The 45-year qualifying period: which periods count
Not every period on your German record counts towards the unreduced pension after 45 years. The calculator checks whether your years are enough.
Worked through by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Do your years count towards the 45?
Counted towards 45 years
44.0 years
| Unemployment benefit that counts | 1.0 |
| Not counted (last 2 years) | 1.0 |
| Result | 1.0 years short |
Citizen’s benefit, school and university do not count; unemployment benefit in the last 2 years only counts after insolvency or closure of the employer.
The pension for especially long-term insured persons needs 45 years, or 540 months, from a narrow list set out in section 51(3a) of Book VI of the Social Code (SGB VI). What counts: compulsory contributions from employment or self-employment, raising a child until its 10th birthday, caring for a relative, periods on unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld), sickness benefit (Krankengeld) or transitional benefit, and voluntary contributions once you have at least 18 years of compulsory ones. What does not count: citizen’s benefit (Bürgergeld) and the former Arbeitslosengeld II, school, university and pension rights transferred on divorce (Versorgungsausgleich) or split between spouses. The key trap comes just before retirement: unemployment benefit in the last two years before the pension only counts if the employer became insolvent or closed down entirely. Someone with 40 years of work, 3 years of child-raising and 2 years of unemployment benefit, one of them in that window, reaches only 44 years. Without the 45, the same start date costs a 7.2 % reduction from the 1964 cohort.
The list in section 51(3a)
The 45 years are a separate qualifying period with their own list (section 51(3a) SGB VI). Anything not on the list does not count, even if it counts for the amount of your pension or for the 35 years of the pension for long-term insured persons.
| Period | Counts for 45 years | Restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory contributions from work | yes | none |
| Child-raising | yes | until the child’s 10th birthday |
| Caring for a relative | yes | must be on your insurance record |
| Unemployment, sickness or transitional benefit | yes | unemployment benefit in the last 2 years only after insolvency or closure |
| Voluntary contributions | yes | only with at least 18 years of compulsory contributions; not in the last 2 years if unemployed at the same time |
| Citizen’s benefit, Arbeitslosengeld II | no | – |
| School, university | no | – |
| Pension rights from divorce or spousal splitting | no | – |
This explains why two people with equally long records end up in different places. A record with years on citizen’s benefit or a long degree meets the 35 years easily and misses the 45 by a wide margin.
Three worked cases
The calculator above deducts the part of your unemployment benefit that falls in the two years before the pension starts. Three careers show how much depends on it:
| Case | Compulsory contributions | Children under 10, caring | Unemployment benefit total / in last 2 years | Counted | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 40 | 3 | 2 / 1 | 44 | 1 year short |
| B | 40 | 3 | 2 / 0 | 45 | met |
| C | 41 | 2 | 3 / 2 | 44 | 1 years short |
Cases A and B differ only in when the unemployment benefit was paid. If the second year falls before the two-year window, the 45 are met; inside it, a year is missing. Case C even has more contribution years than A but loses two full years because the unemployment came right before retirement. Had the employer gone insolvent, those years would count. More on losing a job shortly before retirement under unemployed before retirement.
Levers rather than loopholes
The age limit is fixed: from the 1964 cohort it is 65 years (section 38 SGB VI, for older cohorts section 236b). On the years themselves, a few points are worth knowing:
- Child-raising and caring only count if they are on your record. An account review before you apply brings missing periods to light; how to read your statement is under reading your pension statement.
- Voluntary contributions count once you have 18 years of compulsory ones, for example for self-employed people or gaps after a job ends. Exception: the last two years, if you are unemployed at the same time.
- Unemployment benefit outside the two-year window always counts. If you have a say in when you leave a job, know where the window lies.
- If you are only months short, working on may be the answer: every further contribution month counts, and once the 45 years are complete the unreduced pension is open to you.
What missing the 45 costs
If you narrowly miss 45 years but have 35, you can leave on the same date through the pension for long-term insured persons, but with a reduction up to the standard age. Born on 15 June 1964, that means a start in 1 July 2029, 24 months of reduction, 7.2 % in total under section 77 SGB VI. On €1,600 you lose €115 a month, €27,648 over twenty years. A missing year of qualifying time can therefore cost more than an extra year of work brings in. The dates for each birth year are under pension after 45 years.
A career split across countries
For expats the list raises a practical question: German periods must fit the categories above, and foreign periods are added under Regulation 883/2004, with the German pension insurance checking case by case whether a foreign period is treated like a German compulsory contribution. A career with a gap between two countries, for instance a few months without insurance after moving, counts towards neither. Keep the documents from each country, and have your German record reviewed before you reach the age limit.
The reform and the 45 years
On 23 June 2026 the pension commission recommended abolishing the pension for especially long-term insured persons as early as possible, with protection of legitimate expectations (Federal Ministry of Labour). This qualifying period would then lose its purpose. There is no draft bill; until then the list above applies, in the version in force when your pension starts (German pension insurance). Follow the state of play under pension reform.