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Frühstartrente: €10 a month from the state for children aged 6 and up

July 31, 2026 Comments Off on Frühstartrente: €10 a month from the state for children aged 6 and up

The Frühstartrente (early-start pension for children) is a subsidized securities account of its own for children. The state pays in €10 a month from age six until their 18th birthday. It is not the same as the child allowancewhich flows into the parents’ securities account, but rather a second, separate building block.
How the Frühstartrente works in practice, who is eligible and what the €10 can grow into is set out in detail on our Frühstartrente page.

Table of contents

  1. What is the Frühstartrente?
  2. The difference from the child allowance
  3. What €1,440 can grow into
  4. What happens at 18
  5. Two examples
  6. Frequently asked questions

What is the Frühstartrente?

A securities account in the child’s name into which the state pays €10 a month. The idea behind it is simple and quite old: anyone who starts saving at six has sixty years ahead of them, and over sixty years compound interest turns small amounts into large ones. The subsidy is tied to no income and no own contribution. It is paid for every eligible child, regardless of whether the parents make provision themselves. That sets it apart from every other subsidy in this system.
Do parents have to pay anything in as well? No. Unlike the basic allowance and the child allowance, there is no minimum own contribution. Payments of your own are possible but not a condition.

The difference from the child allowance

The two components have similar names and are constantly mixed up. They work in fundamentally different ways, though.
Frühstartrente (early-start pension for children) child allowance
Whose securities account the child’s the parents’
Amount €10 a month up to €300 per year per child
Own contribution required no yes, at least €300 a year
Period from age 6 to the 18th birthday as long as there is an entitlement to child benefit
Available from the child’s retirement age the parents’ retirement age
Families can receive both at the same time. One does not rule out the other, and anyone using both routes builds up two pots for two generations in parallel.

What €1,440 can grow into

Over twelve years, €1,440 of state money accumulates. That sounds like little. What matters, though, is not the sum but the time this money still has ahead of it.
Assumption Balance at 18 Balance at 67
4% per year around €2,100 around €14,400
5% per year around €2,100 around €23,000
6% per year around €2,100 around €36,500

Model calculation excluding costs and taxes, €10 a month from age 6 to 18, then left untouched until 67. Figures rounded.

The difference between the three rows is striking. A single percentage point of return changes the outcome over six decades by more than a factor of two. The choice of investment therefore carries more weight in a child’s securities account than in any other contract. A safety-oriented product is almost always the wrong choice here, because an eight-year-old can sit out any conceivable dip in prices.
If parents top up: An extra €25 a month over the same twelve years triples the amount paid in. At a 6% return, the securities account would hold around €128,000 at 67 instead of €36,500.

What happens at 18

The state subsidy ends on the 18th birthday. The securities account remains in place and can carry on, from then on as the young adult’s regular Altersvorsorgedepot (Germany’s state-subsidized retirement investment account). The transition is interesting. Anyone starting out in a job who takes out their own contract can also claim the career starter bonus of €200, provided the contract is taken out before their 25th birthday. Whether this bonus also applies to a continued Frühstartrente has not yet been finally clarified.

Two examples

The Lorenz family; their daughter Mia turns six in 2027. Mia receives €10 a month from the state for twelve years. Her parents add nothing. At a 6% return and with the securities account left untouched, there will be around €36,500 on her 67th birthday, without the family having paid in a single euro.
The Nowak family, two children, both parents working. They use everything in parallel: two Frühstartrente accounts for the children, plus a €300 own contribution in the mother’s securities account for the full child allowance of €600. The outlay is €25 a month, the state contribution comes to €990 a year.

Frequently asked questions about the Frühstartrente

At what age does the subsidy begin?At six. It ends on the 18th birthday.
Can parents pay in as well?Yes. Payments of your own are possible and have a very strong effect over the long term. They are not mandatory.
Can the child access the money at 18?No. This is retirement provision; the capital is tied up until retirement age.
What about children who are already older than 6 in 2027?They receive the subsidy from 2027 until they turn 18. The period is shortened accordingly.
Does the Frühstartrente replace a children’s securities account?No, it complements it. A free securities account remains available at any time; the Frühstartrente is tied up but subsidized in return.
Where do you apply for it?Through a provider that offers the product. For the market launch on 1 January 2027 it is not yet settled which firms will take part.
What should you take away? €1,440 of free money with sixty years ahead of it. Here the outcome is decided by the choice of investment, not by the contribution.

Last updated: July 2026. Sources: BMF, German federal government, Bundestag printed paper 21/4088, Deutsche Rentenversicherung.

Keep calculating and reading

Frühstartrente calculator — project the €10 state contribution plus your own top-up through to retirement age.

Related content: Altersvorsorgedepot for families.

All terms at a glance: Glossary from A to Z.

Official sources and further information

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