Preparing for Retirement: Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Pension

If you prepare better for retirement, you will get more out of it. Experts recommend dealing with account clarification, health insurance and the like at least a year in advance.

Berlin – The interest heralds a new chapter in life. Experts advise dealing with the topic at an early stage in order to get the most out of it. The amount of the pension is largely preset – for example by the previous salary and the duration of the payment. However, consumers can use certain parameters to influence how much actually ends up in the account.

These factors should be examined carefully by employees before they retire

Ideally, consumers should already start thinking about their future retirement in their early 60s, with a particular focus on the following topics:

At least one year before the start of your pension: Close insurance gaps

Experts recommend a so-called account clarification before applying for a pension. For this, there should be at least a buffer of one year before the planned retirement. It is important to carefully look through the insurance history, which regularly comes with the pension information, advises the lawyer and pension advisor Julia Manner-Löffert in a contribution to the Wirschaftswoche (Wiwo). At least one year before the start of the pension, she recommends closing any gaps in your insurance. “You have to submit the relevant proof, for example of schooling,” explains the expert.

Calculate the amount of the pension: Retirement age has an influence

The law provides a regular Interest rate thresholds before. However, some employees are attached to their job and would like to work a little longer. Others want it as early as possible in interest go. “Anyone who does not want to accept deductions in old age with an early pension has the option of paying additional contributions into the pension insurance from the age of 50,” recommends the German pension insurance. If you later decide to start your regular pension, you simply increase your pension with the contributions.

In order to adapt the retirement age to their own personal and financial needs, consumers should ask the German pension insurance how high the pension would be in the various scenarios. Also a pension advisor can provide information about this. Likewise should future Pension-related additional cost items such as health and nursing care insurance or keep an eye on taxes, advises Manner-Löffert. Do consumers have other pension elements in addition to the statutory pension insurance – such as the Riester duck or private pension insurance – possible taxes and social security contributions must also be considered here. This is the only way to estimate how much is left on the bottom line, warns the expert.

Health insurance in retirement: voluntary or compulsory?

Anyone who has always been legally insured during their employment usually falls into the category of compulsorily insured persons in the health insurance of pensioners. This is an advantage for all those who have rental or capital income, because these are not included in the calculation of the contribution. “However, if you had private health insurance for a long time and only returned to statutory health insurance late, you may count as voluntarily insured in old age. This means that the health insurance contributions can then be significantly higher,” says the pension expert in the Viewing.

Taxes as a pensioner: These allowances apply

How much tax pensioners have to pay also depends on the year in which they retire. The tax-free portion changes depending on the year of birth and will decrease by one percentage point per year until it is zero percent in 2040.

Applying for a pension: This is important to note

When you reach the regular retirement age, money does not automatically flow into your account. Instead, consumers must actively apply for their pension themselves. “Before you apply for a pension, I recommend contacting your employer. Although this is not mandatory, it often helps to ensure a smooth transition,” says the expert Manner-Löffert. Because sometimes the employment contract states that the employment relationship ends automatically when the regular retirement age is reached. But that is not always the case, in these cases the notice period applies.