From 2018: Riester bonus increased for new and old contracts

Contributions to Riester contracts are subsidised by the state - through the old-age provision supplement and, if applicable, additional tax savings as a result of special expenditure deduction (so-called Riester subsidy). The full Riester bonus will only be paid if at least 4 percent of the previous year's income, with a maximum of 2.100 Euro minus bonus entitlements, have been paid into a Riester contract.

Currently, the basic bonus is being increased from 154 Euro to 175 Euro from 2018 with the "Act on the Strengthening of Occupational Pensions and Amendments to Other Legislation (Company Pensions Strengthening Act)" from 17 August 2017, and the child benefit remains unchanged (§ 84 sentence 1 EStG).

The increased bonus is granted not only for newly concluded Riester contracts, but also for existing contracts. The increase to 175 Euro creates a greater incentive for low-income earners in particular to do something for their own old-age provision.

The retirement savings bonus consists of the following components:

• Basic bonus: from 2018 175 Euro, until 2017 154 Euro,
• Child bonus: 300 Euro per child from the year of birth 2008 and 185 Euro per child born before that.
• Job starter bonus for young people under 25 years of age: additional and one-off 200 euros.