Financial impact of major life decisions, for households in Germany.
How big is your pension gap? The answer depends on how long you've worked in Germany, whether you had contribution gaps, and whether you want to stop early. Two cases with concrete model figures.
Whether the mother takes 12 months or both take 7 each: who earns more decides which split is cheaper. Two scenarios with concrete numbers for a real-life couple.
Owning isn't automatically better than renting. Two example households, two cities, two outcomes: here's what the numbers say once you work them through honestly.
Unemployment benefit I, Bürgergeld, health insurance: how long the money lasts and when it gets tight, shown by two households with the same gross pay and very different outcomes.
Part-time means more than a smaller paycheck. Two concrete examples show how cutting your hours plays out across take-home pay, pension rights, and savings.
€100 a month. But starting when? The same savings rate can mean a difference of around €15,000 for your child. Depending on when you start.
The first year is rarely the most expensive. How parental leave, Elterngeld, part-time after returning to work, and pension points play out for two very different households.
Two households, similar income, very different protection. What makes a real safety buffer, and what most people forget to factor in.
Elterngeld isn't 65 percent of your salary. It's 65 percent of a flat-rate net. What that means for different income situations, with concrete model figures.
You've moved to Germany and you're wondering: what have I built up in the statutory pension? What applies to Elterngeld? What does health insurance really cost? With concrete model figures.
A rental property or an ETF portfolio: the same equity, two very different after-tax outcomes. What the model calculation shows for two investment scenarios.
Health insurance, pension insurance, income tax: what really changes financially when you go self-employed. Two freelancer profiles with concrete model figures.
Tax class 3/5 or 4/4? Your tax class affects your monthly net pay and your Elterngeld, but not your annual tax bill. When a change makes sense, with concrete numbers.
Ein kostenloser Sparplan-Rechner verspricht 2,14 Millionen Euro: 1.500 Euro im Monat, 32 Jahre, 7 Prozent im Jahr. Die Zahl stimmt sogar. Sie steht nur in den Euro von 2058, vor Steuer. Was nach deutscher Fondssteuer und in heutigem Geld übrig bleibt, und was ein einziger Prozentpunkt Rendite ausmacht.
A basic top-up (Grundzulage) of up to €540 a year, a child top-up (Kinderzulage) of up to €300 per child, and no investment tax while you save. The new Altersvorsorgedepot, Germany's state-backed pension stock account, sounds good. Here's what really comes out when you line it up against an ordinary ETF account, against Riester, and against Rürup.
A child calculator shows you the Elterngeld. A mortgage calculator shows you the loan rate. Neither shows you what happens when the bank looks at your income in exactly the year it drops. Two households, both making both decisions in the same year.
A Kindergeld calculator shows you one number. A Unterhaltsvorschuss calculator shows you another. Neither shows you what happens when your one income stays the household's only support for ten years. Two single parents, two very different starting points.
Most pension calculators assume the statutory pension insurance. As a Beamtin or Beamter (civil servant) you have a different structure: a Pension instead of pension points, Beihilfe instead of statutory health insurance. Two civil servants, two career stages, one combined picture of pension, health-insurance costs, and an investment account.
A Brutto-Netto calculator gives you one number for this year. It does not show you that your social insurance contributions stop growing at a certain threshold, but your pension points (Rentenpunkte) stop growing there too. Two high earners, different distances above the ceiling.
A rate-comparison calculator puts two percentages side by side and names a winner. It knows neither the Abgeltungsteuer (capital gains tax) on the investment side nor the rest of your household over several years. Two households with the same monthly surplus but different loan interest rates show a very different picture.
An ETF-vs-bAV calculator compares a single month. But what is decided in the first five career years about savings rate, tax benefit, and employer contribution plays out over decades. Two career starters, same income, different first decision.
A Teilzeit (part-time) calculator shows you the new net income. A repayment calculator shows the new loan term. A pension calculator shows the future pension. None of the three shows you that it is the same decision. Two households, age 55, same remaining debt, different choice.
A Kindesunterhalt (child maintenance) calculator shows one figure: the maintenance payment. It does not show what that figure means for the household receiving it and what it means for the household paying it. Two separate households, one shared child, two very different pictures.