German pension for severely disabled people: when is it unreduced?
A recognised degree of disability of 50 moves every limit forward. The calculator gives both ages for your birth year.
Worked through by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Pension for severely disabled people
No reduction at
65 years
| Earliest at | 62 years (−10.8 %) |
| Pension at earliest start | €1,249 |
| Compare: standard age | 67 years |
Requires a disability degree of 50 at the start and 35 insured years.
The old-age pension for severely disabled people (Altersrente für schwerbehinderte Menschen, section 37 of Book VI of the Social Code, section 236a for older cohorts) has two conditions: a degree of disability (Grad der Behinderung, GdB) of at least 50 when the pension starts, and 35 insured years. From the 1964 cohort it is unreduced at 65 years and available at the earliest at 62 years. There are 36 months between the two, so the reduction is never more than 10.8 %. An unreduced start at exactly 63 was last possible for the 1951 cohort; since 1952 both limits have risen step by step, to 64 years 4 months and 61 years 4 months for people born in 1960. If you were born in 1964 or later and start at 63, the reduction is 7.2 %, half the 14.4 % you would face on the 35-year route without the disability status. On a €1,300 pension that is €94 instead of €187 less each month.
Both age limits by birth year
This pension has two limits: the age from which it is unreduced and the earliest age at which it can start. Both have risen step by step since the 1952 cohort under section 236a SGB VI; from 1964 section 37 SGB VI applies. The last column shows what a start at exactly 63 costs.
| Born | Unreduced at | Earliest at | Reduction at earliest start | Reduction at 63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 63 years | 60 years | 10.8 % | 0.0 % |
| 1952 | 63 years 6 months | 60 years 6 months | 10.8 % | 1.8 % |
| 1953 | 63 years 7 months | 60 years 7 months | 10.8 % | 2.1 % |
| 1954 | 63 years 8 months | 60 years 8 months | 10.8 % | 2.4 % |
| 1955 | 63 years 9 months | 60 years 9 months | 10.8 % | 2.7 % |
| 1956 | 63 years 10 months | 60 years 10 months | 10.8 % | 3.0 % |
| 1957 | 63 years 11 months | 60 years 11 months | 10.8 % | 3.3 % |
| 1958 | 64 years | 61 years | 10.8 % | 3.6 % |
| 1959 | 64 years 2 months | 61 years 2 months | 10.8 % | 4.2 % |
| 1960 | 64 years 4 months | 61 years 4 months | 10.8 % | 4.8 % |
| 1961 | 64 years 6 months | 61 years 6 months | 10.8 % | 5.4 % |
| 1962 | 64 years 8 months | 61 years 8 months | 10.8 % | 6.0 % |
| 1963 | 64 years 10 months | 61 years 10 months | 10.8 % | 6.6 % |
| 1964 and later | 65 years | 62 years | 10.8 % | 7.2 % |
Two things stand out. The maximum reduction is the same for every cohort, 10.8 %, because the earliest and the unreduced age rise together and stay 36 months apart. And the price of starting at 63 grows with each cohort: for people born in 1951, 63 was still unreduced; from 1964 it means 24 months at 0.3 % each.
What the status is worth in euros
Take someone born in 1964 with an unreduced pension of €1,300 who starts at 63. With the disability status they receive €1,206 a month; without it, through the 35-year pension, only €1,113. The gap of €94 a month lasts for life, €22,464 over twenty years. Under section 77(3) SGB VI it also carries over to any widow’s or widower’s pension derived from it. All amounts are gross; health and care contributions are deducted from the German pension as from any other.
The conditions in detail
First, the degree of disability: at least 50, established by the time the pension starts. Anything below 50 does not qualify, however close. Second, 35 years of qualifying periods, for which every pension period counts (section 51(3) SGB VI), so unlike the 45-year test this includes periods on citizen’s benefit, at school or university insofar as they are pension periods. Third, an application that reaches the pension insurance within three calendar months of the start you want.
If you do not yet have a recognised degree of disability, settle that before you fix your retirement date; without it, 35 years only open the pension for long-term insured persons from 63, with the larger reduction from the table above.
Disability route, 45 years or reduced earning capacity
From the 1964 cohort the unreduced age of this pension and of the pension after 45 years are the same: 65 years. If you meet both, the disability status does not bring the unreduced date forward; it gives you room before it, up to 36 months earlier at 0.3 % per month. The 45-year pension allows no earlier start at all.
If your health limits you to fewer than six hours of work a day, also look at the disability pension for reduced earning capacity (Erwerbsminderungsrente). It has different conditions, including three years of compulsory contributions in the last five, and its reduction is also capped at 10.8 %. It is not an old-age pension but depends on your capacity to work; which pension suits your case is something the advice centres of the pension insurance (Auskunfts- und Beratungsstellen) can check.
Buying out the reduction, partial pension, working on
The reduction on this pension can also be offset with special payments up to the standard age under section 187a SGB VI. With 35 pension points and a start at the earliest date, a full buy-out costs about €40,943 in 2026 for €160.73 of monthly pension; instalments are allowed (buy-out calculator). Instead of the full pension you can draw a partial pension from 10% (section 42 SGB VI), and there has been no earnings cap since 2023. If you keep working reduced hours, you keep earning pension points, which raise the pension each 1 July of the following year.
What about the reform?
The pension commission presented 33 recommendations on 23 June 2026 (Federal Ministry of Labour). One is a new “protection pension” (Schutzrente) for people who can no longer do a job they have done for a long time for health reasons: two years before the standard age without a reduction, up to three years earlier with one, after 35 insured years. It is a proposal, not law, and how it would sit next to the existing pension for severely disabled people can only be read from a draft bill. The state of play is under pension reform; every current limit is in the retirement age table.