Germany is replacing the Riester-Rente (Riester pension) with a new state-subsidized investment depot. You’ll be able to invest that subsidized money directly into ETFs.
The Bundestag passed the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (private pension reform law) on 27 March 2026 with the votes of the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition. The Bundesrat still needs to approve it.
The next regular session of the Bundesrat is scheduled for 24 April 2026. If the reform is passed, the new Riester product will launch on 1 January 2027.
What is the Altersvorsorgedepot?
The Altersvorsorgedepot (retirement savings depot) is a new category of state-certified private pension product. The key difference from Riester is that it has no capital guarantee requirement.
This means Altersvorsorgedepot providers can invest your money in higher-return assets. This is how it works:
- You open a depot with a certified provider: banks, insurers, fund companies, neobrokers, or a planned public-sector provider.
- You set up a monthly or annual savings plan to buy the eligible ETF products. You pick the ETFs in which you want to invest.
- In the accumulation (savings) phase, capital gains are not taxed. This allows more money in your account to compound.
- You pay tax when you start withdrawing the sum after retirement.
What is the Standard Depot?
If you don’t want to pick your own investments, you can use the Standarddepot Altersvorsorge (standard retirement depot). This is a pre-configured version with legally fixed investment ETFs and funds. You only need to make a decision if you want to deviate from those defaults.
The Standard Depot comes with a hard cost cap of 1% for providers. This means the depot providers may charge a maximum of 1% in effective annual costs.
The hard cost cap eliminates opaque costs that eat into your investment returns.
The government has also been authorized to set up a publicly managed version of Standarddepot. The goal is to mark it as a benchmark to keep private providers’ fees competitive.
How much is the state subsidy?
The subsidy structure has changed from a flat annual allowance of €175 (in the old Riester) to a proportional subsidy. The proportional subsidy is based on your contribution amount.
| Contribution in the year | Subsidy rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €360 | 50% of contributions |
| €360.01 to €1,800 | 25% of contributions |
| Maximum total annual subsidy | €540 |
This means if you contribute €360, you receive €180 from the state. If you contribute the maximum qualifying amount of €1,800, you receive €540.
For parents, the child subsidy is even more generous. If you contribute up to €300 per year per child, the state matches it at 100 percent.
Who qualifies for the subsidy and the new Alterversorgedepot?
The following groups are qualified for subsidy, and the Alterversorgedepot
- Employees
- Civil servants
- Members of professional pension schemes
- Students with part-time jobs are paying into the statutory pension
- People receiving unemployment benefit I (Arbeitslosengeld I)
- Carers of relatives with care level 2 or higher (Pflegegrad 2) for at least ten hours per week.
- Self-employed people who are not in the statutory pension system. They must be under 67 and file an annual tax return.
- If you live outside Germany but are a mandatory member of your country’s statutory pension system and are subject to German income tax (unbeschränkt or fiktiv unbeschränkt steuerpflichtig). German citizenship is not required.
NOTE: Mini-jobbers who have opted out of statutory pension contributions and non-working spouses or partners are not eligible for the subsidy on their own. However, if your partner qualifies, you may receive subsidy indirectly through the partner rule (mittelbar förderberechtigt).
Which ETFs or funds can you buy through the Alterversorgedepot?
Allowed
- You can buy and hold funds in risk categories 1 to 5 out of 7 (based on the Synthetic Risk Reward Indicator, SRRI). This covers a wide range of equity and bond ETFs. You can find a fund’s SRRI in its product information sheet (Produktinformationsblatt or Fact Sheet).
- EU government and German federal state or municipal bonds
Not allowed
- Individual company shares or certificates
- Crypto assets
- Other complex or speculative instruments
How do you access your money in retirement?
The depot pays out in the retirement phase through a structured drawdown plan (Auszahlplan). You receive regular monthly payments from your accumulated savings.
Because the depot has no guaranteed capital floor, the amount you receive depends on actual investment performance.
Payouts are taxed in retirement at your personal income tax rate, applying the downstream taxation principle (nachgelagerte Besteuerung). This is the same approach as statutory pension income.
NOTE: If your personal income tax rate after retirement is high, investing in Altervorsorgedepot does not make sense. The reason is that if you invest via a normal trading account, you pay a flat 25% capital gains tax plus 5.5% solidarity surcharge. Moreover, if you invest in stock-based ETFs, only 30% of the capital gains are tax-free.
Best free trading accounts in Germany ->
What should you do if you already have a Riester contract?
Do not cancel your existing Riester contract yet. According to the Bundesregierung, existing contracts continue and can still be contributed to. However, no new Riester contracts can be signed after the reform takes effect.
You can voluntarily transfer your Riester balance to a new Altersvorsorgedepot. But do not rush.
The mechanics of the transfer, including any tax implications and the specific rules for people close to retirement, need to be assessed individually.
We recommend consulting a tax advisor in such situations.
