What do the parties say on pensions?

The AfD wants social insurance benefits that are not backed by contributions to be paid from the federal budget. In the platform's view, contributions are currently being misused. This is meant to allow higher benefits or lower contribution rates.

Some social insurance benefits have nothing to do with what people paid in. The AfD wants taxes to pay for these benefits. Then more money stays in the insurance funds. Pensions can go up or contributions can go down.

The AfD wants to raise pensions substantially and gradually reach the Western European average of just over 70 percent of final net income. To do so, more people are to pay into the pension fund, including politicians and most public employees. Retirement is to become more flexible.

The AfD wants higher pensions. The goal is about 70 percent of a person's last net pay. Politicians should also pay into the pension fund. Fewer public workers should become civil servants. After 45 years of work, people should be able to retire with no cuts.

The AfD wants tax incentives for private and workplace retirement savings in stocks, ETFs and funds, replacing the current subsidy schemes. In addition, the state is to open a retirement account for every newborn child with German citizenship and pay into it until age 18.

The AfD wants to support saving for old age with stocks. Savers should get tax benefits. Every newborn German child should get a savings account. The state pays in 100 euros each month for 18 years. The money is paid out only from age 65.

The BSW calls for a tiered minimum pension of up to 1,500 euros and a rebuild of pension insurance along Austrian lines. Everyone in work would pay in, including members of parliament and ministers. To offset inflation, all pensions would first rise by 120 euros a month.

The BSW wants a minimum pension. After 40 years it is 1,500 euros. Everyone should pay into the pension fund, including politicians. All pensions should first go up by 120 euros a month.

The BSW rejects a higher retirement age and wants a pension without deductions at 63 after 45 contribution years. The pay-as-you-go pension would be strengthened. The party rejects subsidies for private plans and investing pension money in the stock market.

The BSW does not want a higher retirement age. After 45 working years, people should be able to retire at 63. There are no deductions then. Pension money should not go into stocks.

The CDU and the CSU want to leave the statutory retirement age and the pension after 45 insurance years unchanged. They rule out pension cuts; the pension level and contribution rates are to stay stable, which the program says economic growth should make possible.

The CDU and the CSU do not want to change the retirement age. Pensions should not go down. The payments into the pension system should also stay the same. Self-employed people should have to save for old age.

The CDU and the CSU want to introduce an "Aktivrente" (active pension). People who voluntarily keep working after reaching retirement age are to keep part of their salary tax-free.

The CDU and the CSU want an "active pension." Some people keep working by choice after retirement age. They should pay less tax on their pay. Up to 2,000 euros a month should be tax-free.

The CDU and the CSU want to set up a personal retirement account for every child, with the government paying into it each month. This is meant to get young people started early on capital-funded retirement saving and to build awareness of it.

The CDU and the CSU want an early-start pension. The government pays in 10 euros each month for every child. The money is invested in the capital market, for example in stocks. Later, people can keep paying in themselves. They get the money only at retirement age.

The FDP wants everyone to decide for themselves when to retire. The condition is that the pension is high enough to live on without additional welfare benefits. Those who work longer would get a higher pension, those who stop earlier a lower one.

The FDP wants people to choose when they retire. This only works if the pension is enough to live on. People who retire later get more money. People who retire earlier get less money.

The FDP wants to invest a small share of pension contributions in the capital market. An independent fund would manage the money. The party argues this offers better protection against an aging population and keeps contributions affordable.

The FDP wants a stock-based pension. A small part of pension contributions would go into a fund. A fund invests money, for example in stocks. The FDP says this keeps contributions affordable.

The FDP wants to introduce a tax-advantaged investment account for private retirement savings that is also open to the self-employed. Company pensions should also be allowed to invest more in stocks. Pensions should not be taxed twice.

The FDP wants a new account for private retirement savings. The account holds investments such as stocks. The state would support saving there with tax benefits. Company pensions should also be allowed to hold more stocks.

The Free Voters reject raising the retirement age and want to keep the pension level at 48 percent or above. Anyone who has paid contributions for 45 years should be able to retire without deductions. To guard against old-age poverty, the pension system should be fundamentally reformed and the Mütterrente (mothers' pension) raised and extended.

The Free Voters do not want to raise the retirement age. Pensions should not fall below 48 percent of the average wage. After 45 years of work, people should get a full pension. Mothers should get more pension. Nobody should be poor in old age.

The Free Voters want more flexible pension models that let people retire earlier or later depending on their circumstances. Retirees and retired civil servants should be allowed to earn up to 2,000 euros a month tax-free on top of their pension. This is meant to keep expertise in companies and ease the shortage of skilled workers.

People should decide for themselves when to retire. Retirees should be allowed to earn 2,000 euros a month extra. They should pay no tax on that. This keeps their knowledge in companies. Age limits for volunteer roles should be reviewed.

The Free Voters want to prevent pensions from being taxed twice. In their view, it is unfair for people who paid taxes during their working lives to be burdened again in old age. The state should do more to reward occupational and private retirement saving.

The Free Voters want no double tax on pensions. Many people already paid taxes while they worked. They should not pay again in old age. The state should also reward private saving for old age.

The Free Voters want to stop health and long-term care insurance contributions from being charged twice on direct insurance policies and company pensions. Those affected should also be compensated.

Some people save for old age through their employer. When the money is paid out, they pay health and care insurance contributions. The Free Voters call this paying twice. They want to end it. Affected people should get compensation.

The Free Voters demand that the agricultural social insurance, the statutory pension insurance, and the civil service pension scheme mutually recognize all pension-relevant periods. The aim is a fair assessment of a person's working life.

Germany has different old-age systems. There are systems for farmers, employees, and civil servants. The Free Voters want each system to accept time from the others. That way a person's whole working life counts.

The Greens want to secure the statutory pension level at no less than 48 percent for the long term. The Grundrente (basic pension supplement) would become a guaranteed pension that applies after 30 years of insurance and reaches more people. Good wages and a broad base of contributors are meant to fund pensions.

The Greens want to keep pensions stable. The pension level should stay at 48 percent or more. People insured for 30 years should get a guaranteed pension. This should prevent poverty in old age. More people should pay into the pension system.

The Greens want to gradually turn the statutory pension into a citizens' insurance (Bürgerversicherung) that additional groups pay into. According to the platform, this would make old-age provision fairer and sustainable.

The Greens want one pension insurance for everyone. Members of parliament should pay in too. Self-employed people without other coverage should join. Later, civil servants should also be included.

The Greens want to leave the standard retirement age at 67 but make voluntarily working longer more attractive. The early pension for people with very long contribution records would stay, and the disability pension would be improved.

The Greens want to keep the retirement age at 67. People who want to work longer should get benefits. The so-called pension at 63 should stay. People who are too sick to work should get more support.

The Greens want to set up a publicly managed citizens' fund that adds a funded component to the statutory pension. The fund would also be open for private and workplace retirement savings and would invest according to social and climate criteria.

The Greens want to start a fund for pensions. A fund invests money to earn returns. The state would run this fund. The money would come from the federal government, not from pension contributions. Citizens could also save there cheaply for old age.

The Left wants a pension insurance into which everyone with earned income pays, including civil servants, the self-employed and members of parliament. In the platform's view, the public pension has a fairness problem rather than a demographic one, and this would allow the pension level to rise.

The Left wants one pension fund for everyone who works. Civil servants, self-employed people and lawmakers would pay in too. Then the fund has more money. That way pensions can go up.

The Left wants to raise the pension level to 53 percent and double the income ceiling for contributions. Low pension entitlements would be upgraded. The party rejects a stock-based pension as risky and expensive.

The Left wants higher pensions. The pension level should rise to 53 percent. People with high pay would pay contributions on more of it. Pension money should not be invested in stocks.

The Left wants to lower the standard retirement age to 65. Anyone who has worked and paid contributions for 40 years could retire at 60 without deductions. In the platform's view, retirement at 67 amounts to a pension cut.

The Left wants people to retire at 65. Today the age is rising to 67. Anyone who worked 40 years could retire at 60. Their pension would not be cut.

The Left wants to introduce a solidarity-based minimum pension. People whose pension is too low would get a top-up to the at-risk-of-poverty line, currently about 1,400 euros. The aim is to prevent poverty in old age.

Some people get only a very small pension. The Left wants to give them a top-up. Their pension would then be about 1,400 euros. Nobody should be poor in old age.

The Left wants to keep the upward adjustment of eastern German wages in pension calculations until 2030 and legally correct how East German pensions were transferred after reunification. A higher minimum wage and more collective bargaining coverage are meant to close the wage gap with the West.

Wages and pensions are lower in the East than in the West. The Left wants to change that. Eastern wages should keep counting more for pensions. The minimum wage should rise to 15 euros.

The PdF wants to add a capital-funded component to the statutory pension system. Returns from capital markets are meant to pay for part of pension benefits and make the system less dependent on rising contributions.

The PdF wants to invest part of the pension money. The profits should help pay for pensions. This way, contributions should rise less. The money should be spread widely and invested for a long time.

The PdF wants to expand workplace and private retirement provision. It plans larger tax advantages, government subsidies, and a mandatory workplace pension model so that more employees receive an occupational pension.

The PdF wants more people to save for old age themselves. There should be tax benefits for this. The state should also give extra money. A workplace pension should become mandatory. That is a pension through the employer.

The PdF wants all citizens to pay into the statutory pension system, including the self-employed and freelancers. This is meant to reduce old-age poverty and give the pension system a broader financial base.

The PdF wants everyone to pay into the public pension. This includes self-employed people. Many of them save too little for old age. Fewer people should be poor in old age. The pension fund would then get more money.

The SPD wants to keep the pension level permanently at no less than 48 percent, since the current safeguard ends in mid-2025. It rejects a higher retirement age, and people with 45 contribution years would still be able to retire two years early without deductions.

Pensions should not fall behind wages. The SPD wants to keep the pension level at 48 percent or more. The retirement age should not go up. People with 45 working years may still retire earlier. People who work past retirement age should get benefits.

In the long run, everyone in work is to belong to the statutory pension insurance, starting with the self-employed. The SPD wants to give more support to occupational and private pensions so that low earners in particular can save additionally.

The public pension should later cover everyone who works. First, the SPD wants to cover self-employed people. Company pensions should get more support. State money for private savings should mainly help people with low pay.

The Tierschutzpartei wants a pension insurance that everyone pays into, including lawmakers, civil servants, and the self-employed. Every person would receive a guaranteed pension that prevents old-age poverty. The pension level should be well above 50 percent in the medium term.

Everyone should pay into the same pension fund. This includes civil servants, politicians and self-employed people. Everyone should get enough pension in old age. Pensions should be higher than today. The party is critical of private pension plans.

Volt wants to gradually extend the statutory pension system to civil servants, the self-employed and freelancers, and to guarantee an income above the poverty line in old age. The retirement age would follow life expectancy, and additional retirement saving would become easier.

Volt wants to rebuild the pension system. Civil servants and self-employed people should also pay into the public pension. Nobody should be poor in old age. The retirement age should follow life expectancy. If people live longer, they work longer. Every child should get starting money for retirement saving at birth.

Volt wants to open a state-funded retirement investment account for every child at birth. The state would pay in 1,000 euros to start and then 100 euros each year until the child comes of age. According to the platform, this funded supplementary pension is meant to strengthen security in old age and personal responsibility.

Volt wants a retirement account for every child. The money in it is invested. The state pays in 1,000 euros at birth. Then it pays 100 euros every year until the child is 18. The money is meant to add to the pension later.