Applying for your German pension: when to file

Two dates behind every application

Every German old-age pension has a first possible month: the month after you reach the age limit. Whether payments actually start then depends on your application. Section 99 SGB VI allows 3 calendar months after the month in which the conditions are met. Apply within that window and the pension is paid back to the first possible month. Miss it and the pension starts in the month your application arrives, not earlier.

At the other end is the earliest application. According to its own guidance, the Deutsche Rentenversicherung processes applications at most one year before the pension starts (Deutsche Rentenversicherung). That leaves a little over 15 months in which you can apply without any disadvantage. The calculator above shows both dates for your month of birth, based on the standard pension (Regelaltersrente).

Dates for four birthdays

The first two rows show the first-of-the-month effect. Born on 1 September 1960, you complete your year of life on 31 August under section 187 BGB, and so reach the standard age a month earlier than someone whose birthday is two weeks later. Pension start, earliest application and deadline all move forward a month: 1 January 2027 instead of 1 February 2027. The age limit for your birth year is in the retirement age table.

What a missed deadline costs

Suppose the person born on 15 September 1960 applies only in July 2027, assuming the pension would start by itself. The deadline expired at the end of April 2027. The pension therefore begins on 1 July 2027 and not on 1 February 2027. On €1,500 a month, 5 payments are missing, €7,500 in all. Unlike a reduction, the pension itself is not cut afterwards, but the lost money does not come back. Deliberately working past the standard age is something else: that earns an increase, calculated differently, see retiring later.

Applying for an early pension

Early pensions follow the same deadlines, counted from the month you want the pension to start. Someone born on 15 September 1964 with 35 insured years can draw the pension for long-term insured persons (Altersrente für langjährig Versicherte) from 1 October 2027, with a 14.4 % reduction. The application would be possible from 1 October 2026; to start on the earliest date, it must be filed by the end of December 2027. With 45 years the unreduced pension would be possible from 1 October 2029.

Care matters here, because the choice of pension type is final: an old-age pension granted with binding effect cannot later be swapped for another, with one exception. If you claim the 35-year pension with a reduction although 45 years would be reached two years later, the reduction stays. How large it is and what it costs over time is on early retirement; to buy it out you need a statement under section 187a SGB VI before the pension starts, available from age 50.

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 →

What the application requires

The standard pension needs five years of qualifying periods (section 50 SGB VI). For the 35- or 45-year pensions those periods must be on your insurance record, and for the pension for severely disabled persons a degree of disability of at least 50 must be recognised when the pension starts. The most common cause of delay is gaps: training, child-raising, caring or months of unemployment that were never reported. Clearing them before you apply avoids follow-up questions. How to read the record is explained under reading your pension statement.

If you do not want to stop completely, you can also claim a partial pension (Teilrente) of at least 10% of the full pension (section 42 SGB VI). Since 2023 there is no earnings limit alongside an old-age pension, so the application no longer checks your pay against a cap. A widow’s or widower’s pension follows a different rule: it can be paid up to twelve months back before the month of application.

After the pension is granted

Deductions begin with the pension notice. Health and long-term care contributions are deducted directly if you are in the statutory health insurance for pensioners (KVdR); see health insurance for pensioners. A change in your fund’s additional contribution reaches the pension only in the second month afterwards. Income tax is not withheld; whether you need to file a return depends on the taxable share of the pension and your other income.

Applying with periods abroad

For expats, the EU coordination rules in Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 matter most. Periods in other EU and EEA countries and Switzerland are added together for the qualifying periods, and each country pays its own part. Outside Europe, the outcome depends on the country and on any social security agreement, so check with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung. If you leave Germany without reaching five years, you may, after 24 months, apply for a refund of the employee half of your contributions (section 210 SGB VI); after that, those periods give no pension right. More on German pension abroad. For help with your own application, the information and advice centres of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung are the right contact; this site is independent and gives no individual advice.