As of: March 29, 2024, 10:23 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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Anyone who works long hours should actually receive a good statutory pension. But are there vintages that are doing better than others? Statistics from the pension insurance provide information.
Berlin – Anyone who receives their statutory pension for the first time after decades of hard work often gets a shock. For many people, pension payments are not enough to cover their costs. On average, pensioners in Germany receive around 1,500 euros per month. Politicians therefore repeatedly warn against relying solely on the statutory pension, because it is only one pillar of old-age provision. The statutory pension only makes sense in conjunction with a company and private pension plan.
With all the complaints about low pensions, it's worth taking a look at the statistics from the German Pension Insurance (DRV), which show how much money prospective pensioners received going back to 1960 (for West Germany). Some vintages have done better than others. But which age groups receive the highest pension and get the most money?
Highest pension in Germany: These factors determine your future pension
First of all, when listing the highest pension in Germany, it must be noted which factors generally influence the later pension. The following data is crucial:
Year of birth
Number of contribution years
Income during working life
Pay points
Earlier retirement and possibly deductions as a result
Receipt of other pensions such as survivors' pensions or disability pensions
Highest pension in Germany: The wages and earnings points of an average pensioner are among the factors
Anyone who has many years of contributions together and has received a good salary throughout their working life also has a good chance of receiving a higher pension and possibly even being one of those pensioners who receive the highest pension in Germany. But it's not just your own performance that counts in our system; Since the DRV is financed primarily by contributors, it also depends on what the country's economic performance looks like overall - and how well you earn in comparison.
In order to define this, there are salary points: a pension salary point is worth as much as the average wage of the working population. Anyone who has collected a total of 45 earnings points over 45 years of work is considered an absolute average pensioner, also known as a “corner pensioner”. Today, this corner pensioner would receive 48 percent of the gross salary he previously received as a pension.
Highest pension in Germany: In 1957 the pension level was much higher than today
So, in order to really compare how well or poorly new retirees are doing today compared to retirees of the past, these are all factors that you have to keep in mind. In its statistics, the DRV uses the corner pensioner and compares how much pension he received and what percentage that was compared to his salary. The latter is called the pension level.
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Anyone who retired in 1957 after 45 years of insurance received an annual pension of the equivalent of 1,478 euros, which corresponds to 123 euros per month. That corresponded to a pension level of 57.3 percent, so it was a fairly stable pension.
Which pensioners are on average in the best situation in Germany? (Symbolic photo) © Westend61/Imago
Highest pension in Germany: those born in 1979 do very well compared to pensioners today
Things were even better for the corner pensioner who retired in 1979 and, with a pension level of 59.0 percent, received a total of 7,271 euros a year, i.e. 605 euros a month. A pensioner who retired in 2023 received a total of 18,040 euros per year at a pension level of 48.2 percent, i.e. 1,503 euros per month. The generations that are retiring today are getting more money than ever before - but it is significantly worse than what they earned before.
Pensioners who are retiring today have been able to benefit from the fact that the economy was largely going well - to which they also made a significant contribution. But at the same time, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to retirement, as the boomer generation puts pressure on the system in terms of numbers, so that all new retirees get less of the cake.
Highest pension in Germany: Pensions are difficult to compare
The comparatively highest pensions in Germany were received by those who had both: a booming economy throughout their lives with ever-increasing wages and, at the same time, a pension system whose financing could be shared across many shoulders. This particularly affects those born in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s.
Finally, one should of course keep in mind that it is really difficult to generalize who was better or worse off and when. In addition to the factors mentioned, the following also play a role: gender (women in West Germany have fewer pensions on average because they were able to accumulate fewer years of contributions), federal state (East Germany and West Germany are difficult to compare before 1990) and questions about personal health and circumstances .