Someone sold you a Riester, Rürup or private pension in your first years here. You pay every month and have never seen the numbers.
Decision: Pension
Every pension contract you hold in Germany, explained line by line: Riesterthe subsidised private pension, Rürupthe Basisrente for the self-employed and high earners, company pension (bAVcompany pension), private Rentenversicherungpension insurance. What each one costs, what it guarantees, what the 2027 reform changes for it, and what happens if you leave. In writing, in English, within three weeks. The decision is yours; we make sure you have what it takes.
- Two sessions, 60 minutes each, by video
- Your Decision Document within five working days
- Annual review offered
Who it is for
You already hold a contract and nobody has explained it to you.
You might leave Germany in two, five or ten years, and nobody has told you what that does to each contract.
You have heard that the Altersvorsorgedepotthe new state-subsidised retirement account replaces Riester for new contracts from 1 January 2027, and you do not know what the rules say for someone like you.
Not the right package if you have no contracts yet and want to start saving: that is the free guide, or Decision: First portfolio. And if you want someone to tell you "keep" or "cancel": that is personal insurance advice, which this package does not include; see the questions below.
The outcome
What you leave with
One document, in English, that puts every contract on the same page: what it is, what you pay, what is guaranteed, what the 2027 reform changes for it, what happens if you leave Germany, and what is still open with your provider. Balanced: the case for keeping and the case for changing, side by side. The decision is yours, and you will be able to explain it.
- Each contract explained: type, costs, guarantees, subsidies, exit rules
- What the 2027 Altersvorsorgedepot changes for you, from the published rules
- The "if you leave Germany" line for every contract
- The open questions to put to each provider, in German and English
- Email follow-up for 30 days for questions about your Decision Document
Example structure · [name] · [date]
ContractWhat you haveBoth sides, before you decide
Riester, since 2019Unit-linked, monthly contribution, state subsidy claimedCosts against subsidy for your income and children; what pausing or cancelling means for subsidies already received; ask the provider: current value, cost disclosure
Company pension (bAV)Direktversicherung through your employer, with employer top-upTax and social-security treatment at payout; what happens on a job change or a move abroad; ask HR: the portability rules of your plan
Private Rentenversicherung, 2021Classic tariff, guaranteed rate, monthly contributionGuaranteed against projected values; the cost over the term; the difference between cancelling and making it paid-up (beitragsfreipaid-up, no further contributions); ask the provider: surrender value today
Altersvorsorgedepot (2027)Not yet available; from 1 January 2027Who is eligible and how the subsidy works; what the published rules say about moving abroad; what applies to you on today's rules
Both sides: the case for keeping and the case for changing, per contractIf you leave Germany: one line per contractOpen questions: for each provider, in German and English
Reviewed by Alexander Hecking · [date]page 1 of [n]
How it runs
Three weeks, two calls, one document.
Covers all your pension contracts; up to five is typical. If you hold more, we say so before you pay. Your time: about three hours in total.
Before session 1: your documents. Every contract, the latest annual statement (Standmitteilungthe annual statement from your provider), your Renteninformationthe annual pension letter from the DRV (the DRV letter), the bAV line on your payslip. The checklist in your confirmation email tells you where to find each one; secure upload, about 15 minutes.
Session 1, 60 minutes, video. Your situation and your questions: how long you expect to stay, income, family, and what each contract was supposed to do for you. We go through the inventory together.
Between the sessions. Alexander prepares your Decision Document: each contract read line by line, the facts pulled out and checked against the published rules, including the 2027 depot.
Session 2, 60 minutes, video. The Decision Document, walked through. Every line explained and sourced; what is still open with your provider listed. We do not tell you which contract to keep: by the end you can weigh that yourself.
Within five working days: your Decision Document. By email, in English, with the open questions for each provider. Email follow-up for 30 days for anything in it you want explained again.
Twelve months later: an annual review, offered. Rules change, so does your situation. You decide whether to take it.
The price
[PRICE] €
fixed, paid once [VAT wording – lawyer to confirm]The fee is the only money we receive. We earn nothing from what you keep, change, cancel or open afterwards.
- Two 60-minute sessions by video
- Your Decision Document: every contract, both sides, and the 2027 depot briefing
- The open questions for each provider, in German and English
- 30 days of email follow-up; annual review offered
Not included: a recommendation to keep, change or cancel a contract (personal insurance advice, licensed separately), your tax return, legal advice, and buying or selling anything. We sell the Decision Document, nothing else.
The guarantee
Money-back guarantee
Book the package, do the two sessions, read your Decision Document. If you are not clearer about your contracts than you were before, send one email within 14 days of receiving it and the fee comes back in full. No form, no reason needed. You keep the document.
The guarantee is on your money, never on what a contract will pay out: no one can promise that, and whether you keep a contract stays your decision.
Why we can offer it: we would rather refund one fee than keep one from someone the document did not help.
Getting a place
Two places a month, in order of request.
Each Decision Document means reading every contract line by line and checking it against the rules. Alexander does that himself, beside the free sessions and the monthly webinar. Two a month is what that time allows without cutting corners, so there is no open calendar: you request a place, we confirm it, then you pay and pick your dates.
We confirm within one working day
- October 2026[places – not yet set]
- November 2026[places – not yet set]
- December 2026[places – not yet set]
You get one of three answers: a place this month, a place next month, or a spot on the list for the month after. Places go in order of request, not by urgency.
Have a deadline, such as a cancellation date on a contract? Say so in the request. If an earlier place frees up, it goes to the next person on the list.
Confirm, pay, prepare
Decision: PensionCard or SEPA · invoice by email[PRICE] €
Your confirmation comes with the payment link and the calendar for session 1. The place is held for 48 hours; it is yours once the fee is paid.
Then the welcome email brings everything you need before session 1:
- The document checklist, and where the papers usually are
- A secure upload link for your documents
- The status information (§12 FinVermV) and the service agreement, signed online
- The video link and a reminder the day before
Session 2 is set at the end of session 1, two weeks later. Reschedule either from the confirmation email up to 24 hours before.
[Right of withdrawal (Widerrufsrechtthe statutory right to cancel a contract within 14 days) wording – lawyer to confirm.] Your documents are stored only for the engagement and deleted afterwards unless you take the annual review; details in the Datenschutz. Nothing about your request or its content reaches your employer.
Questions
Before you book
Anything else: ask a question, it is answered in the next live session or the FAQ.
- Will you tell me which contract to keep or cancel?
- No. The Decision Document gives you the facts, both sides and the open questions; the decision is yours. A personal recommendation to keep, change or cancel an insurance contract is regulated advice under its own licence, and we do not give it here. If you want one, we tell you where to get it.
- I will probably leave Germany in a few years. Is this still for me?
- Especially then. Every contract gets an "if you leave" line: what the published rules say about contributions, subsidies and payout when you live abroad, and the questions to confirm with the provider. Staying or leaving is the first topic in session 1, not an afterthought.
- Will you sell me a new contract?
- No. The fee is the only money we receive. Whatever you decide to keep, change or open afterwards, you do it where you like.
- Why only two a month?
- Because each Decision Document is written by hand, contract by contract, by one person who also runs the free sessions. Two a month keeps every document at the standard the money-back guarantee rests on. If the month is full, you are offered the next one, and you pay nothing until a place is confirmed.
- I only have one contract.
- Then the free Orientation Call may already settle it. If it does not, the package covers one contract as well as five, and the 2027 depot briefing is part of it either way.
- Is this tax advice?
- No. We explain the tax treatment of each contract as far as the published rules state it. For your tax return or a cross-border question, we connect you with an English-speaking tax advisor; you hear from us within 48 hours.
- English or German?
- Your choice, for the sessions and for the Decision Document. The questions for your providers are in German, with an English version next to them so you know what you are asking.
- Can my employer see that I booked?
- No. Your employer gives you access to the content. Who books, what is discussed and what you decide never reaches them.
How we earn money
Our packages are fee-only: a fixed price, a defined deliverable, no product commissions. If property turns out to be right for you, our property partner helps you find, finance and buy it; that is paid by commission, typically 3% of the purchase price, and we tell you how much and who pays before you sign.
Request a place · [PRICE] €Two places a month · money-back guarantee · pay only once confirmed