ROUTE
Private Retirement Saving
The state pension will not suffice for most — that gap is the Rentenlücke. How to close it without overpaying middlemen: employer pension, Riester/Rürup for whom, and an ETF savings plan as a flexible alternative.
✓ Checked: 18/07/2026
The state pension is designed as a foundation, not as a replacement for your salary. The distance between your usual income and the later payment is called the Rentenlücke, and closing it is your own job. The problem: this is exactly the topic intermediaries earn on — what gets sold is not what fits, but what pays them well.
› More about this route
This four-step route runs from the calculation to the decision: first put an honest figure on the gap, then examine the occupational pension through your employer, then the state-subsidised contracts, and finally the plain alternative of regular payments into the market.
The order is deliberate. Occupational provision usually starts with the employer’s contribution and savings on tax and social charges, so it is checked first. Only once that reserve is used does comparing the rest make sense — and comparing on the contract’s costs, not on the attractive final figure in a presentation.
WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME
- Starting with a product instead of a calculation. Without the size of the gap, how much to save stays open and any contract is a guess.
- Not asking about the occupational pension. The employer’s contribution and the saving on charges are the cheapest part of the solution and lapse if you never ask.
- Looking only at the final figure in the presentation. Costs and flexibility decide: a contract spanning decades must survive a pause in payments and a change of job.
- Signing a long contract under pressure. A discount valid “only today” is a sales signal, not a calculation; a good contract will wait a week.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE
Where does private pension provision start?▾
With the calculation of the gap between the expected state pension and the income you will need. Until that figure exists, choosing a product is pointless: neither the saving rate nor the term can be determined.
What is the occupational pension and who benefits from it?▾
A contract paid into from gross salary, to which the employer must add a share. Thanks to that contribution and the saving on tax and social charges it is usually cheaper than a freely sold contract.
Who are the state-subsidised contracts suitable for?▾
Mainly families receiving child allowances and people with a high tax burden — there the subsidy outweighs the strict rules. Everyone else should carefully weigh them against more flexible routes.
Can I simply save on my own instead of taking a contract?▾
A regular savings plan on a broad market index is the common alternative: flexible and usually lower in cost. In return there is no guaranteed payout and no subsidy, and you carry the market swings yourself.