Pension withdrawal - More people retire with deductions
Despite financial losses, more people in Thuringen are retiring before the age of 35 insurance years. In the previous year, this affected 8,223 pensioners, according to figures from the German Pension Insurance Eastern Germany. Some of them took significant pension deductions for doing so. Nevertheless, the number of people who made early retirement greater than those who waited until the regular retirement age. In 2022, 7,697 women and men used early retirement for so-called long-term insured persons.
This can be claimed at the age of 63 if the concerned individuals can prove at least 35 years of pension insurance contributions. For each earlier pension month, they will have 0.3 percent of the statutory pension age pension deducted. This can add up to double-digit percentage deductions. The deductions remain in effect beyond the regular pension age.
Early retirees can continue to earn unlimited additional pension contributions
It is unclear whether the increased number of early retirees reflects a new regulation regarding additional pension contributions. Since the previous year, one can make unlimited additional pension contributions when taking early retirement. The Pension Insurance does not provide figures on pensioners who continue to work. "We have not seen a significant increase in consultations regarding the elimination of the additional pension contribution limit," says spokesperson Anne-Kathrin Sturm.
The Statistical Office recorded an average of around 37,000 employees in Thuringen who were 65 years old and above in 2023. However, it does not reveal whether and to what extent among them there were employed pensioners.
The regular pension age was 65 years and 11 months according to the German Pension Insurance Eastern Germany in the previous year, at which point 6,933 women and men retired in Thuringen. The pension age in Germany will be gradually increased to 67 years until 2031.
In Thuringen, according to the German Pension Insurance Eastern Germany, a total of 26,729 people became pensioners in the previous year. The most (9,621) took the pension without deductions after 45 years of insurance contributions. This option is known as "pension with 63," as all born before 1953 could retire without deductions at the age of 63. However, the retirement age has since increased with the year of birth.
- The rise in new pensioners retiring early before 35 insurance years in Thuringia was noticed by the German Pension Insurance Eastern Germany, affecting 8,223 individuals last year.
- Leipzig, located in Central Germany, may also see an increase in new pensioners taking advantage of early retirement, given the recent change allowing unlimited additional pension contributions.
- Despite financial consequences, such as deductions of up to double-digit percentages for each earlier pension month, more men and women are opting for early retirement, as seen in the 2022 statistics with 7,697 new pensioners.
- Early retirees in Thuringia, including those in cities like Erfurt, can continue to make additional pension contributions beyond the regular retirement age, which could influence the number of new pensioners in the future.
- The German Pension Insurance does not have data on the pensioners who continue to work during their retirement, which makes it challenging to evaluate how many new pensioners are affected by the new regulation regarding additional pension contributions.
- With the pension age in Germany gradually increasing to 67 years by 2031, the number of new pensioners taking early retirement in Central Germany cities like Leipzig and Erfurt in Thuringia might decrease, affecting the German Pension Insurance numbers.
