Overview
- A pensioner must repay about €84,600 after courts found gross negligence for concealing a long‑standing accident pension, and the Federal Social Court rejected his appeal, making the judgment final.
- The DRV’s Rentenatlas 2025 reports stark regional gaps in average pensions after 35 insurance years, with Saarland at roughly €1,805, Thuringia at about €1,572, and a national average near €1,692, alongside marked gender differences.
- With the removal of trust protection on 1 January 2026, severely disabled claimants can draw an unreduced pension only at 65, and earlier access from 62 carries permanent deductions of 0.3% per month, up to 10.8%.
- A technical change folds a previously separate supplement into the pension from December 2025, affecting income tests for survivor benefits and taxation; the DRV says the income‑test impact will be applied from 1 July 2026 and does not expect massive immediate cuts.
- Retirement timing continues to shift by cohort: parts of the 1960 birth year reach the regular age of 66 years and 4 months in 2026, 1963 cohorts can first use early retirement at 63 with about a 13.8% cut given 35 years, and the 45‑year pathway allows earlier, deduction‑free exits at rising ages.