Basic pension: hundreds of euros more a month - who is entitled to the supplement?

Created: 2022-02-11Updated: 2022-02-11, 3:18 p.m

By: Felix Durach

The basic pension is intended to provide financial relief for pensioners in Germany who have earned below-average earnings in their professional lives.

But who is entitled to it?

Berlin - On January 1, 2021, the Basic Pensions Act came into force in Germany and is intended to contribute to better security for pensioners in old age.

Citizens who have worked for many years and paid into the pension fund, but have received a below-average salary, are to receive an additional basic pension.

The basic pension should give those affected more money than just basic security.

The first basic pension surcharges have been paid out to citizens since last July.

But not every pensioner who is entitled to the basic pension has already received payments from the German pension fund.

We have summarized for you below who is entitled to the additional basic pension surcharge and how to assert this entitlement.

Basic pension in Germany: Who is entitled to the individual supplement?

As already mentioned, the basic pension is primarily intended to financially support those pensioners who, despite years of work, would not receive sufficient pension payments due to a below-average salary.

According to a spokesman for the German pension insurance to the German press agency, this affects around five percent of all pensioners.

The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs assumes that around 1.3 million people will benefit from the basic pension.

In order to receive the basic pension surcharge, you must have at least 33 years of so-called basic pension periods.

In addition to times from professional activities with compulsory contributions, child-rearing periods and care periods also count.

Periods in which you received sickness benefits are also taken into account.

However, you can only claim the full supplement after 35 years of basic pension periods.

Basic pension in Germany: Which low earners can benefit?

With regard to earnings, only pensioners whose earnings have been less than 80 percent of average earnings throughout their working life are entitled to the basic pension.

However, not all low-income earners benefit from the basic pension surcharge.

Anyone who has received less than 30 percent of average earnings through mini-jobs or similar employment relationships cannot have these periods taken into account.

In 2021, this corresponds to a monthly income of less than 1,039 euros.

The basic pension is intended to further relieve pensioners in Germany.

© Sebastian Kahner/dpa

In addition, there is an income check for the relevant pensioners.

Single people can therefore earn a maximum of 1250 euros in order to receive the maximum surcharge.

For spouses or life partners, the limit is 1950 euros.

If the income is above the limit, it is counted towards the basic pension supplement.

Basic pension in Germany: How do I claim the supplement?

However, pensioners who meet the above criteria do not have to submit an application to claim the basic pension.

The check is carried out automatically by the German pension insurance.

Since the payments will be made retrospectively from January 1, 2021, the German pension insurance has to check the claims of 26 million German pensioners.

A task that will take a lot of time.

According to official information, the examination process is expected to last until the end of 2022.

As soon as the examination of the individual pensioners has been completed, the payment would be made as quickly as possible and retrospectively.

According to information from the German Press Agency, the test should start with the oldest years and then gradually check the younger years.

Basic pension in Germany: How high is the surcharge?

The basic pension surcharge is calculated individually and the affected pensioners will be informed in their pension notification.

Depending on average earnings, however, payments of up to 419 euros are possible.

The Deutsche Rentenversicherung states that the average payments will probably amount to 75 euros per month according to current estimates.

All citizens can see in their pension notification whether they are entitled to the basic pension supplement.

Those who are not entitled to a surcharge will not be informed separately