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Calculator · ETF knowledge
Calculate your wealth after 10, 20, or 30 years, optionally with German tax deduction (Vorabpauschale).
The calculator models the path of an ETF savings plan with an optional tax drag from the annual advance lump sum. It shows a computed tax burden and does not replace tax advice.
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Tax drag is the difference between the final portfolio value without and with the annual Vorabpauschale. It shows how much wealth is lost due to ongoing taxation during the accumulation phase.
For a 20-year ETF savings plan with 7 % annual returns, tax drag amounts to roughly 2-4 % of the final portfolio value. The exact figure depends on the Basiszins (base rate) and the Teilfreistellung (partial exemption).
Yes, for tax purposes each monthly purchase is treated as a separate lot with its own acquisition cost. When selling, the FIFO (first in, first out) principle applies.
Yes. Even a 2 % annual increase can boost the final portfolio value by 15-20 % over 20 years. The additional contributions benefit from the compound-interest effect.
The MSCI World has historically delivered about 7-8 % before inflation. A more conservative estimate is 5-6 % after inflation. Past returns do not guarantee future results.
3.20 percent, the Basiszins (base rate) for 2026, applied identically to every modelled year. This is a deliberate simplification: the Basiszins is set anew each year and cannot be forecast credibly for future years. A constant value keeps the model traceable.
Yes. The calculator grants the full Sparerpauschbetrag in every modelled year: EUR 1,000 for single filers, EUR 2,000 for jointly assessed couples. It is not a pool that depletes over the term, which is why it often covers the Vorabpauschale entirely in the early years.
Calculate Kapitalertragsteuer (capital gains tax), Solidaritätszuschlag (solidarity surcharge), and Kirchensteuer (church tax) on your capital earnings.
Calculate now →What remains of your dividend after Abgeltungsteuer, solidarity surcharge, and church tax?
Calculate now →Calculate the advance lump sum tax on your ETFs and funds, for the 2024 to 2026 tax years, each due in January of the following year.
Calculate now →Which ETF type gives you more wealth after German taxes? Long-term comparison with Vorabpauschale, partial exemption, and saver's allowance.
Calculate now →Distribute your saver's allowance across banks and brokers without leaving allowance unused.
Calculate now →How much financial cushion do you need?
Calculate now →How much do you need for your property?
Calculate now →Calculate tax-free allowances and tax liability
Calculate now →What will your child's savings plan grow to?
Calculate now →When will you reach financial independence?
Calculate now →What's missing for your retirement?
Calculate now →How long will your assets last?
Calculate now →Inputs
Aktuell für 2026After 20 Years
Final Assets
EUR 182.559,83| Year | Contributed | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EUR 3.600 | EUR 3.739,46 |
| 2 | EUR 7.272 | EUR 7.824,04 |
| 3 | EUR 11.017,44 | EUR 12.280,18 |
| 4 | EUR 14.837,79 | EUR 17.136,26 |
| 5 | EUR 18.734,55 | EUR 22.422,76 |
| 6 | EUR 22.709,24 | EUR 28.172,37 |
| 7 | EUR 26.763,42 | EUR 34.420,19 |
| 8 | EUR 30.898,69 | EUR 41.203,9 |
| 9 | EUR 35.116,66 | EUR 48.563,91 |
| 10 | EUR 39.418,99 | EUR 56.543,6 |
| 11 | EUR 43.807,37 | EUR 65.189,53 |
| 12 | EUR 48.283,52 | EUR 74.551,64 |
| 13 | EUR 52.849,19 | EUR 84.683,52 |
| 14 | EUR 57.506,17 | EUR 95.642,69 |
| 15 | EUR 62.256,29 | EUR 107.490,85 |
| 16 | EUR 67.101,42 | EUR 120.294,2 |
| 17 | EUR 72.043,45 | EUR 134.123,76 |
| 18 | EUR 77.084,32 | EUR 149.055,73 |
| 19 | EUR 82.226,01 | EUR 165.171,85 |
| 20 | EUR 87.470,53 | EUR 182.559,83 |
An ETF-Sparplan (savings plan) invests a fixed amount each month into one or more ETFs. Thanks to the cost-averaging effect (Cost-Average-Effekt), you buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high. Over long periods, this smooths out the average purchase price.
Most German brokers offer ETF savings plans starting from EUR 25 per month, many of them without execution fees. The key levers are the monthly contribution (Sparrate), the investment period, and the expected return.
Most savings plan calculators only show the final wealth before taxes. In reality, German investors pay the Vorabpauschale (advance lump sum) on accumulating ETFs every year. This annual tax reduces the capital available for compounding — the so-called tax drag (Steuerbremse).
Over a 20-year savings plan with a 7% return, the tax drag can amount to 2-4% of the final wealth. That may sound small, but on EUR 200,000 in final wealth it means a difference of EUR 4,000-8,000.
The tax deduction is switched off by default. Switch it on and the calculator computes a Vorabpauschale (advance lump sum) on the value at the start of each modelled year, then deducts the tax due from the portfolio at year end.
The point that matters for savings-plan logic: contributions made during the same year do not increase the Vorabpauschale. They are removed from the value gain before the statutory cap is applied. Fresh savings are not income and are not treated as such.
Two figures from your tax profile then apply: the Teilfreistellung (partial exemption) by fund type, and your tax rate. The rate is the familiar stack of 25 percent Kapitalertragsteuer, 5.5 percent Solidaritätszuschlag on top of it, and, if you are liable for church tax, 8 or 9 percent Kirchensteuer depending on the federal state.
Effective rate = 25 % × (1 + 5.5 %) = 25 % × 1.055 = 26.375 %
The step-by-step derivation is in the Vorabpauschale calculator.
The Sparerpauschbetrag (saver's allowance) is granted in full in every modelled year: EUR 1,000 for single filers, EUR 2,000 for jointly assessed couples. It is not a pool that depletes over the term but an annual figure that is available afresh each year.
For a savings plan this has a visible consequence: in the early years the portfolio is small, the Vorabpauschale correspondingly low, and the allowance often covers it entirely. The tax column in the year-by-year table stays at zero even though the deduction is switched on. The tax drag only starts to bite once the taxable Vorabpauschale grows beyond the allowance.
At 30 percent Teilfreistellung, 70 percent remains taxable. The single allowance is therefore only used up from a Vorabpauschale of 1,000 / 0.70, roughly EUR 1,429; for joint assessment, from 2,000 / 0.70, roughly EUR 2,857.
The Teilfreistellung exempts a share of the Vorabpauschale before the tax rate applies. That share depends on the fund type:
| Fund type | Teilfreistellung | Taxable share | Vorabpauschale that uses up EUR 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity funds (Aktienfonds) | 30 % | 70 % | ≈ EUR 1,429 |
| Balanced funds (Mischfonds) | 15 % | 85 % | ≈ EUR 1,176 |
| Property funds (domestic) | 60 % | 40 % | EUR 2,500 |
| Property funds (foreign) | 80 % | 20 % | EUR 5,000 |
| Other funds (sonstige) | 0 % | 100 % | EUR 1,000 |
The savings-plan calculator lets you choose between equity funds, balanced funds and other funds. The two property quotas belong to the statutory system but are rarely relevant for an ETF savings plan.
The selector changes a single factor, yet it acts across the entire term: switching from equity funds to other funds raises the taxable share from 70 to 100 percent, an increase of roughly 43 percent (100 / 70). The tax drag grows in the same proportion once the Sparerpauschbetrag is used up.
The calculator applies the same Basiszins (base rate) to every modelled year: 3.20 percent, the figure for 2026. That is a deliberate simplification, not a forecast. The Basiszins is set anew each year and cannot be stated credibly for future years. A constant value keeps the model traceable instead of claiming a precision that does not exist.
The return is an assumption too, not an expected value: the 7 percent is a preset you can move freely between 1 and 15 percent. The annual increase (0 to 10 percent) and the term (1 to 40 years) are model parameters in the same sense.
Rate(year) = rate × (1 + increase / 100)^(year − 1) Example: 300 × (1 + 2 / 100)^(20 − 1) = 300 × 1.02^19 ≈ EUR 437 in year 20
Fund costs are not included. TER, tracking difference, spread and order costs reduce the return on top of this; by how much is explained in ETF costs: understanding TER and tracking difference. A pragmatic approach: subtract the expected cost ratio from your return assumption.