Pension for the Self-Employed in Germany: Rules and Options

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Going freelance in Germany means nobody deducts a pension contribution from your income, unless your profession is on a short list. The calculator below compares four ways to build your own pension with the same monthly amount: the Altersvorsorgedepot, the Rürup pension, a plain ETF portfolio and voluntary statutory contributions. Enter your age, contribution and tax rate, and it shows what each route would pay per month after tax.

Retirement calculator for the self-employed

Self-employed but insured by law

These groups pay into the statutory pension whether they like it or not:

• Teachers and educators earning more than €603 a month who employ no insured staff. The term is read widely: tutors, aerobics or golf instructors and childminders count, and coaches, trainers and moderators can count too.
• Carers in nursing, maternity, infant or child care working mostly on a doctor’s orders and employing no insured staff, such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists.
• Midwives, even if they employ staff.
• Artists and writers (Künstler und Publizisten), through the Künstlersozialkasse, see below.
• Craftsmen registered in the trade register (Handwerksrolle) in a licensed trade, typically with a master craftsman qualification. After 18 years of compulsory contributions they can be exempted.
• The single-client self-employed: people with no insured employees who work permanently and essentially for one client. Founders in this situation can apply to be exempted for the first three years.
• Home workers, sea pilots and coastal fishers.

Teachers, carers, midwives and the single-client self-employed must register with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung within three months of starting, and late registration can mean back payments. Craftsmen, home workers, sea pilots and coastal fishers are reported automatically, and artists and writers register with the Künstlersozialkasse. Most groups can choose their contribution: in 2026 either a standard amount of €735.63 a month, half of it until the end of the third calendar year after the year you start, or an amount based on your actual income as shown in your tax assessment. Artists, sea pilots, home workers and coastal fishers always pay according to their income.

Doctors in private practice, alternative practitioners (Heilpraktiker) and psychotherapists are not compulsorily insured. The same goes for freelancers outside the list, such as software developers or management consultants, unless they work for essentially one client without insured staff.

Artists and writers: the Künstlersozialkasse

Musicians, actors, visual artists, writers, journalists and editors working professionally on their own account are insured through the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK). It covers pension, health and long-term care insurance, and you pay only half of the contribution, like an employee. The other half comes from a levy on the companies that use artistic work and from a federal subsidy. You need an expected income above €3,900 a year, with exceptions for career starters, and you may employ at most one person, not counting trainees and minijobbers. The KSK decides on your application, and insurance usually starts on the day you register.

Professions with their own pension fund

Doctors, dentists, vets, pharmacists, lawyers, notaries, tax advisers, auditors, architects, self-employed engineers and psychotherapists usually belong to a professional pension fund (Versorgungswerk). They are compulsory members of both their professional chamber and the fund, and the fund takes the place of the statutory pension. If you later work as an employee in the same profession, you can be exempted from the statutory pension and keep paying into the fund.

Not covered? Your four options

1. Statutory pension on application. Within five years of starting your business you can apply to become compulsorily insured. You then pay like the groups above. The advantage: compulsory contributions keep your disability cover, which needs three years of compulsory contributions in the last five before you become unable to work.

2. Voluntary contributions. Anyone living in Germany can pay voluntarily from age 16, whatever their nationality. You choose the amount each month, in 2026 between €112.16 and €1,571.70, pay up to twelve contributions a year, and can still pay for a year until 31 March of the next. Voluntary contributions count toward the pension and the five-year minimum, but on their own they do not build disability cover.

3. The Altersvorsorgedepot from 2027. The new subsidized pension depot is open to self-employed people under 67 with business or freelance income who file a tax return for the year. Allowances and tax deductions work as for employees. The details and the subsidy rules are on the private pension guide.

4. Rürup pension or ETF portfolio. The Rürup pension (Basisrente) is deductible up to €30,826 for a single person in 2026, minus any statutory pension or professional fund contributions, but it pays only as a lifelong monthly pension and cannot be cashed in. An ETF portfolio stays flexible, with no lock-in until retirement. The ETF savings plan guide and the broker comparison show how to start.

Pension proof for the freelance visa

If you are over 45 and apply for a residence permit as a freelancer or business owner, you are expected to show adequate retirement provision. Skilled workers aged 45 and over face a similar rule on their first residence permit: either a salary of at least 55% of the pension contribution ceiling or proof of adequate provision. What counts and how to prove it is explained in the freelance visa guide.

What may change

In June 2026 the government’s pension commission recommended bringing all new self-employed people without other mandatory cover into the statutory pension. That is a recommendation, not law. Until a law is passed, the rules above apply.

Bottom line

First check whether your profession is on the compulsory list, and register within three months if it is. If it is not, pick a route that fits your income: the statutory pension for disability cover, the Altersvorsorgedepot for the allowances, Rürup for tax savings at higher incomes, ETFs for flexibility.

Part of the German pension system. Related: statutory pension · health insurance for freelancers · taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions