When does the Altersvorsorgedepot become available?

From 1 January 2027. The act behind it, the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (pension reform act), has been in the Bundesgesetzblatt (the federal law gazette) since 29 May 2026 (BGBl. I 2026 No. 156). Certified accounts can be opened from January 2027.

Can self-employed people use the Altersvorsorgedepot?

Yes, and that's one of the biggest changes from Riester. If you're self-employed and were shut out of Riester, you can use the Altersvorsorgedepot. Civil servants and employees qualify too.

What happens to my existing Riester contract?

It runs on unchanged under grandfathered status (Bestandsschutz): basic top-up €175, child top-up €300 per child. You can voluntarily move the capital into an Altersvorsorgedepot. That's a one-way street though, there's no going back to Riester. Whether the switch is worth it depends mainly on the costs of your old contract.

Can I get at the money early?

Not without consequences. The Altersvorsorgedepot is locked until age 65. Cancel before then and you have to repay every top-up and tax benefit you've received.

Is the Altersvorsorgedepot better than an ordinary ETF account?

It depends on your situation. For families with children and a long saving period it's usually cheaper, because the child top-up gives such strong leverage. For singles whose retirement income will later stay below the basic tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag), an ordinary ETF account can in some cases come out level or even ahead, because then no deferred tax applies. Miravel runs both routes for you with your own numbers.

What's the difference from a Rürup contract?

Rürup suits self-employed people on a high income above all, because contributions of up to €29,344 a year are deductible. There are no top-ups in return. The Altersvorsorgedepot sets the deduction limits lower, but it brings the basic and child top-ups. You can also run both side by side.

How much do I have to pay in to get the full subsidy?

For the full basic top-up of €540 a year you need at least €1,800 of your own, so €150 a month. For the full child top-up of €300 per child, at least €300 of your own per child a year. Pay in less and the top-ups are scaled down to match.

Do I pay tax on the payout?

Yes. 'Tax-free growth' means no running tax while you're saving, not no tax at all. At payout the subsidised part is fully taxed as income. If you also draw a state pension (gesetzliche Rente), you pay a higher marginal rate on the account payout than in the model calculations, because both incomes are assessed together. The figures in this article assume the account payout is your only income.

The new Altersvorsorgedepot from 2027: what it gets you, what it costs, what it isn't

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.

From 2027, employees, civil servants, and for the first time self-employed people in Germany can open a state-subsidised stock account for retirement. The state chips in: up to €540 a year as the basic top-up (Grundzulage), plus up to €300 per child, and while you're saving there's no Abgeltungsteuer (the flat tax on investment gains) on what your money earns. Sounds like an easy yes. The real question is: for whom, and on what terms?

Every figure here is a model calculation. It shows what the Miravel model works out for one specific set of assumptions: 5% nominal return a year, 32 years of saving, 20 years of payout. Yours will look different, depending on your contribution, your timeline, your return, and your income in retirement.

What is the Altersvorsorgedepot?

The Altersvorsorgedepot is a certified securities account that comes with state support. It was created by the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (the pension reform act), published in the Bundesgesetzblatt (the federal law gazette) on 29 May 2026 (BGBl. I 2026 No. 156). Certified providers are allowed to offer it from 1 January 2027.

For new contracts it takes the place of Riester. Rürup (the pension model aimed mainly at the self-employed) is untouched.

How does the subsidy work?

The subsidy has three parts: the basic top-up (Grundzulage), the child top-up (Kinderzulage), and the special-expense deduction (Sonderausgabenabzug) on your tax return.

Grundzulage (basic top-up): tiered by what you pay in. On the first €360 a year the state adds 50 cents for every euro you contribute, so up to €180. On the slice between €360 and €1,800 it adds 25 cents per euro, so up to €360. Together that's at most €540 of basic top-up a year. The condition: you put in at least €120 of your own a year, which is €10 a month.
Kinderzulage (child top-up): €300 per child a year, as long as you pay in at least €300 yourself a year. The top-up tracks your contribution one for one up to that limit. Pay in only €200 and you get €200 of child top-up per child. The €300 is the ceiling, not a flat amount that lands from the first euro.
Sonderausgabenabzug (special-expense deduction): you can claim your contributions up to €1,800 a year, plus all the top-ups, as special expenses (Sonderausgaben) on your tax return. The Finanzamt (the tax office) automatically checks whether that beats the direct top-up, and you get whichever is better.
Starter bonus: a one-off €200 if you open the account before your 25th birthday.

Julia, 35, two children: €100 a month

Julia teaches in Köln, earns €48,000 gross, and has two children. From 2027 she plans to put €100 a month into the new account. Here's what the Miravel model works out over 32 years to retirement at 67, at a 5% return a year:

Basic top-up per year: €390 (tier 1: €180, tier 2: €210)
Child top-up per year: €600 (two children, €300 each)
Total state top-ups per year: €990
Her own contributions over the whole term: €38,400
State top-ups over the whole term: €31,680
Projected account balance at 67: €173,150
Payout per month, gross: €721
Payout per month, net: €721 (if the account payout is her only income and stays below the basic tax-free allowance, the Grundfreibetrag, of €12,348 a year)

For comparison, the same money with no subsidy: €100 a month into an ordinary stock ETF, taxed at the end. That comes to €84,450 net and €352 a month over 20 years. So that's €369 more a month with the Altersvorsorgedepot. More than half of that gap comes from the top-ups alone.

Andreas, 35, no children: €150 a month

Andreas builds software in Berlin, €60,000 gross, no children. He pays in €150 a month, exactly enough to collect the full basic top-up of €540 a year.

Basic top-up per year: €540 (the maximum)
Child top-up: €0
Total state top-ups per year: €540
His own contributions over the whole term: €57,600
State top-ups over the whole term: €17,280
Projected account balance at 67: €185,009
Payout per month, gross: €771
Payout per month, net: €771 (if the account payout is his only income and stays below the basic tax-free allowance, the Grundfreibetrag, of €12,348 a year)

The same amount in an ordinary ETF account: €126,674 net, €528 a month. Advantage to the Altersvorsorgedepot: €243 more a month. A lot less than for Julia, because there's no child top-up here.

What does 'tax-free growth' actually mean?

The account grows with no running tax. Concretely: no Abgeltungsteuer (the flat investment tax) on dividends and price gains while you're saving. No Vorabpauschale (the annual advance lump-sum tax) that hits an ordinary accumulating, or thesaurierend, ETF every year on gains you haven't even realised yet. And no tax bite when you rebalance inside the account.

That's a genuine advantage. On an ordinary stock fund the Vorabpauschale nibbles a slice off your return every year, depending on the base rate, money that would otherwise have kept compounding. Over 30 years it adds up.

What 'tax-free' does not mean: the tax doesn't disappear, it just shifts. At payout the entire balance from the subsidised part gets taxed, so your contributions, the top-ups, and the gains together, and it's taxed as income. How high the rate is depends on your total income in retirement. If you draw a state pension (gesetzliche Rente) alongside the account, you'll pay tax on the payout at a higher marginal rate than the standalone model above shows. Exactly how much, Miravel works out with your own numbers.

What applies at payout

The earliest you can draw on it is 65. Sooner only if you repay the subsidy. The balance then pays out as a withdrawal plan over at least 20 years. At most 30% can be taken in one go.

How much tax you pay depends on how much you put in. Contributions up to €1,800 a year, plus all top-ups, make up the subsidised part. Whatever pays out of that is fully taxable as income, gains included. Contributions above €1,800 a year land in the unsubsidised part, and with a monthly payout that part is taxed only on the lower Ertragsanteil (the taxable income share of an annuity). The net figures in the calculations above assume the account payout is your only income in retirement. Add a state pension (gesetzliche Rente) and you pay more tax.

Riester, Rürup, Altersvorsorgedepot: three different products

All three are state-subsidised. They still work in completely different ways.

Basic top-up: Altersvorsorgedepot €540 a year, Riester €175 a year, Rürup none.
Child top-up: Altersvorsorgedepot €300 per child a year, Riester also €300, Rürup none.
Special-expense deduction: Altersvorsorgedepot up to about €2,340 a year (contributions plus top-ups), Riester up to €2,100, Rürup up to €29,344 (2026, mainly worthwhile for self-employed people on a high income).
Capital guarantee: Altersvorsorgedepot none, Riester 100% return of contributions by law, Rürup none.
Cost cap: Altersvorsorgedepot 1% a year (standard account), Riester historically had no cap, Rürup has no statutory limit.
Liquidity: all three are locked up until retirement. With the Altersvorsorgedepot and with Riester you can cancel and repay the subsidy, but it's not cheap to do.
Who it's for: Altersvorsorgedepot for employees, civil servants, and since 2027 the self-employed too. Rürup for everyone, especially the self-employed who pay into no state pension.

What Riester savers should know now

Riester contracts taken out before 1 January 2027 keep their grandfathered status (Bestandsschutz) and run on unchanged: basic top-up €175, child top-up €300, special expenses up to €2,100. New Riester contracts can no longer be signed from 2027.

If you already have a Riester contract, you can move the capital into a new Altersvorsorgedepot. You don't have to, but you can. You won't lose any top-ups in the process. Whether the switch is worth it depends on the old contract: a lot of Riester products are expensive and weak on returns. The new account, in the standard case, has a statutory cost cap of 1% a year. One thing to know: once you switch, there's no going back.

Where can you open an Altersvorsorgedepot?

For the Altersvorsorgedepot, providers need certification from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (the federal central tax office), and that's only granted from 2027. Banks, neobrokers, and fund companies will likely launch suitable products then. Naming specific ones responsibly will only be possible after the official launch. The official sources are the Bundesministerium der Finanzen (the federal finance ministry) at bundesfinanzministerium.de and Gesetze-im-internet.de (§10a EStG).

What these numbers don't yet include

Tax in retirement: the model figures show the net pension when only the Altersvorsorgedepot pays out. Add a state pension (gesetzliche Rente) and the tax rate on the account payout rises. How much depends on your total income in retirement.
Inflation: the numbers are nominal, not in today's purchasing power. €173,150 in 32 years buys less than it does today. Miravel can also show the figures in today's money if you want.
Return is not a guarantee: 5% a year is an assumption for a broadly diversified stock portfolio. Stocks swing. In single years, and across whole decades, it can land well above or well below.
Costs: the model uses the statutory cost cap of 1% a year. Individual products can be cheaper.
Child top-up and Kindergeld: the child top-up is tied to Kindergeld (child benefit) and ends once the entitlement runs out, usually at 18, or at 25 at the latest if the child is in training. The model assumes it runs the whole term. In practice it usually flows for less time than you save. So your real top-ups will come out lower than shown here.

Frequently asked questions

Miravel works out what the Altersvorsorgedepot gets your household: with your contribution, your children, your age, compared against an ETF savings plan. Start now for free.