German pension age 2026: when your pension starts

How the start date is worked out

Three things fix your first pension month: your year of birth, your birthday and the type of pension. The year sets the standard retirement age, which is 67 for everyone born in 1964 or later (section 35 SGB VI). People born from 1958 to 1963 fall under the transition table in section 235 SGB VI: 66 for 1958, then two months more per year, up to 66 years and 10 months for 1963.

The birthday sets the month. A German pension does not start on your birthday but on the first day of the following month, provided the conditions are met at the start of that month (section 99 SGB VI). Because German law counts the day of birth when working out age (section 187(2) of the Civil Code), you reach an age on the day before your birthday. If you were born on the 1st of a month, that day falls in the previous month and your pension starts one month earlier. On a €1,600 pension, missing this costs exactly €1,600.

The type of pension decides how far ahead of the standard age you can go and at what price. The calculator above works out each type separately and shows the earliest month, the reduction at that point and the first month without a reduction. For someone born in 1964 with 40 insured years, the earliest start is 1 July 2027 with a 14.4 % reduction; with 45 years, 1 July 2029 is the first month with none.

Why your birth month and pension type matter so much

Most tables online give one age per birth year and stop there. That is not enough to plan a move, a notice period or a lease. Between being born on the 1st and on the 2nd of a month lies a whole pension month. Between the 35-year and the 45-year pension lie two years and 7.2 percentage points of reduction for the 1964 cohort. And the 1958 to 1963 cohorts have separate limits for each pension type that do not move in parallel: for 1962 the standard age is 66 years and 8 months, the 45-year limit 64 years and 8 months, and the early disability pension 61 years and 8 months (section 236a, section 236b SGB VI).

That is why this site calculates every combination of year, month, day and pension type with the statutory tables, and sets a second scenario next to it: the rules as they would look if the commission proposal became law with no transition. For anyone who has worked in Germany as an expat, the same logic applies; only the number of years you can show changes. The timeline above this text shows the 1958 to 1970 cohorts at a glance.

The four old-age pensions

Standard pension (Regelaltersrente)

It needs only five years of insurance, the general qualifying period (section 50 SGB VI), and periods from other EU countries count towards those five years. It never comes with a reduction. If you keep working and defer it, each month adds 0.5%; see retiring later.

Pension for long-term insured persons

After 35 years of pension periods it is possible from 63, for every cohort (section 236 and section 36 SGB VI). Without a reduction it is only available at the standard age, so in practice it is the reduced early pension that Germans call Rente mit 63. Almost all periods count towards the 35 years, including school from 17, university, unemployment and sickness.

Pension for especially long-term insured persons

After 45 years it is paid with no reduction, at 65 from the 1964 cohort (section 38 SGB VI). It cannot start earlier; if you want to go at 63 anyway, you take the 35-year pension with the full reduction to the standard age. Fewer periods count towards 45 years: compulsory contributions, child-raising until the child turns 10, caring, and unemployment benefit except in the last two years (section 51(3a)). Details under what counts towards 45 years.

Pension for severely disabled persons

With a recognised degree of disability of at least 50 when the pension starts and 35 insured years, it is unreduced at 65 from the 1964 cohort and possible from 62 with a 10.8% reduction (section 37 SGB VI). The cap follows from the 36 months between the two dates. See pension with a severe disability.

Early pension: what the reduction costs

Months early

Unreduced pension

€

Reduction

7.2 %

Less a month	€115
Less over 20 years	€27,648
Later start catches up after	25.8 years

Calculate with your date of birth →

Getting the reduction right

The reduction comes from the access factor (Zugangsfaktor): 1.0 minus 0.003 for every month the pension starts before the unreduced date (section 77 SGB VI). Two years are 7.2%, three years 10.8%, four years 14.4%. It applies for life and carries over into a widow’s or widower’s pension based on it. It reduces your pension points, not the pension value, so annual increases do not change the percentage.

Whether the early start pays is a question of how long you live. Going two years early brings 24 extra monthly payments, each 7.2% smaller. On €1,600 that is a head start of €35,635 and €115 less every month; the later start catches up after about 26 years. On top of that, the two years add no pension points. The reduction calculator works this out with your figures.

From age 50 you can buy out the reduction in whole or in part with extra contributions (section 187a SGB VI). With 45 pension points and 7.2% that costs about €33,732 in 2026. Part payments are allowed, refunds are not. Method under buying out reductions.

The 2026 values

Examples from the calculator

All four rows assume a birthday on 15 June and 40 insured years. The early pension is the 35-year pension from 63.

What that means in euros depends on your pension points. A year at average pay earns one point, worth €42.52 a month from July 2026. The pension calculator projects the gross amount from your annual statement (Renteninformation), the net pension calculator the amount that reaches your account.

What the commission proposes, and what applies

The federal pension commission (Alterssicherungskommission) handed in its report with 33 recommendations on 23 June 2026 (Labour Ministry). Three concern the start date: abolish the unreduced pension after 45 years, allow the 35-year pension only from 64 instead of 63, and link the standard age to life expectancy from 2031, by about half a year up to 2041 on current projections (Federal Government). The coalition committee said on 2 July 2026 that it wants to implement them all.

None of it is law. The Deutsche Rentenversicherung points out that each pension follows the rules in force when it starts, and that you cannot lock in today’s rules by applying early (DRV, as of August 2026). For your birth year the calculator shows what would change with no transition at all: born in 1964 with 45 years, the first unreduced month would move from 1 July 2029 to 1 July 2031. How much protection older cohorts get will only be settled in the law. We follow it under pension reform.

Five things worth doing before you apply

1. Ask for an account clarification (Kontenklärung) if your statement shows gaps; school years, child-raising and periods abroad are often only recorded that way.
2. Check your birthday. Born on the 1st, plan one month earlier.
3. If you are close to 45 years, avoid unemployment just before retirement: benefit in the last two years does not count.
4. Apply in time. If you apply more than three calendar months after you qualify, the pension only starts in the month you apply (section 99). See applying for your pension.
5. Work out the net figure, not just the gross: health and care contributions come off at once, income tax through your tax return.