Housing
Rent, upkeep and the familiar place continue when earned income stops.
Build
Retirement income gap: how much will be missing?
Housing, everyday life and people still need an income in retirement. Part of it can come from the statutory state pension (gesetzliche Rente) and occupational pension (betriebliche Altersvorsorge) — the amounts sit in pension statements (Renteninformation), not on this page. The shortfall against the desired monthly income is the retirement income gap (Rentenlücke); private retirement provision only fits after that figure is clear.
What should remain in retirement?
Income for housing, everyday life and room to move
Retirement provision starts with the picture of life in retirement — not with a product name. Four areas summarise typical spending.
Everyday life
Food, travel, health — the rhythm of a normal week, without assuming luxury.
People
Shared life, support, visits: provision also concerns who that later income should cover.
Room to move
Travel, hobbies, pause — the part not left to chance.
Retirement income gap
Calculate the retirement income gap
Enter net pay today, expected statutory and occupational pension, and desired monthly income later. Nothing is stored — the calculation runs in the browser.
Difference = desired income later − expected statutory and occupational pension.
Simplified orientation, not a forecast. Difference = desired income later minus expected statutory and occupational pension — not a pension statement and not a promise.
The target retirement age is not after age today. The years field stays empty.
Once net pay, expected pension and target income are entered, Today, Later and the difference appear.
- Today
- —
- Later
- —
- Difference
- —
€2,000 − €1,200
€800 gap each month
Round figures chosen for illustration — not an individual gap and not a product.
Assumptions. Round figures chosen for illustration. Not a pension statement, not a forecast, not a promise.
Savings calculator
Illustrative savings calculator — contributions and rate
Same calculator as on the home page: monthly amount, years and an illustrative rate per year. Contributions, illustrative difference and illustrative balance shown separately — not a forecast.
When a difference appears above, years or monthly amount can be carried over here. That does not close the gap.
The monthly amount is only a copy of the difference — not the contribution that closes the gap.
- Contributions
- €54,000
- Illustrative difference
- €0
- Illustrative balance
- €54,000
Over 30 years at 0.0% per year: €54,000 contributions, €0 illustrative difference, €54,000 illustrative balance. Not a forecast.
€150 × 30 years
€54,000 paid in
Only the sum of contributions — not final wealth and not the illustrative balance from the calculator.
Assumptions. €150 monthly, twelve months, 30 years: 30 × 12 × 150 = 54,000. No charges, investment performance, withdrawals. Not a payout promise. €150 is a calculation figure, not a recommendation.
Assumptions. Monthly compounding of the entered rate. At 0%, only the sum of contributions plus optional starting amount. No charges, tax, allowances, inflation or contract.
Illustrative example only, not a forecast, guarantee or advice. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Inputs are not stored.
Priorities
Growth, flexibility, security — no ranking
Choose a direction to read the trade-off. No valuation and no recommendation; a path can be strong in one dimension and narrow in another.
No direction chosen yet. The paths below remain side by side.
Live with volatility. What can rise can fall. A higher rate in the calculator is not a contract reading.
Access and change. Pause, withdrawal or sale can reduce what remains later. Some paths deliberately give up access.
Security is not the same as guarantee. A fixed pension conversion factor is not a promise on fund value or return.
Money before retirement age or as a lump sum — often traded for special tax treatment or lifelong pension.
Leaving it open is allowed. Calculators and paths stay readable without a decision.
Possible paths
Categories side by side
Orientation on common paths in Germany. Intermediation as a tied agent in the ERGO environment (Reg. No. D-LRXV-ZPVYW-76) — not a market comparison for every path. A specific product follows as an example.
Private pension insurance
Insurance contract with later pension and often a capital option — income in old age, not a general-purpose depot.
- Flexibility
- Contributions and investments often changeable; pause or withdrawal reduces fund value. Conditions state requirements.
- Tax
- Taxation depends on contract and timing — no blanket tax exemption.
- Access
- Lump-sum payment may be possible, not freely available everywhere and not like a savings account.
- Risks
- With fund investment, capital-at-risk; pension factor is not a value promise.
- Limits
- Charges, funds and requirements sit in the conditions.
ETFs and funds
Direct investment without an insurance wrapper — wealth building without arranging a depot on this page.
- Flexibility
- Buy and sell under bank or exchange rules — freedom and risk of selling early.
- Tax
- Investment tax law, not automatically pension contract rules.
- Access
- Not locked until retirement unless the account says otherwise.
- Risks
- Price losses, sequence of returns, discipline — no automatic annuitisation.
- Limits
- No pension factor, no allowance on this page, no fund pick.
Basisrente
Lifelong pension (Rürup); contributions may be deductible as special expenses — trade-off: lock-in.
- Flexibility
- Contribution adjustable within limits; no free lump sum at pension start.
- Tax
- Deductibility does not mean no tax on the pension later — pension taxation follows.
- Access
- No free capital payout at pension start.
- Risks
- Funds can fall; tax effect depends on personal rate and cap.
- Limits
- Lump-sum needs for housing, business or pause hit limits of this path.
Occupational pension
Employer promise — may already sit inside “Later” and then must not be counted twice.
- Flexibility
- Frame from employer and implementation route; job change has its own rules.
- Tax
- Tax and social security depend on implementation route.
- Access
- Often narrow before retirement; settlement or transfer has conditions.
- Risks
- Employer change, thin promise, volatile investment.
- Limits
- No employer comparison on this page.
Altersvorsorgedepot
Statutory subsidised retirement account from 2027 — more capital market, different guarantee rules. No online application on this website.
- Flexibility
- Investment per statutory list, not free brokerage.
- Tax
- Allowance and later taxation — covered on the depot page.
- Access
- Not a savings account; payout and inheritance follow the framework.
- Risks
- More capital market, more volatility; missing contribution guarantee is part of the design.
- Limits
- New plan from January 2027, waitlist open now. Existing Riester plans: reviewed individually in a consultation call.
No order, no ranking, no suitability test. Fit depends on what commitment can be carried.
Product example
ERGO Rente Chance
CapitalPath is not ERGO.
Private unit-linked pension insurance from ERGO Vorsorge Lebensversicherung AG (third pillar). Example in the ERGO intermediation environment — not an Altersvorsorgedepot, not a market survey. Altersvorsorgedepot products only from 1 January 2027.
€25
Minimum monthly contribution without supplementary cover. Single premium from €2,500.
5 years
Shortest deferral with ongoing contribution; 2 years with single premium.
Age 79
Maximum entry age with ongoing contribution; age 82 with single premium.
20 funds
Selectable at once; product information names about 80 funds to choose from.
Minimum contribution, deferral and entry age: ERGO Rente Chance product sheet, February 2025. “About 80 funds”: product information, January 2025. The insurance conditions govern.
Source: product sheet and product information for ERGO Rente Chance on ergo.de (January/February 2025 editions).
Contract
ERGO Rente Chance — core mechanics
Applies to this product example, not to every path above. Orientation from product information (January 2025) and product sheet (February 2025). Not an offer; German wording is authoritative.
Where does the contribution go?
Ongoing or single payment into an insurance contract — without supplementary cover at least €25 monthly or €2,500 single.
Payment frequency: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly or single.
How are funds chosen?
Contribution into up to 20 funds from the basket; at least 5% per fund, steps of 5%, total 100%.
Product information names about 80 quality-checked funds including ETFs and ESG variants; sustainability preference sits in fund documents.
Is contract value protected?
No — capital-at-risk with the policyholder. Rising prices can increase value, falling prices can bring losses.
Contract value is not guaranteed; the product sheet targets people for whom capital protection is not important.
How does the pension arise?
At pension start, annuitisation of then-available value — lifelong pension, capital or mix; the value itself is not promised.
Pension factor per €10,000 of value can be fixed at contract start; annuitisation interest is finally set only at pension start. Optional pension factor plus for higher contribution (1% calculation rate — not fund return).
What can be changed?
Fund switches up to twelve times per year without charge (product information), rebalancing, optional expiry management in the last five years before the disposal phase.
Contributions rise, fall, pause; top-up from €500, withdrawal from €500 with minimum value €2,500 — each withdrawal reduces the contract.
Payout: lifelong pension, capital or mix; disposal phase at most ten years, pension latest in the 85th year of life. Optional pension guarantee period 5–45 years.
Questions
Common questions
What do €800 per month and €54,000 mean in the examples?
€800: €2,000 minus €1,200 as round figures for the gap — not an individual pension statement. €54,000: sum of €150 monthly over 30 years (30 × 12 × 150), contributions only without performance, charges or payout promise.
Why €150 in the savings calculator and not €25?
€150 is a calculation figure so the sum is visible. €25 is the ERGO Rente Chance minimum without supplementary cover — over 30 years €9,000 contributions (30 × 12 × 25). Not a recommendation for an amount.
Does time close the retirement income gap by itself?
No. Years can leave options when contributions or paths are chosen. Without a decision the difference remains. 30 years are 360 months — no automatic closure.
Is there blanket tax exemption on payouts?
Private pension, Basisrente, occupational pension, depot and direct funds are taxed differently. This page states no blanket tax exemption — individual assessment belongs in tax advice.
Is ERGO Rente Chance value guaranteed?
No. A pension factor can be fixed, contract value cannot. No capital protection in the product sheet; funds can fall. Factor guarantee is not return.
Does historical DAX return apply to this contract?
No. 7.9%, 6.1% and 10.7% come from a Deutsches Aktieninstitut chart of the DAX (31 December 2023) in product information January 2025 — past of an index, not a contract result. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
Can funds and contributions be changed later?
Product information and conditions describe fund switches, rebalancing, expiry management, contribution changes, top-ups and withdrawals — with limits and effects on value. The insurance conditions govern.
Contact
Sort the situation — book, call or message
No form on this site. Calendly, phone, WhatsApp or email, as on the contact page.