How big is your pension gap – and how do you close it?

Pensionflow is digital retirement provision that lets you invest monthly in low-cost ETFs and choose from four high-return strategies. Thanks to compound interest, your wealth grows over time, and you can adjust your savings plan flexibly at any time.

Compared with conventional ETF savings plans, Pensionflow is optimised specifically for retirement provision: tax advantages under the 12/62 rule, lifelong pension optional, pension projection, automatic risk management and additional benefits if you need long-term care. Your contract partner and risk carrier is Alte Leipziger.

Pensionflow can be taken out between the ages of 18 and 50. You need to be a tax resident in Germany. Unfortunately, US citizens are excluded from using it.

The statutory pension amounts to less than half of the average income – and the pension level keeps falling: people are living longer and drawing a pension for longer, while demographic change means fewer and fewer people are paying in.

That's how the pension gap arises – the growing difference between your last income and your actual pension. With targeted private provision, you top up the statutory pension and close your individual gap.

The pension gap is the difference between your expected statutory pension and the income you actually need in retirement to maintain your standard of living. You have to close that gap through private provision or other sources of income. Read more in our guide →

A private unit-linked retirement product in the third pillar that invests in low-cost ETFs. At the end of the term you can choose a lifelong pension or a lump-sum payout, and withdrawals are also possible during the term. After a term of 12 years and from age 62, only 50 % of your returns are taxable; for the pension, the favourable income-share taxation applies.

Since nobody knows how old they'll get, you can't plan exactly how much capital you'll need in retirement. Once an ETF savings plan is used up, all that's left is the statutory pension. The ETF pension insurance, by contrast, offers a lifelong monthly pension – no matter how old you get.

On top of that come substantial tax advantages during the term and at payout (12/62 rule), plus the care option, pension projection and automatic risk management. You keep the flexibility you're used to: adjust contributions, cash out your balance at any time, pause.

You choose between a lifelong retirement pension and a one-off lump-sum payout. There is no guaranteed pension amount – it depends on how the ETFs perform.

The free care option lets you double your retirement pension if you need long-term care, with no extra contributions. It can only be exercised shortly before you retire and only if you choose the lifelong pension. Your regular pension is reduced by around 15 %; if you need care (from care level 1), it doubles, up to a maximum of 48,000 € per year.

Example: instead of 500 € regular pension, with the care option you initially receive around 425 € – if you need care, the pension rises to 850 €. These figures are guaranteed when you retire and apply for life.

Pensionflow is legally required to verify your identity. Online identification happens conveniently right in the app via our partner WebID Solutions – your ID document is checked against your registration data.

The Pensionflow app is available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play. On desktop, just scan the QR code in the top right. To the app section →

Four strategies: world portfolios with an equity share of 60 %, 80 % or 100 % (optionally as an ESG variant) plus, new, the Sharia-compliant Weltportfolio Halal (Islamic Finance, via the iShares MSCI World Islamic ETF). All of them invest in a diversified world portfolio using low-cost ETFs from providers such as Amundi, State Street, Vanguard, iShares and UBS. More on the investment strategies →

As a rule of thumb, in retirement you need around 80 % of your last net income. Once you subtract your statutory pension entitlement, what's left is the pension gap you need to close. Work out your ballpark figure with the pension calculator →

The monthly savings amount has to be at least 50 €; additional payments are optional.

Yes, at any time, right in the app – for the future. The rules: the new contribution is at least 50 € and at most 3,000 € per month, and extra payments plus contributions together must not exceed 40,000 € per year.

You can stop your contributions at any time. If your balance isn't enough for an open-ended contribution stop, the contract is ended and the surrender value is paid out. The app will let you know in good time.

You can adjust all the parameters from registration right in the app. Other settings such as the pension guarantee period or contribution escalations can be changed by emailing support@pensionflow.de.

With rebalancing, the original percentage split of your ETFs is restored once a year. That keeps risk under control, avoids concentration and offers a chance at extra returns – and at Pensionflow it's free of charge and free of flat-rate withholding tax (Abgeltungsteuer).

Five years before retirement, your money is gradually and automatically shifted from equities into safe bonds, to avoid big price swings shortly before payout. The shifts are free of charge and free of flat-rate withholding tax; if you'd rather not have this, you can switch the glide path off in the app.

At any time via the Pensionflow dashboard. Extraordinary payments start at 500 € and are collected automatically by direct debit. Depending on the amount and your bank, it takes 5 to 10 banking days until the payment shows up.

At any time via the Pensionflow dashboard. Depending on the amount and your bank, it takes 5 to 10 banking days until the money is in your account. Gains you pay out during the savings phase are subject to flat-rate withholding tax, which is deducted automatically.

Yes, no problem. Often, though, the better strategy is to stay calm and stay invested: if you keep saving through weak phases, you buy more units at low prices (cost-average effect) and benefit all the more once markets recover.

After at least 12 years of paying in and from age 62, you benefit from substantial tax advantages. With a lump-sum payment, the half-income method applies (only half of the gain is taxed at your personal rate, plus a 15 % partial exemption). With a pension, the favourable income-share method applies – if your pension starts at 67, only 17 % is taxable. With worked examples in the guide →

As long as your balance stays invested, all gains remain tax-free – tax is only due at payout. With a conventional ETF savings plan, realised gains have to be taxed every year. This way you get the full benefit of interest and compound interest.

If you meet the 12/62 rule, the tax advantages described above apply. If you pay out early, the usual taxes are due: flat-rate withholding tax (25 %), solidarity surcharge and, where applicable, church tax.

No – as private retirement provision in the third pillar, the contributions aren't deductible on your tax return the way Rürup pension contributions are. In return, the later capital or pension payments get significant tax breaks.

Pensionflow is an insurance product, not a securities account – so there's no separate depot. The ETF units are held by Alte Leipziger as part of the insurance contract.

Number of ETF units times the current price; foreign currencies are converted into euros at the current exchange rate. Distributions are automatically reinvested into additional units; with accumulating ETFs, the gains increase the unit value directly.

The pension factor tells you how much monthly pension you get per 10,000 € of balance. The current pension factor is a guide based on today's assumptions (life expectancy, interest rates); the guaranteed pension factor is your minimum pension and kicks in if the current one turns out lower when your pension starts. Whether you take a pension or the full payout is your decision in the end.

Pensionflow is an insurance intermediary and provides the digital platform. Your contract partner is Alte Leipziger – under the contract, they have to send you all notifications in text form.

Right in the app under Settings. The payout amount equals your balance minus any taxes and can differ from the value last shown. There are no costs.

You can then send us changes to your contract – such as your savings amount, payments in or payouts – by email to support@pensionflow.de or via WhatsApp. We'll take care of it as quickly as possible.

Before the pension starts, your surviving dependants receive the value of the balance you've saved up (inheritance tax may apply). After the pension starts, a pension guarantee period of 10 years applies by default: the pension continues to be paid to your dependants until ten years after your retirement date. This setting can only be changed by email.

There are no costs for signing up. There are 3 € of monthly administration costs (deducted from your savings amount) plus balance-based costs of 0.1 % per month including ETF costs. The annual effective cost ratio is around 1.3 %, depending on the strategy you choose.

No – cancellations, payouts and extra payments are free. The payout amount can differ from the balance last shown, for example due to taxes or price movements up to the time of processing.

Legally, Pensionflow is an insurance intermediary; your balance is invested by Alte Leipziger, which Fitch has repeatedly rated „A+“ (stable outlook). If Pensionflow ever ceased to exist, your contract would simply carry on as normal with Alte Leipziger.

Your balance sits in the guarantee assets and isn't part of the insolvency estate – you have a claim to full payout. On top of that, Alte Leipziger, like all German life insurers, is protected by the Protektor AG guarantee scheme.

For technical or contract questions you can reach support via WhatsApp right in the app or by email to support@pensionflow.de.

We'd love to hear your ideas! Write to us at feedback@pensionflow.deand tell us how we can make Pensionflow even simpler and clearer.