Assumptions

  1. We have assumed that your spouse will cover their own contributions.
  2. Although there are ongoing political discussions about increasing the retirement age further, it has been assumed that retirement age will remain at 67 for the calculator.
  3. We don’t cater for cases, where someone might be planning to retire early or later than the standard retirement age.
  4. To calculate the average annual salaries in the future, it has been assumed that salaries will increase at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), similar to the CAGR observed from 1991 - 2025. Data for 1991-2025 is available at Anlage 1 SGB VI Durchschnittsentgelt in Euro/DM/RM.
  5. It has been assumed that the pensions will increase on a yearly basis with a CAGR of 1.96% per annum. This is the same CAGR, which has been observed in ,Alte BundeslĂ€nder’ from 1991-2025. For detailed data, check Pg 259 in Rentenversicherung in Zeitreihen.
  6. To calculate Entgeltpunkte (for pension), we assume that the ratio of your salary to the average salary in Germany will remain constant throughout your working life. For example, if you currently earn 1.2x the average salary, we assume this multiple remains the same until retirement. Since actual salaries tend to be below average early in one's career and above average later on, we expect these deviations to balance out over time, making this a reasonable simplification.
  7. The PKV premiums for adults from the age of entry into PKV until the age of 60, are assumed to increase at 3.5% per annum. This is based on Page 53 of the study - Beitragsentwicklung in der PKV. Also, the PKV Verband shows an annual increase of 3.4% per annum over the last 20 years in the article PKV: Darum steigen 2026 die BeitrÀge. The actual behaviour will vary between basic and premium tariffs. It might also vary across different health insurance providers due to differences in underlying cohorts. However, 3.5% per annum increase assumption is a good estimate for the average behaviour.
  8. For the age group of 61 - 67, a premium drop of 1.5% per annum has been assumed. This is based on page 40 of the study - Beitragsentwicklung in der PKV which mentions that premiums drop by 10% over 7 years, since PKV members stop paying retirement provisions from the age of 61.
  9. For the age group of 68 - 80, a premium increase of 0.3% per annum has been assumed. This is also based on page 40 of the study - Beitragsentwicklung in der PKV.
  10. From the age of 80 onwards, assume a 0% per annum growth. This is based on legal requirements to use GBZ funds to keep the contribution stable.
  11. We assume linear PKV increases annually. In reality, the premium increases are regulated and hence need to meet certain thresholds before they can be increased. This can result in premiums being stable for a few years and then having sudden substantial increases. However, this behaviour doesn’t affect the totals, which is the main objective of the calculator.
  12. Children’s PKV premiums are assumed to increase at 2.5% per annum, at a rate lower than premium increases for adults since children, on average, have fewer medical needs.
  13. We have assumed the rate of your annual salary increase to be 2%.
  14. For the calculator, we have assumed the default life expectancy to be 85. You can change this value and see how the contributions change for different life expectancies.
  15. We classify the PKV tariffs available in the market into three categories based on Price: Basic (the cheapest 20%), Standard (the middle 60%) and Premium (the most expensive 20%).
  16. We assume the additional contribution rate will increase to 4.05% by 2029, based on estimates from the BMG (Bundesministerium fĂŒr Gesundheit), with no further increases thereafter. This assumption reflects the fact that social contributions already stand at 43% in 2026 (with an average addtional contribution rate of 2.9%) and would reach 44.15% at 4.05%. This significantly exceeds the government’s 2018 target of keeping contributions below 40%, and we expect political intervention to prevent contributions from surpassing 45%.
  17. For Long-Term Care insurance, we follow the projections provided by BMG (Bundesministerium fĂŒr Gesundheit) until 2060. Beyond 2060, we assume no further increases for the same reason outlined in assumption 14: social contributions would become unsustainably high, prompting political action to keep them manageable.
  18. People, with no children, beyond the age of 23, pay a surcharge of 0.6% towards long-term care insurance. We have assumed this surcharge to remain fixed.
  19. The growth of Freibetrag and the Mindestbemessungsgrundlage 2026 onwards has been assumed to follow the growth rate observed from 2013 - 2026.
  20. For the field “how many children do you plan to have”, we add the contribution amounts starting from the current year, even if you don’t plan to have these children immediately. Since the calculator focuses on total amounts rather than yearly variations, and children’s tariffs are relatively low, this assumption should still provide a reasonable estimate.
  21. It is assumed that you will pay the PKV premiums for your children until the age of 20. In reality, this might only be 18, if someone starts their Ausbildung or University studies at 18.
  22. If a self-employed person opts into GKV, we assume they will also opt in for Krankengeld, meaning they will pay the general contribution rate of 14.6% rather than the reduced rate of 14%.
  23. For retirees, we assume that someone either pays the childless surcharge or they don’t, without accounting for the 0.25% reduction per child, as the amounts involved are small.