What is changing for pensioners: tips and tricks in old age

Created: 12/29/2022, 11:48 am

The prospects for retirees are not bad.

Anyone who can and wants to work in old age can earn unlimited additional income.

In addition, the pension increases in July.

© Patrick Pleul

A lot will change in the coming year: for pensioners, families, the unemployed and for all taxpayers.

In a four-part series, we explain what German citizens can expect.

Munich – The pension will increase in 2023 – but so will the retirement age.

In addition, a job and an old-age pension can now be freely combined.

start of retirement

In 2023, the regular retirement age will increase by another month.

In the coming year, those born in 1957 will all be able to retire regularly – at the age of 65 and 11 months.

The pension is then usually only paid from the following month – i.e. at 66. For younger cohorts, retirement is a little later.

From the 1964 vintage, the 67-year limit is reached.

Anyone who was born in 1964 can already make a note of the year 2031 for retirement.

However, in many cases it is still possible to do this earlier.

Retirement free of deductions

So to speak, as a "bonbon" for particularly loyal customers of the pension insurance, this offers early retirement without deductions.

It is often still known as a pension with no deductions at 63. But that is no longer true.

The entry age in 2023 is 64 years and two months and applies to those born in 1959. For example, anyone born on January 15, 1959 is entitled to this old-age pension from April 2023 – provided the minimum insurance period of 45 years has been fulfilled.

• Tip: It is particularly important for women to know that the so-called child consideration times count when checking whether the 45 insurance years required for this pension have been accumulated.

  The time taken into account is the period in which a child is brought up up to its tenth birthday.

  That is why a surprising number of women are entitled to early retirement without deductions.

With discounts

For those who do not meet the minimum insurance period of 45 years, the early old-age pension for those who have been insured for many years (without the addition “special”) is an option.

35 insurance years are sufficient for this.

With this pension, nothing changes at the 63-year limit, but at the deductions, i.e. the pension reduction that occurs when you retire at 63.

This pension is eligible for 2023 for those born in 1960 – with a discount of twelve percent.

Anyone who has acquired pension entitlements of 1500 euros will therefore only receive a gross pension of 1320 euros.

As with all statutory pensions, contributions to health and long-term care insurance are usually deducted from this.

For younger generations, the pension deduction, which applies for life, increases to up to 14.4 percent.

severely disabled

Severely disabled people whose pension account shows 35 years of insurance can usually also retire early – with significantly lower deductions.

For example, someone born in 1962 can retire at the age of 61 years and eight months.

Then deductions of 10.8 percent (0.3 percent x 36 months) are due.

The "severely handicapped pension" is usually paid three years later.

For those born in 1964, the age limit of 65 years applies, and it will stay that way – at least for the time being.

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additional earnings

Unlimited additional earnings were previously only permitted for regular pensioners.

In the case of early retirement pensions, the combination of job and pension has so far threatened a pension reduction.

There were already special regulations here in the last two Corona years.

The following generally applies: Early retirees can also earn any amount without their pension being reduced.

The pension insurance does not have to be informed about a job or the continuation of the job.

• Tip: If you combine job and pension, you should save money for the tax office.

  Because then, in the following year, an additional tax claim beckons.

The additional earnings limits for statutory disability pensions have also been significantly increased.

In 2023, an annual additional income of 17,823.75 euros is exempt from the pension due to a full reduction in earning capacity.

• Tip: Retirees with reduced earning capacity should still seek advice from the pension insurance company before taking up a job.

  If necessary, the "business basis" for the pension is lost due to gainful employment.

  Only those who can only work less than three hours a day will receive a pension due to a full reduction in earning capacity.

Steer

Those who retire in 2023 will have to pay tax on a higher proportion of their pension.

The taxable portion of the pension increases from 82 to 83 percent.

17 percent of the first full gross annual pension is tax-free.

In the case of existing pensions, the fixed tax-free pension amount remains.

So far, about every fourth pensioner has had to pay taxes - mostly due to additional income, for example from renting and leasing.

Due to the significant increase in the basic tax allowance (from EUR 10,347 to EUR 10,908), some pensioners will no longer be subject to tax in 2023.

Higher pension from July

On July 1st there will be a pension increase of 3.5 percent in the West.

This emerges from the pension insurance report 2022.

Exactly how much the pensions will increase will not be known until spring 2023.

Pension equalization in the East: From July 2024 at the latest, the pension will be calculated uniformly throughout Germany.

Until then, the East pension will increase more than the West pension.

For pensioners from the new federal states there will therefore be at least an increase of 4.2 percent - if the pension increase of 3.5 percent in the west is maintained.