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Altersvorsorgedepot: is the 50-euro bonus worth it if the costs are higher?

November 5, 2026 Comments Off on Altersvorsorgedepot: is the 50-euro bonus worth it if the costs are higher?

Only if the difference is tiny. The 50 euros pay off as long as two accounts cost almost the same. Many people see the starting bonus as a price advantage. That is only true if the ongoing costs are close. The provider pays the bonus once. The costs keep running every year. At a savings rate of 150 euros a month, a mark-up of just 0.07 percentage points eats up the bonus after ten years. Which bonuses exist and where the limit lies, we calculate here.

Key points at a glance

  • comdirect and ING each pay 50 euros; Scalable raffles 540 euros a year among five winners. Scalable has no bonus for everyone.
  • All three require a pre-registration by December 31, 2026. The account itself can only be opened from January 1, 2027.
  • At 150 euros a month and a 6 percent return, a mark-up of 0.07 percentage points uses up the bonus after ten years.
  • After 20 years, a mark-up of 0.1 percentage points costs 792 euros. The bonus is then worth around 154 euros.
  • The provider pays the bonus voluntarily. The state allowance of up to 540 euros a year is separate.

In short, the bonus is an extra. The costs are the decision.

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The most common misconception: 50 euros is free money

That is half true. The 50 euros really do arrive, but once and subject to conditions. The costs, on the other hand, run as long as the account exists. If you only look at the bonus, you are comparing a one-off payment with an ongoing charge. It is like choosing a car by the discount at purchase and ignoring the fuel consumption.

Which bonuses have been announced

comdirect pays 50 euros if you register by December 31, 2026 and open the Altersvorsorgedepot by March 31, 2027. The payout follows between May 3 and 30, 2027. If you close the promotional account before then, you lose the bonus. comdirect has not yet stated its costs; they are to follow before the product launch.

ING also pays 50 euros, but only to new customers who have not been ING customers in the last twelve months. You sign up for the start list by December 31, 2026 and open the account by February 15, 2027. The money only arrives after the 14-day withdrawal period and is invested directly in the selected funds. The Relax variant costs 0.2 percent a year, Aktiv from 0.03 percent, plus transaction costs in each case.

Scalable Capital does not pay everyone. It raffles 540 euros a year, paid until retirement age, at most until 67. There are five winners, one per monthly pool from August to December. The draw takes place in January 2027. In addition, there is the pension bonus (Rentenbonus), under which Scalable credits the ongoing costs of selected ETFs. We track the status of each provider, with the date of review, in the provider monitor.

What 50 euros weigh against ongoing costs

Let us do the maths. The same assumptions as in our example on cost drains: 150 euros a month, a 6 percent return and 0.2 percent costs as the base case. The 50 euros, invested once and earning interest, are worth around 88 euros after ten years. After forty years, around 477 euros. A nice sum.

A mark-up of 0.1 percentage points, on the other hand, costs 131 euros after ten years. After twenty years it is 792 euros, after forty years 7,506 euros. Just 0.07 percentage points more uses up the bonus after ten years. After forty years, 0.006 is enough. Less than one hundredth of a percentage point.

Term

Bonus after term

Loss from +0.1 points in costs

Mark-up that uses up the bonus

10 years

approx. 88 euros

131 euros

0.07 points

20 years

approx. 154 euros

792 euros

0.02 points

30 years

approx. 271 euros

2,726 euros

0.01 points

40 years

approx. 477 euros

7,506 euros

0.006 points

Model calculation: 150 euros a month, 6 percent return before costs, base costs 0.2 percent, monthly compounding, excluding taxes and inflation. No guarantee.

The culprit is compound interest. With costs it works against you, every single year, on the entire balance saved, not just on the savings rate. A bonus, by contrast, is credited only once. Nothing more. How exactly this works is shown in our article on 0.5 percent higher fees over 40 years.

Try it out

Calculate the cost difference

Try it with your own figures. Enter your savings rate and term and calculate twice, once with a 0.20 percent account fee and once with 0.27 percent. The difference under “Lost to costs alone” is what the more expensive account costs you.

Compare it with what the bonus is worth by then. After ten years, 50 euros have become around 88 euros. If the cost difference is higher, the bonus is used up. Over long terms this happens quickly.

Monatliche Sparrate iIhr eigener Beitrag pro Monat. 200 €
25 €1.000 €
Laufzeit iÜber wie viele Jahre Sie sparen. Üblich: Zeit bis Renteneintritt. 30 Jahre
10 Jahre40 Jahre
Depotgebühr p. a. iJährliche Kosten Ihres Depots. Sehr niedrige Kosten: ~0,2–0,5 %. Bank: ~1 %. Aktiver Fonds: ~1,5 % und mehr. 1,0 %
0 %2 %
Depot-Wert nach 30 Jahren
–
bei 1,0 % Kosten p. a.
Nur an Kosten verloren
–
Über die gesamte Laufzeit

Annahme: 6,0 % Bruttorendite p. a.

Erweiterte Berechnung Mit Einkommen, Rendite, Kosten, Inflation, Riester-Übertrag, ETF-Vergleich

Unverbindliche Modellrechnung, keine Anlageberatung, keine Garantie künftiger Wertentwicklung. Vergangene Wertentwicklungen sind kein verlässlicher Indikator für künftige Wertentwicklungen.

When is the bonus worth it?

A simple threshold helps. If two offers are less than 0.07 percentage points apart in ongoing costs and you save for ten years, the bonus decides. At 20 years, the threshold is 0.02 points. At 30 and 40 years, it falls to 0.01 and 0.006. If the difference is larger, the costs weigh more.

ING provides an example. Relax costs 0.2 percent, Aktiv from 0.03 percent. That is a difference of up to 0.17 points. The 50-euro starting bonus does not make up for it; over a long term, the two variants are several thousand euros apart. If you look only at costs, the cheaper one wins.

What does not speak against the bonus

A bonus is not bad. If an account is among the cheap ones anyway, the bonus costs you nothing. At ING, however, it applies only to new customers; at comdirect, as of October 31, 2026, all costs are still missing, so the 50 euros cannot be put into context. At Scalable it is a raffle, there is no entitlement.

Then there is tax. The 50 euros count as other income (sonstige Einkünfte) and remain tax-free only as long as such income stays below 256 euros a year (this note does not replace tax advice).

Conclusion

The bonus is an extra. The ongoing costs remain decisive. At 150 euros a month, a mark-up of 0.07 percentage points is enough to use up 50 euros after ten years. All three promotions require a pre-registration by December 31, 2026; it is non-binding. The final costs will only be fixed with the price lists.

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Frequently asked questions

FAQ on the starting bonus for the Altersvorsorgedepot

Do I have to pre-register by December 31, 2026 to get a bonus?

At comdirect, ING and Scalable, yes. All three promotions require a registration, sign-up for the start list or pre-registration by December 31, 2026. You only open the account itself from 2027, at comdirect by March 31, at ING by February 15, 2027. The pre-registration is non-binding.

At what cost difference is the bonus no longer worth it?

With a ten-year term, from a mark-up of 0.07 percentage points; at 20 years from 0.02; at 40 years from 0.006. The basis is 150 euros a month, a 6 percent return and 0.2 percent base costs. The longer you save, the smaller the mark-up that the 50 euros can offset.

Is the bonus part of the state subsidy?

No. The provider pays the bonus voluntarily. The state allowance of up to 540 euros a year is regulated by law and is paid independently of it if its conditions are met. You should look at the two amounts separately, because only the allowance is the same at every provider.

Do I have to pay tax on the bonus?

Possibly not. The 50 euros count as other income (sonstige Einkünfte). They remain tax-free as long as your other income stays below 256 euros a year. Above that, tax is due. This also applies to a Scalable bonus you have won. This does not replace tax advice.

What happens to the bonus if I cancel or withdraw?

It lapses. At comdirect, you lose the bonus if you close the promotional account before the payout or withdraw your consent. ING only pays after the 14-day withdrawal period has expired. At Scalable, the entitlement expires upon withdrawal or cancellation, with no partial payment.

Does everyone at Scalable get the 540 euros?

No. Scalable raffles the bonus among five winners, one per monthly pool from August to December 2026. Pre-registering early gets you into more pools. The draw takes place in January 2027. Everyone else goes away empty-handed but receives the pension bonus on selected ETFs, provided Scalable keeps it.

Sources: finanzfacts, comdirect; Handelsblatt, ING Startbonus; Scalable Capital, Teilnahmebedingungen; mobiflip, Scalable; WirtschaftsWoche, 01.11.2026; Bundesfinanzministerium, Reform der privaten Altersvorsorge.

About the author

Rolf Henning Hackel

Lawyer & financial market expert · AVD Anbieter Vergleich

Rolf Henning Hackel is a qualified lawyer who has spent more than 22 years as a board member and managing director at various software providers to the financial industry, and as a founder himself. As a thorough market expert he knows not only the different providers but also the financial industry’s products, their strengths and weaknesses, and the regulatory framework around them. At AVD Anbieter Vergleich he writes about the new Altersvorsorgedepot and explains subsidies, providers and return potential in plain language — independently and free of advertising.

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Rolf Henning Hackel, Finanzexperte und Gründer von AVD Vergleich