Increase your pension with one application: This is how you can get more out of your statutory pension

Increase your pension with one application: This is how you can get more out of your statutory pension

According to a report from t-online.de,

You can have contributions to the statutory pension insurance credited to you for certain periods. Who this applies to and how it works. On average, the statutory pension is not particularly generous. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, more than seven million pensioners have to get by on less than 1,250 euros per month. Every opportunity to increase salaries would come in handy. In fact, there is an easy way to get more out of your pension - with just one application. This means up to 110 euros more per month. We are talking about the recognition of child-rearing periods.

Increase your pension with one application

If your child was born in 1992 or later, you could have the German pension insurance credited to you for the first three years after birth. Two years and six months can be recognized for children born earlier (“mother’s pension”). In the case of multiple births, the time is multiplied accordingly. You have to take action yourself to get recognition, otherwise these times will not count towards your pension. You can download the application form here.

A year of raising children brings just under one pension point

Upon request, the pension insurance will credit you for raising your children as if you had paid your own pension contributions during this time. “Child-rearing periods are compulsory contributions that have a direct impact on your pension amount,” says the German Pension Insurance. “For the period of raising children, you will be placed in roughly the same position as if you had paid contributions based on the average earnings of all insured people.” This means: You will receive just under one pension point for one year of child-rearing time. And that currently gives you a pension of 37.60 euros per month (as of January 2024). With up to three possible years of parenting, you would have a monthly pension that is around 110 euros higher. If you have more children, your pension will increase accordingly.

It's not just biological parents who benefit

In the case of same-sex parents, the biological parent receives parenting time. If both parents are not the biological parents, the person who first adopted the child is entitled to the child-rearing time. If this is not the case either, the parental leave is divided equally on a monthly alternating basis.

In addition to biological and adoptive parents, child-rearing periods also apply to foster parents and stepparents. Grandparents or other relatives can also have these times recognized if the child lives with them permanently as a foster child in their home. Contributions for child-rearing periods are also available if you worked during this time.

The impact on the market and the financial industry could mean that retirees with children who have not yet taken advantage of this option now have the chance to increase their pension benefits. This will lead to a possible increase in pension payments and thus also to increasing purchasing power in this segment. For insurance and financial services companies, this could mean an increased need to offer products and services tailored to the needs and requirements of retirees with enhanced pension benefits.