Think of your pension like a meal. If you eat only one food your whole life and one day that food runs short, you go hungry. The same happens with the money you're saving for retirement. The AVD is another dish on the table, not the whole menu.
First, what the AVD actually is
Let's break it down. The AVD (Altersvorsorgedepot) is a savings account for old age. You invest money every month into a basket holding small pieces of many companies worldwide (that's an ETF), and the German government rewards you for saving by adding an extra amount to your basket. It's as if someone gave you a few cents for every euro you put in.
It launches in January 2027. It replaces a product, Riester, that no longer worked well: it was expensive, slow, and by the end most people ended up with roughly what they had put in, or less.
The date hasn't changed
Think of it like a flight date. The ticket was bought in May 2026, when the law passed. The flight leaves on January 1, 2027. Before that date you can't open an AVD with the government top-up, even if a bank is already talking to you about it. All that exists today are waitlists, like signing up before the doors of an event open.
One part of the flight has been delayed: the public option, run directly by the state, for anyone who doesn't want to choose a private bank. It has no pilot or plane ready yet. The private options are on schedule.
Who has opened its doors so far?
No one. There are only banks saying "here's what we'll charge once this starts," like a shop with a "coming soon" sign and prices already in the window. These are the ones that have moved the most:
One important thing to keep in mind: none of this is official yet. These are window prices, not sale prices. No bank can sell a certified AVD before 2027. There's no real "winner" of the comparison yet, only promises. This information is purely educational, with no commission or sales interest behind it.
The government's reward stays the same
The state subsidy works like a tip for saving. The more euros you put in the basket, up to a certain point, the bigger the tip the state gives you. Nothing has changed since the law was passed:
Who's watching the game
Germany has organizations that exist purely to make sure these products don't trick people. Think of them as the referee of a football match: they don't play, but they blow the whistle when something's off.
A recent survey found that only 36 out of 100 people in Germany know what the AVD is. Most, 57 out of 100, have never heard of it at all. And what worries the ones who do know isn't losing money in the market, it's the government changing the rules again later.
"So far, a five-year cancellation liability period is standard among life insurers. That may not fit the new risk situation."
Julia Wiens, Executive Director at BaFin (the referee for banks and insurers) · September 8, 2026
A consumer advocacy group, Finanztip, gathered more than 250,000 signatures asking for a lower cost cap. They got a partial win: it dropped from 1.5% to 1%, though they still consider that too high. Here's an easy example: save €200 a month for 40 years, and at a 0.5% cost you end up with about €338,000. At a 1.5% cost, you end up with only €263,000. That's €75,000 less, just from paying a higher fee. Cost works like a slow leak: you don't feel it drop by drop, but by the end it has drained a good part of the bucket.
Can you get it if you're not German?
Yes. And this is what should matter most to you if you moved here from somewhere else:
- You don't need to be a German citizen. What matters is working and paying into the German system, or being self-employed and filing taxes here.
- If you worked and paid into a pension system in your home country before moving here, that neither helps nor hurts. What counts is what you're doing in Germany right now.
- Before, most self-employed people couldn't request this support. Now anyone can, regardless of whether they also pay into the public pension system.
- If you have no income of your own but your partner does, you can receive the government's tip through them, with a minimum own contribution of €120 a year.
- If you work in Germany but still pay into another EU country's pension system, access arrives a year later, in 2028.
Don't put all your eggs in the same basket
Here's the most important part of this article. The AVD is a good option, but it's not the only one. If you put all your retirement money in one place and something happens to it (a crisis, a rule change, a bad decision), you're left with no backup. It's like carrying every egg in the house in a single basket: drop it, and they all break at once.
Your pension works like a table with several legs. The more legs it has, the steadier it stands even if one of them fails. These are the legs you can use in Germany:
- Germany's public pension (gesetzliche Rente), which you already pay into if you're an employee.
- Your workplace pension (betriebliche Altersvorsorge), if your job offers it. Sometimes your employer puts money in there too, almost like a hidden salary.
- The AVD, the subject of this article: savings with a government top-up.
- An ETF savings plan on your own, with no state top-up, but also no lock-in or penalties if you need to withdraw earlier.
- Property, if you ever buy a home: it doesn't pay you monthly, but it lowers what you need to spend later in life.
- Your home country's pension, if you paid into it before moving here and that money keeps growing or you can claim it someday.
You don't need all four legs from day one. You just need to know they exist, and to avoid putting all your effort into one, no matter how attractive it looks today.
To run your own numbers
The government doesn't have an official calculator yet. There are free tools, like Finanztip and Finanzfluss, and I also built one of my own, built around today's euros and the monthly payout in retirement, not just the final number you see at the end of the savings phase.
- Start with €150 a month: that's where the state's tip goes furthest.
- Raise the contribution step by step and watch the point where the fee starts eating into the tip's advantage.
- Look at the "today's euros" figure, not just the large final number. That's what you'll actually be able to buy with that money.
- Check the monthly retirement payout too, not just how much builds up during the saving years.
- It's an educational model built on today's rules. It doesn't include taxes on withdrawal and doesn't guarantee any return.
As a woman, keep the longer life expectancy in mind (women live several years longer than men on average), which means planning for a longer payout horizon. And remember that the right choice depends on your own situation, your financial means, and your long-term goals.
The AVD leaves behind what came before it: it costs less, can earn more, and now includes more people, including you if you're self-employed or moved here from another country. But it's still just one piece. Learn how it works, check the offers once they're real in 2027, and above all, think of your pension as that table with several legs, not as a single plate your whole meal depends on.
BFF doesn't tell you which product to pick. My job is to help you understand the system, know your numbers, and make informed decisions about your own money.
- extraETF: Vier Monate bis zum Start
- Cash.: Zeitplan des Altersvorsorgedepots wackelt
- t-online: Smartbroker+ startet mit null Gebühren
- Finanztip: Altersvorsorgedepot – Funktionsweise, Förderung & Unterschiede
- Finanztip: Altersvorsorge-Depot Rechner
- Finanzfluss: Altersvorsorgedepot-Rechner
- Versicherungsbote: BaFin warnt, BVK läuft Sturm
- Vorsorgedepot-Lotse: Was Verbraucherschützer fordern
- fonder: Wer ist förderberechtigt?
- Grenzgängerzentrum: Altersvorsorgedepot für Grenzgänger
- Bundesfinanzministerium: FAQ zur Reform der privaten Altersvorsorge
This article is educational and informational content. It does not constitute regulated financial advice (Anlageberatung). BFF Finance Coaching offers financial education and support, not personalized investment recommendations.