---
title: "Pension Gap Calculator"
description: "How large is the gap between your state pension and desired retirement standard? Calculate your pension gap and the required savings plan."
canonical: "https://investboard.de/en/rechner/rentenluecke"
language: "en"
modified: "2026-07-09"
author: "Investboard"
---

# Pension Gap Calculator

What's missing for your retirement?

## What is the pension gap?

The **pension gap (Rentenlücke)** is the difference between the income you would like in retirement and what the German statutory pension is likely to deliver. It is the central quantity of private retirement planning: only when you know your gap can you save against it deliberately.

## How the statutory pension is built

The statutory pension counts in **earnings points (Entgeltpunkte)**: earning exactly the average income of all insured persons collects one point per year; earning more collects proportionally more, capped by the contribution assessment ceiling. At retirement, the sum of points is multiplied by the pension value.

### Simplified pension formula

```text
Earnings points per year = gross income ÷ average income

Gross pension = total points × pension value (EUR 40.79 per point per month, as of July 2025)
```

For orientation: the so-called standard pension of a model case with 45 earnings points comes to roughly EUR 1,836 gross per month. Health and long-term-care insurance and, where applicable, taxes are deducted from the gross pension; the calculator applies a flat deduction of around 11% for this.

The often-quoted pension level of 48% is a statistical reference (standard pension relative to average income), not a personal replacement ratio. Your own entitlement depends solely on your earnings points; the binding source is the pension information of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung.

## How the calculator works

The calculator estimates your future pension from income and contribution years, subtracts it from your desired income and translates the monthly gap into a capital target:

### From gap to capital requirement

```text
Gross annual gap = annual gap ÷ (1 − 18.5% flat withdrawal tax)

Capital required = gross annual gap ÷ 3.5% withdrawal rate
```

It then shows how far your existing private provision plus your monthly savings carry at the chosen return, and what savings rate would close the gap by retirement.

The model is deliberately simplified: it assumes constant income (constant earnings points per year), uses flat deductions and a flat withdrawal tax, and does not model the individual taxation of pensions. For binding information, contact the Deutsche Rentenversicherung.

## How to close the gap

The order matters more than the product: first the emergency fund, then invest long-term and broadly diversified, for example through an ETF savings plan. The earlier you start, the more compounding works for you; our pension-gap guide walks through the mechanics in detail.