Maximum: the maximum pension in Germany is that high

As of July 1, 2025, the statutory pensions increase by 3.74 percent. What makes this in euros and cent are very different individually. Because: The span of what pensioners get a month is great. On average, the retirement pension is currently around 1100 euros, as can be seen from the Federal Government’s pension insurance report. But it can also be significantly less or significantly more.

The main decisive factor for this is how much you earn in your life and accordingly paid into statutory pension insurance. Anyone who pays their complete working life in the maximum amount in the statutory pension insurance will ultimately come to an old -age pension that is about three times as high as the average amount mentioned.

How does this high -streak come about and can you reach it at all?

In order to determine the theoretically possible maximum, you first have to know how the amount of the statutory pension is calculated. The official pension formula for this is:

Fee points X Access factor x pension type factor x Current pension value = monthly pension

This is behind the individual points of the formula.

Fee points: This value, which is usually also referred to as pension points, is central to the calculation. It follows from what you have earned in working life year after year. The rule is: Anyone who has earned exactly as much in a year as the average of all insured persons will receive a pension point for this. The average fee is currently 50,493 euros, in previous years it was significantly lower. You can also acquire more (or less) than a fee per year, but the whole thing is capped by the contribution ceiling. This limit indicates the income to which contributions to pension insurance must be paid. That is 8050 euros a month in 2025. Since the assessment limit shifts year after year, the maximum possible earnings points change in one year. In the past decades, the value has always been slightly above or below 2.

Access factor: If you retire when you reach the standard age limit, you have the access factor 1. If you retire earlier, you have to expect discounts. But the opposite case is also possible: Anyone who works beyond the standard age limit without using their pension can acquire surcharges. Namely: 0.5 percent for every month that you do not yet receive your pension. However, the higher pension is then bought through a shorter reference time.

Pension type factor: You don’t have to calculate much here. The pension type factor for old-age pensions is simply 1 (in contrast to disability pensions as well as widow and orphan pensions that have a factor below 1).

Current pension value: This is the value that the Federal Government defines on July 1 of a year so that the pensions with the development of wages and salaries step. As of July 1, 2025, he rose by 3.74 percent – from 39.32 euros to 40.79 euros.

If you want to collect the maximum trente with reaching the standard age limit, you must have earned at least in the amount of the respective contribution ceiling in every insurance year. Since the maximum possible payment points fluctuate slightly per year, it depends on the specific period that you have paid. In the past 45 years (1980 to 2024), up to 87.56 earnings points could be collected. Multiplied by the pension value of 40.79 euros valid from July 1, 2025, this results in a maximum of 3572 euros.

The monthly pension could be a bit higher if you only retire later than the standard age limit. On the one hand, the additional contributions increase the pension. On the other hand, you drive up the access factor. Anyone who retires at the age of twelve months increases their acquired pension entitlement by 6 percent (12 x 0.5 percent).

Ultimately, the high -pure value is a arithmetic value that hardly anyone reaches. After all, you would have to earn from the start of the contribution above the contribution ceiling and hold on to retire for decades. In fact, according to the figures of the German Pension Insurance, there are only a few thousand people who at all receive more than 3000 euros in legal pension. The proportion corresponds to around 0.1 percent of all insured persons.

Realistic is calculated with the so -called standard pension. This is the pension that a statistical “corner pensioner” receives, which has earned exactly on average of all insured persons for 45 years and accordingly acquired 45 earnings points. This results in a gross standard pension of around 1800 euros. Since not everyone gets full 45 years, the actual average pension is still below, around 1100 euros. The gross pensions still have contributions to health and long-term care insurance and taxes for several years.