Apply for a standard old-age pension

You may be entitled to the standard old-age pension after reaching the so-called standard retirement age:

• If you were born before 1947, the standard retirement age was 65.
• If you were born between 1947 and 1963, the standard retirement age is raised in stages.
• If you were born in 1964 or later, it is 67.

You can only claim the standard old-age pension if you have been insured for a certain period of time. This minimum insurance period is called the waiting period. The waiting period for the standard old-age pension is 5 years.

The following are taken into account for the waiting period

• Contribution periods, for example:
  
  • Contributions from employment or self-employment.
  • Under certain conditions, months in which you received sickness benefit or unemployment benefit, for example, also count,
  • Months between January 2005 and December 2010 in which you received unemployment benefit II or transitional allowance.
  • Voluntary contributions that you paid alone.
  • Child-raising periods for the first 2.5 or 3 years of life.
  • Months of non-occupational care at home.
  • Contributions from mini-jobs that you paid together with your employer.
• Substitute periods: for example, months of political persecution in the GDR.
• In the event of divorce: Creditable months from pension equalization.
• Creditable months from pension splitting between spouses or registered partners.
• Creditable months for insurance-free mini-jobs.

You cannot receive the standard old-age pension early, even with deductions.

If you receive a standard old-age pension, you can earn unlimited additional income. Nothing is deducted from your pension.

Requirements

You have

• reached the standard retirement age,
• fulfilled the minimum insurance period (waiting period) of 5 years and
• submitted the application.

What documents do I need?

• Application for standard old-age pension
  

  Unless original documents or certified copies are expressly required, normal copies are sufficient.

• Identity document (such as identity card, passport, birth certificate or family register)
  

  Unless original documents or certified copies are expressly required, normal copies are sufficient.