What the Frühstartrente is

€10 a month, for every child aged 6 to 18, paid straight into their own securities account. Your contribution: nothing. The returns tax-free until retirement.

Familie mit Altersvorsorgedepot und Kinderzulage, Vater mit Sohn auf dem Rücken
New — Frühstartrente

€10 a month from the state for your child's pension

The Frühstartrente is the starting signal for your child’s retirement provision, set by the state. For every child between 6 and 18, the federal government pays €10 a month into their own Altersvorsorgedepot (Germany’s state-subsidized retirement investment account), with no own contribution at all. That sounds like little. But over twelve years, with compounding behind it, it grows into starting capital that keeps working for your child all the way to retirement.

  • €10 a month from the state
  • For children aged 6 to 18
  • From birth year 2020 onwards
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Why it is worth it

Benefits of the Frühstartrente

€10 a month for free

The state pays into a separate securities account for every child aged 6 to 18, without you adding a single cent.

Tax-free until retirement

The returns remain tax-free until retirement and keep growing undiminished.

You can top it up

Parents and grandparents may pay in up to €6,840 extra per year.
Time is the lever

Why the early years are worth so much

The real lever of the Frühstartrente is not the size of the premium but time. A child has around six decades ahead of them until retirement in which the money can work, and over such a long stretch even small amounts turn into a remarkable sum, because the returns generate new returns year after year. That is called compound interest. And it makes an early start almost impossible to catch up with later.

Topping up together

Parents and grandparents can join in

The €10 from the state is only the beginning. Parents and grandparents may pay in up to €6,840 extra per year, and even a small monthly top-up noticeably changes the outcome over the years. More is always possible. And because everything runs in a single securities account, it stays clear, no matter how many people pay in.

Ergänzen, nicht ersetzen

Frühstartrente oder normales Kinderdepot?

Many parents already put money aside for their children, usually in an ordinary securities account. Does the Frühstartrente replace that? No. It complements it, because the two serve completely different purposes, and this is the most important difference: with a regular account, your child can access everything at 18; with the Frühstartrente, at 65 at the earliest.

FrühstartrenteRegular children’s securities account
Government contribution€10 a month from age 6 to 18none
Available fromage 65 at the earliestany time
Child’s access at 18not possiblefull access
Costscapped at 1.0%, no acquisition costs until 18freely selectable, often €0 with neobrokers
Investmentdefault standard product with two specified fundsfree choice
Taxationdeferred, on payoutflat-rate withholding tax (Abgeltungsteuer), saver’s allowance (Sparerpauschbetrag) can be used
Additional contributionsup to €6,840 a yearunlimited

For most families, it makes sense to have both side by side. You take the Frühstartrente anyway, since it costs nothing. And the regular account remains alongside it for everything that is needed before retirement, from a driver’s license to university to a first apartment of their own.

In three steps

How the Frühstartrente works

As soon as your child turns six, you open a standard securities account with a provider of your choice. You do not have to do anything more. After that, the federal government pays in €10 every month on its own, without interruption until your child comes of age, and anyone who wants to build up faster may, as a parent or grandparent, pay in up to €6,840 extra per year. At 18, the securities account then belongs to the child.

1. Open a securities account from age 6

With a provider of your choice, as a standard securities account.

2. The state pays €10 / month

Automatically until your child comes of age.

3. At 18 your child takes over

Carry on saving themselves or switch into a subsidized contract.
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No securities account? No problem

And if you do not open a securities account?

And if you do not open a securities account? No problem. In that case the Bundesbank invests the €10 per month in segregated fund assets of its own, safely held and not lost. Your child can transfer the accumulated balance into their own Altersvorsorgedepot at any time later; there is time for that until the age of 35. Only then does the decision have to be made.
A seamless transition

At 18 it continues

At 18 the state premium ends. The securities account remains. Your child can carry on paying in themselves or switch to another certified retirement provision contract, so that the Frühstartrente passes into subsidized private retirement provision without a break.

Entitlement and start

Who benefits and from when

Under the draft, all children born in 2020 or later with their primary residence in Germany are entitled, namely from their sixth to their eighteenth year. The start is planned retroactively for 1 January 2026, initially for the 2020 cohort. Each further year, the new cohort of six-year-olds is added. On 12 August 2026 the federal cabinet adopted the government bill. However, the Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to approve it; it is planned to come into force on 1 January 2027.

Der Starttermin

Wann genau startet die Frühstartrente?

This is where it gets confusing. The Federal Ministry of Finance’s press release of August 12, 2026 states that the subsidy will start retroactively on January 1, 2026, beginning with children born in 2020. The ministry’s own legislation page says something different: there, the start date is January 1, 2027, covering children born in 2020 and 2021, with the subsidy for 2020 granted retroactively. We follow the second version because it reflects the draft bill directly. Only one thing is certain so far: the Bundestag and Bundesrat have not yet approved it.

Kritik am Entwurf

Was Kritiker am Gesetzentwurf bemängeln

Not everyone thinks the draft is a success. The intermediaries’ association AfW speaks of a break with the regulatory system and warns that independent advice will be pushed out. The VOTUM association fears that the pooled investment at the Bundesbank will turn from a fallback solution into the standard solution for lower-income families. The consumer advice center of Baden-Württemberg (Verbraucherzentrale), by contrast, expressly welcomes the protective provisions, above all the ban on acquisition costs until the child comes of age.

Calculate the subsidy

What €10 from the state can turn into

Just work it out for yourself. Set your child’s age and, if you like, an amount you add yourself each month, and you will immediately see what the €10 from the state plus your top-up can turn into by retirement. Give it a try. Start just a few years earlier and the result looks noticeably different. Give it a try. Start just a few years earlier and the result looks noticeably different. 

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Was wird aus 10 € vom Staat?

Alter des Kindes iAktuelles Alter. Staatlicher Beitrag läuft vom 6. bis zum 18. Lebensjahr. Bei Kindern unter 6 wird ab dem 6. Geburtstag gerechnet. 6 Jahre
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Eltern zahlen zusätzlich iFreiwilliger Zusatzbeitrag pro Monat. Maximal 570 € (entspricht Jahresgrenze 6.840 €). Der Zusatzbeitrag läuft nur bis zum 18. Lebensjahr des Kindes. 50 €/Monat
0 €500 €
Endkapital mit 65
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Vom Staat: – · Von Eltern: – · Rendite: –
Detaillierte Frühstart-Berechnung Mit eigener Rendite, Kostensatz, Weiterzahlung ab 18 und Einmalanlage Auf die Warteliste Erfahren Sie als Erste:r, welche Anbieter starten

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

Zahlen richtig einordnen

Vorsicht bei kursierenden Rechenbeispielen

One more word on the figures currently circulating. In its own examples, the Federal Ministry of Finance assumes a return of seven percent a year and thus arrives at final amounts of up to €320,000. The industry news service Cash. calls this calculation anything but serious. Seven percent over six decades is a very optimistic assumption, and nobody knows what the capital markets will look like in fifty years. It is better to calculate more cautiously.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Which provider holds the securities account?

That is your decision. The Frühstartrente runs through a standard securities account with a private provider of your choice, and every company that offers subsidized retirement provision has to offer such a product. None has been certified so far. Those that have already committed are listed in our provider monitor.

Do I have to pay in anything myself as a parent?

No, not a cent. The €10 flows regardless of whether you add anything yourself, and there is no minimum own contribution as there is with the basic allowance. You may top up voluntarily, up to €6,840 per year.

Does the Frühstartrente count against Bürgergeld (German basic income support) or BAföG (German student financial aid)?

No. The securities account belongs to your child and is locked until retirement age, so it counts as realizable assets neither for Bürgergeld nor for BAföG. Child benefit is also unaffected.

What if the law is still changed?

That is possible. The Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to approve the government bill of 12 August 2026, and until then the cohorts and amounts may still change. We will update this page as soon as the law is promulgated.

Is topping up worth it?

Usually yes. The state subsidy alone stays modest; the big effect only comes from your own contributions. Even €25 a month changes the outcome considerably over six decades. We have run the numbers on how big the difference is in an article of our own.