Can a foreigner get a German pension?

Yes. Every employee in Germany contributes to Deutsche Rentenversicherung regardless of nationality, and every year of contributions builds a pension claim. You collect the pension at retirement age, even if you have moved abroad. EU residents and citizens of countries with a bilateral agreement (Turkey, USA, India, Brazil, Australia and others) get their German pension paid into their home account. The contribution rate in 2026 is 18.6% of gross salary, split between employer and employee.

Is Riester for expats? The honest answer

Only if you are Pflichtversicherte in the German statutory pension system (§ 10a EStG). An employee with a normal social-security job qualifies. A self-employed expat does not, unless they have opted into voluntary DRV insurance with the Pflichtversicherung auf Antrag status. EU-posted workers covered by their home system, and many high earners on private health insurance (PKV), do not qualify. There is a narrow Übergangsregelung for people who were Pflichtmitglied in a comparable foreign system before 1 January 2010.

Rürup vs Riester, which is better for expats?

Rürup (Basisrente) is the practical option for self-employed expats and high earners. The 2026 ceiling is €30,826 single / €61,652 joint, fully deductible as Sonderausgaben under § 10 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 b in conjunction with Abs. 3 EStG. Riester is restricted to Pflichtversicherte, has lower contribution limits (€2,100 per year max), but pays state allowances of €175 plus €300 per child. If you are employed and have children, Riester usually wins for a few years; if you are self-employed or have high income, Rürup is the only state-supported path.

Can I get my German pension contributions back if I leave?

Sometimes. Under § 210 SGB VI a refund is possible only if you are a non-EU citizen without a bilateral German pension agreement, and only after a 24-month waiting period from the last contribution. Only the employee share is refunded; the employer share stays in the system. Citizens of EU/EEA states, Switzerland, and bilateral-agreement countries (Turkey, USA, India, Brazil and others) cannot withdraw contributions, they claim a German pension at retirement age, paid into their home country.

How does the Germany-Turkey pension agreement work?

The Sozialversicherungsabkommen between Germany and Turkey lets you add up insurance periods from both countries to meet minimum waiting times. Each country then pays a pension share based on its own years. If you worked 10 years in Turkey and 15 years in Germany, you claim a Turkish pension from SGK for the 10 Turkish years, and a German pension from DRV for the 15 German years. The two claims are independent but coordinated via DRV form V0901. A Kontenklärung at DRV makes both records visible in your German file.

How is private pension income taxed for non-residents?

The bilateral double-tax treaty decides. Germany usually keeps the right to tax Rürup, Riester, and bAV pensions paid to former residents. Classic private pension annuities are taxed at the Ertragsanteil (income portion) under § 22 Nr. 1 S. 3 EStG: 17% taxable share at age 67. Lump-sum payouts from a classic private pension can be tax-free if the contract has run at least 12 years and payout starts from age 62. The country where you live in retirement may also tax the income; your tax adviser checks for double-taxation relief.

What about the Riester reform in 2027?

The Bundesrat approved the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (BT-Drs. 21/4088) on 8 May 2026. The last new Riester contract can be signed before 31 December 2026. A new Altersvorsorgedepot replaces Riester from 1 January 2027 with broader investment freedom, no full premium guarantee, simpler taxation. Existing contracts continue under their original terms (Bestandsschutz). For an expat unsure about Riester right now, the better choice is to wait for the Altersvorsorgedepot tariffs in 2027 rather than rush a Riester contract you may not need.

Pension for self-employed expats: what works?

Most self-employed people in Germany are not in DRV. That removes Riester from the table. The two practical options are Rürup (Basisrente) for tax-deductible long-term saving with insolvency protection under § 851c ZPO, and a flexible private pension or ETF-Sparplan for liquidity. Some professions (artists via the Künstlersozialkasse, midwives, certain trades on the Handwerkerrolle) are Pflichtversicherte by special clause, and for them the public DRV plus a top-up bAV or Riester is often enough.

For expats, Blue-Card holders, EU residents and newcomers in Germany

Pension Insurance Germany for Expats: The Honest 2026 Guide

The same pension rules apply to you as to any German citizen. The same options. The same forms. The same tax breaks. And the same traps. Here is what works, what is restricted, and what to do if you do not qualify for Riester.

Last updated: 6 June 2026meinetarife24 Editorial Team12-minute read

18.6%

DRV contribution rate 2026

+4.24%

Pension increase 01.07.2026

€30,826

Rürup max deduction 2026

2027

Riester reform deadline

Yes, foreigners get a German pension. If you work as an employee in Germany, you contribute 18.6% of your gross salary (split with your employer) to Deutsche Rentenversicherung and earn pension rights from day one. The harder questions are about the private layers: Riester only works for Pflichtversicherte (most employees, almost no self-employed); Rürup is the practical choice for freelancers; and a refund of contributions is only possible for non-EU citizens without a bilateral agreement, after 24 months.

Key Takeaways

·You join the same public pension (DRV) as Germans. 18.6% in 2026, split with employer. The pension value rose by 4.24% on 1 July 2026 (from €40.79 to €42.52 per Entgeltpunkt).
·Riester is not for every expat. § 10a EStG demands Pflichtversicherung in the German statutory system. Self-employed, EU-posted workers and many PKV high earners do not qualify.
·Rürup is the practical option for self-employed expats. 2026 ceiling €30,826 single / €61,652 joint, deductible as Sonderausgaben (§ 10 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 b i.V.m. Abs. 3 EStG).
·You can collect your German pension abroad. EU Regulation 883/2004 plus bilateral partners (Turkey, USA, India, Brazil and others) coordinate the totalisation.
·A contribution refund is possible, but limited. § 210 SGB VI: only non-EU citizens without a bilateral agreement, only after 24 months, only the employee share.

Who this guide is for

You moved to Germany for work, study, or family. You may stay five years, or you may stay forever. Either way, every month a chunk of your gross salary disappears into Rentenversicherung. You want to know: is this money lost, or does it come back? And does it make sense to add a private layer on top through Riester, Rürup, or a classic private pension?

The short answer: the money is not lost. The harder question is whether the extra private layers make sense for you, given that some German subsidies are tied to your visa and employment status. That is the part most English-language guides get wrong.

Are you eligible? The three-pillar matrix

Germany uses a three-pillar retirement model. Your eligibility differs in each pillar.

Pillar I: Public (DRV)

The mandatory foundation

Statutory pension insurance. Contribution rate 2026: 18.6% of gross salary, split with your employer. Every employee in Germany is in this system regardless of nationality.

Every point earned = €42.52/mo at retirement

Pillar II: Occupational (bAV)

The most underused option

Betriebliche Altersvorsorge through your employer. You have a legal right to ask for it (§ 1a BetrAVG). Vested rights stay with you if you leave Germany. Employer must add 15% on top where it saves social-security contributions (since 2022).

Tax-free up to 8% BBG, 4% SV-free

Pillar III: Private

Rürup, Riester, classic

Rürup is the practical choice for self-employed expats (€30,826 max in 2026). Riester is restricted to Pflichtversicherte. Classic private pensions are open to anyone with German tax residency.

Garantiezins 1.00% per § 2 DeckRV

Your situation	DRV	bAV	Riester	Rürup	Classic
Employee with regular Sozialversicherung job	Yes (automatic)	Yes (if employer offers)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Self-employed / freelancer (most)	No (voluntary possible)	No	No (unless Pflicht. auf Antrag)	Yes	Yes
Self-employed in compulsory profession (artist, midwife, certain trades)	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
High-earner PKV-insured above Pflichtversicherungsgrenze	Yes if employed	Yes	Often No (check Pflicht. status)	Yes	Yes
EU-posted worker (A1 certificate, home-country social system)	No (covered abroad)	Limited	No	Yes (tax residency rules)	Yes

Pillar I: The public pension (DRV)

If you work as an employee in Germany, this is the foundation. About 18.6% of your gross salary goes into the public system in 2026. You pay half, your employer pays half. The maximum contribution applies up to the Beitragsbemessungsgrenze (€8,450/month in 2026, uniform nationwide since 2025). Earnings above that do not increase your future pension.

What you get out of it

You earn Entgeltpunkte (pension points). One year of average earnings gives you one point. In 2026 each point is worth €42.52 per month of pension (as of 1 July 2026, after the +4.24% increase from €40.79). So 10 years of average German income builds roughly €425 of monthly pension at retirement age. That is modest. It is meant to be a base, not a replacement income.

Two practical jobs for newcomers

Kontenklärung (account clarification). Within your first five years, ask DRV to verify your full record. Foreign periods (school, university, military, Turkish or Indian work years) need separate proof and are not added automatically. The DRV form is V100; submit it once and you have a clean record for life.
Versicherungsverlauf (insurance progress report). Every year DRV sends you a Renteninformation. Read it. The projected pension is in today's money and assumes you keep earning the same. If the number looks too low, that is the cue to add Pillar II or III.

Pillar II: Occupational pension (bAV), the most underused option

Your employer is legally required to offer you a betriebliche Altersvorsorge if you ask for one (§ 1a BetrAVG). You can convert part of your gross salary into pension contributions (§ 3 Nr. 63 EStG): exempt from income tax up to 8% of the Beitragsbemessungsgrenze, and from social-security contributions up to 4%. Since 2022, employers must add 15% on top where they save social-security contributions through the conversion.

For an expat, two things matter:

You keep your bAV if you leave Germany. Vested rights stay with you. Some forms (Direktversicherung) are easy to continue from abroad; others are tied to the German employer.
Tax in retirement is full (nachgelagerte Besteuerung). The whole pension is taxable income in retirement, not just the gains. If you retire in Turkey, the USA or another bilateral country, the bilateral tax treaty decides who taxes the income. Germany usually keeps the right to tax bAV.

If your employer offers a decent Pensionskasse or Direktversicherung with a reasonable contribution match, this is usually the first private layer to add, before Riester, before Rürup.

Pillar III: Private pension, three sub-paths

The "Riester or Rürup?" question lives here. The answer depends mainly on whether you are an employee in the German social-security system.

A. Rürup (Basisrente): the choice for self-employed expats

Rürup is the practical answer for freelancers, self-employed people, and high earners not covered by the public DRV system. In 2026 you can deduct contributions up to a ceiling of €30,826 single or €61,652 jointly assessed (§ 10 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 b in conjunction with Abs. 3 EStG). The full amount is 100% deductible as Sonderausgaben since 2023.

One important note: this €30,826 ceiling is not a pure Rürup pot. It covers your whole Basisversorgung, so your mandatory DRV contributions count toward it. For someone already in the public DRV, the practical Rürup headroom is smaller. Run the numbers with a Steuerberater before you sign. (In 2025 the ceiling was still €29,344.)

What you give up: liquidity. Rürup pays out only as a lifelong monthly pension, not as a lump sum. You cannot inherit it freely (only spouse and Kindergeld-eligible children). Contracts signed from 2012 can start paying at age 62 at the earliest. What you get: insolvency protection during the savings phase under § 851c ZPO.

Deep dive: Rürup pension comparison

Read this before signing Riester

B. Riester: only if you are Pflichtversicherte

Here is the part most English-language pages get wrong. § 10a EStG requires that you are insured in the German statutory pension system (Pflichtversicherte). That means:

Employees with a normal social-security job: eligible.
Civil servants (Beamte): eligible by separate clause.
Self-employed with voluntary DRV contribution: only if they elected Pflichtversicherung auf Antrag.
Self-employed without DRV: not eligible.
EU-posted workers (A1 certificate): not eligible.
PKV-insured high earners outside DRV: not eligible.
Spouses of an eligible person: eligible via abgeleitete Zulageberechtigung with small minimum own contribution.

One Übergangsregelung: if you were Pflichtmitglied in a foreign statutory pension system before 1 January 2010 and that system is comparable to DRV, you can keep Riester eligibility for a contract signed under that prior status.

If you are eligible, the math is good. Grundzulage €175/year, Kinderzulage €300/year for each child born from 2008 (€185 for older children), one-off Berufseinsteigerbonus €200 if you start before age 25, and a Sonderausgaben deduction up to €2,100/year (§ 10a EStG). Your own minimum contribution is 4% of last year's gross income minus the allowances, with a €60 Sockelbeitrag floor (§ 86 EStG).

The 2027 reform, read before signing anything:

The Bundesrat approved the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (BT-Drs. 21/4088) on 8 May 2026. Three changes: (1) the last new Riester contract can be signed before 31 December 2026; (2) a new Altersvorsorgedepot starts on 1 January 2027 with broader investment freedom and no full premium guarantee; (3) contracts signed before 2027 keep their existing terms (Bestandsschutz).

Providers still open for new Riester contracts in 2026: Allianz, Stuttgarter, HanseMerkur, and Debeka (as of May 2026). DWS Riester closed for new business on 1 July 2024. DEKA closed BonusRente in 2017 and ZukunftsPlan in 2022. ERGO Klassik closed in 2016. CosmosDirekt closed in 2017.

Deep dive: Riester comparison with reform context

C. Classic private pension annuity

The ungeförderte private pension. No state subsidies, no Sonderausgaben deduction. Simple structure: you save, you get a lifelong annuity or a lump sum at retirement. The maximum guaranteed interest rate (Garantiezins) is 1.00% in 2026, set by the BMF in the DeckRV (§ 2) on the DAV's recommendation. That rate applies only to the savings portion of the premium, not the gross premium; the difference is fees (Effektivkosten, typically 1.5% to 2.5% per year depending on the tariff).

The tax treatment in retirement is the Ertragsanteil: at age 67 only 17% of the monthly pension is taxable (§ 22 Nr. 1 S. 3 EStG); at age 65 it is 18%, at age 70 it is 15%. Lump-sum payouts are tax-free if the contract has run at least 12 years and pays out from age 62, which is often the most attractive feature for high-earning expats.

Leaving Germany before retirement: refund or wait?

You have three scenarios.

Scenario 1: EU/EEA/Switzerland

No refund. EU Regulation 883/2004 coordinates pensions across the bloc. Your German insurance periods stay; at retirement age you claim a German pension separately. Each country pays its share. You also keep the right to combine waiting times: 8 years in Spain + 7 years in Germany = 15 years counted for any country's minimum waiting period.

Scenario 2: Bilateral-agreement country (Turkey, USA, India, Brazil, etc.)

The bilateral treaty governs totalisation. For Turkey: insurance periods are mutually recognised for waiting times, and each country pays its share at its respective retirement age. No refund. Form V0901 (DRV) opens the claim process. Note: the Turkey agreement carries some restrictions (partly nationality-based), unlike the US agreement, which applies largely regardless of nationality. For the USA: similar logic under the German-American Totalization Agreement (1979).

Scenario 3: Non-EU, non-bilateral country

Now § 210 SGB VI applies, but only if you also no longer have a right to voluntary insurance. You can request a refund of the employee share of contributions after a 24-month wait from the last German contribution. The employer share is not refunded. You lose the corresponding pension rights. For most people, waiting and claiming a German pension at retirement age is better; the refund makes sense only if you are young, your German period is short, and you have no plan to return. Run the math.

Taxation in retirement

Germany moved to nachgelagerte Besteuerung in 2005: contributions become more tax-deductible over time, payouts become more taxable over time. The taxable share of the public pension is climbing year by year and reaches 100% by 2058. For someone retiring in 2026, 84% of the gross public pension is taxable.

If you retire abroad, the German-side rules still apply unless the bilateral tax treaty allocates the right to tax to your new home country. Germany usually keeps taxation rights on Rürup, Riester, and bAV. The double-tax treaty network is dense; get a tax adviser before you move, not after.

A useful side note: the Beitrag zur Krankenversicherung der Rentner (KVdR) deducts roughly 8% of your gross pension for statutory health insurance, plus about 3.4% for long-term-care insurance. The exact rate moves; check before you budget.

Healthcare after retirement: the part nobody mentions

If you spent most of your working life in PKV, switching back to GKV at retirement is hard. You need 9/10ths of the second half of your working life in GKV to qualify for KVdR membership (the cheaper statutory retirement health insurance). For many high earners on PKV through their entire German career this is impossible; they stay on PKV in retirement, with premiums that often climb steeply once they cross 70.

If you spent most of your working life in GKV in Germany and retire to the EU, S1 forms keep you covered. Retire to Turkey or another bilateral country and the rules depend on the treaty; some let you keep partial GKV coverage, others require you to register in the local system. Check the DRV info sheet "Wohnsitz im Ausland" before you sign a lease.

A 10-step Newcomer Checklist

The order matters. Step 4 (bAV) before step 6 (Rürup) before step 7 (Riester) is not arbitrary, it follows the value-per-euro ranking for most expats.

1Get your Sozialversicherungsnummer (arrives after your first job, keep it forever).
2Submit DRV form V100 (Kontenklärung) within five years. It is free.
3Read the annual Renteninformation. Request it after three years if it does not arrive.
4Ask your employer about bAV. If a match is offered, accept before adding any Pillar III product.
5Decide on Pillar III only after Pillar II. Most expats overpay private insurers because they skipped the better-value bAV.
6If self-employed: open a Rürup contract. Check the Effektivkosten. Anything above 1.5% per year on a long contract is expensive.
7If Pflichtversicherte and convinced Riester suits you: sign before 31 December 2026. Use one of the four providers still open for new business.
8If unsure about Riester: wait for the Altersvorsorgedepot in 2027. Bestandsschutz protects your existing rights; do not panic-sign.
9If you plan to leave Germany within five years: avoid Riester or Rürup. Use a classic private pension or a normal ETF-Sparplan.
10Talk to a Steuerberater before you move out of Germany. The tax-residency switch is more complex than the pension claim itself.

Key German terms you will encounter

Print this list and keep it next to your laptop when you read DRV letters and insurance contracts.

Rentenversicherung

Pension insurance (public DRV)

Altersvorsorge

Retirement provision (broader)

Pflichtversicherung

Compulsory insurance status

Basisrente / Rürup

Tax-deductible private pension

Riester-Rente

State-subsidised pension (restricted)

Beitragserstattung

Refund of contributions

Kontenklärung

DRV account clarification

Garantiezins

Guaranteed interest rate (1.00% in 2026)

Compare private pension options for your situation

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Frequently asked questions

Verified sources & legal references

· §§ 3 Nr. 63, 10a, 22 Nr. 1 S. 3, 84, 85, 86, 10 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 b u. Abs. 3 EStG; § 2 DeckRV; §§ 89, 215, 294 VAG; § 5a/§ 5b AltZertG; §§ 4-7, § 210, § 113 SGB VI; § 1a BetrAVG; § 851c ZPO; VO (EG) 883/2004
· Deutsche Rentenversicherung: Zulagenberechtigung, V100 (Kontenklärung) and V0901 forms, Auslandsberatung
· Bundesministerium der Finanzen: Altersvorsorgereformgesetz BT-Drs. 21/4088 (Bundesrat 8 May 2026)
· BaFin: pension supervisor under VAG § 294
· GDV: life-insurance market-share statistics 2024
· DAV: Garantiezins recommendation 1.00% for 2026
· Stiftung Warentest, Finanztip: Riester reform analyses 2026

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