old in the coming year.

For contributors born after 1975, the starting age will continue to rise: the age limit is to be raised to 67 by 2031.

The retirement age is also increasing for the “pension from 63” for long-term insured persons who have been insured in a statutory pension insurance for at least 45 years.

From January this is 64 years and two months.

Insured persons can expect further increases here: the old-age pension for particularly long-term insured persons is to be raised to 65 by 2029.

Pension 2022: Stable contribution rate, pension increases and higher additional earnings

Contributors and pension recipients can still breathe a sigh of relief: the pension contribution of 18.6 percent for employees remains.

There is a little more money for pensioners: In July, pensions are expected to increase by 4.4 percent.

An increase of 5.2 percent in the west and 5.9 percent in the east was originally planned for 2022.

The reason for the small increase in pensions is the decision of the traffic light coalition to reintroduce the so-called catch-up factor.

Another change due to the corona pandemic is the higher additional earnings limit for early retirement pensions.

In 2022, the additional income limit will remain at 46,060 euros.

For 2020, this was increased from EUR 6,300 to EUR 44,590 due to the increased need for medical staff due to the Covid 19 pandemic, in order to make it easier to resume employment after retirement.

"From 2023, the original additional income limit of 6,300 euros per calendar year will probably apply again," informs the German pension insurance.

Changes in pension: New pensioners have to pay more

There is another innovation in the contribution assessment limit.

In 2022, monthly payments in the old federal states are expected to drop from 100 to 7,050 euros and in the new federal states from 6,700 to 6,750 euros per month.

The contribution assessment ceiling determines the maximum amount up to which income from work is taken into account when calculating the pension insurance contribution.

A higher tax portion will apply to new pensioners from January: From January 2022, the taxable portion of the pension will increase from 81 to 82 percent.

This means that only 18 percent of the first full gross annual pension remains tax-free.

The fixed tax-free pension amount does not change for existing pensions.