Overview

• The Finance Ministry’s draft for the Aktivrente sets a tax‑free allowance of 2,000 euros per month on earned employment income for people working past the statutory retirement age, while CDU voices push for 3,000 euros or a stacking of the allowance with the basic tax‑free amount.
• From 2026 the age threshold for the large widow’s pension rises to 46 years and 6 months, and income counting continues to use an annually updated Freibetrag tied to the July pension value; the tax relief under the planned Aktivrente would not change this social‑law calculation.
• The government’s Mütterrente 3 draft credits 36 months of childcare per child from 1 January 2027 with mass reprocessing and retroactive payments planned for 2028, which can reduce survivors’ pensions and means‑tested benefits because higher own pensions count as income.
• Official modelling points to a pension adjustment of about plus 3.37 percent from July 2026, with the final figure to be set in spring 2026 once wage data are available.
• BMAS figures show more than one quarter of retirees with at least 45 insurance years receive under 1,300 euros a month, with notable regional and gender gaps, underscoring pressure on reform design and financing.