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Your starting date at Fresenius
Were you 55 years of age or older when you joined us?
The results are based on the information you provide and offer a simplified overview of Fresenius occupational pension schemes. Only the general works agreements valid for you and corresponding individual contractual regulations are legally binding.
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Together with Fresenius, you can easily make provision for your retirement. With direct insurance, we create a framework for you to make your own contributions to prepare for your retirement. Why make provisions through Fresenius? Not only do you derive tax benefits and savings on social security contributions, you also receive supplementary contributions from Fresenius.
Depending on when you started your employment with us, in which company you work and at which location, you may also be entitled to an employer-financed pension.
If you are not sure which rules apply to you, you can easily find out here.
All tariff and non-tariff employees are entitled to a basic amount (“Entgeltumwandlungsgrundbetrag”) of €478.56 per year from their seventh month of employment. Part-time employees receive a proportional amount. All you have to do is to sign the direct insurance application forms. The Insurance Department will be happy to assist you with the application.
If you are entitled to collective bargaining benefits, you will receive the Fresenius supplementary contribution in addition to the basic amount when you take out direct insurance. You can find more information about the contribution levels of different Fresenius companies in the download section under “Information Sheets”. For companies in which the chemical industry collective agreement applies, the amount for full-time employees is €134.98. Together, with the basic amount, this is an additional €613.54 for your pension.
To best provide for the standard of living you would like to have in retirement, it is recommended that you contribute as much as you can to build up your pension pot. With direct insurance, you can do this. You can make contributions from your current monthly salary and/or one-off payments, such as Christmas or holiday bonus. Non-tariff employees can also convert their variable into a personal contribution. Contributions come directly from your gross salary. No taxes are collected - and depending on the amount of your contribution - usually no social security contributions. Tax and social security are only deducted from your wage after your premiums have been deducted.
Fresenius rewards personal initiative with additional supplementary contributions for employees who are entitled to collective bargaining benefits. For every €100 you contribute, the Fresenius supplementary contribution increases by a further €13 - up to a maximum bonus of €312 per year. More information about the contribution levels of different Fresenius companies is available here under “Information Sheets”.
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Basic amount
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Fresenius supplementary contribution
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Your own contribution
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Additional supplementary contribution
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Total annual contribution to direct insurance
If you pay your own contributions into direct insurance, you save taxes and social security contributions. This is because your contributions are deducted directly from gross salary. A total of €3,624 (2024) can be paid into direct insurance free of tax and social security contributions per year - including the basic amount and all Fresenius supplementary contributions. In addition, you can contribute a maximum of €1,800 tax-free from your own contributions.
Tax and social security are only deducted from your salary after your direct insurance premiums have been deducted. The deduction therefore reduces your taxable and contributory income. As a result, in net terms you do not pay the full contribution, but approximately half. Taxes and social insurance contributions only become payable upon payout.
The basic amount, Fresenius supplementary contributions and your personal contributions are paid into direct insurance. This is a special type of life insurance. Fresenius has chosen Allianz as its partner. Thanks to a group contract, you benefit from particularly favourable conditions.
You decide whether the investment of your contributions should be adventurous or cautious. In the “Perspective” pension concept, your contributions are invested in Allianz's guaranteed assets. The investment strategy is therefore less susceptible to fluctuations. The fund-based "InvestFlex" and "InvestFlex Green" pension concepts offer you higher returns due to their focus on investment in shares but are in turn more exposed to the opportunities and risks of the capital markets. “Invest Flex Green” focuses in particular on sustainable funds. Both pension concepts guarantee that 90% of the amount you pay in for the old-age part of your policy is guaranteed.
In both pension plans, you are guaranteed 90% contributions for retirement benefits at the start of retirement. Depending on the development of the capital market and your chosen investment strategy, you can also benefit from participating in the surpluses generated by the insurance company or the value gain of your fund-linked investment. The guarantee level of 90% allows the insurer more freedom in investment, especially in times of low interest rates, as well as a good balance between security and potential returns.
When it comes to pension payouts, flexibility is very important. You have the flexibility to request payment from direct insurance between the ages of 62 and 75. Please note that the amount of the payment is reduced if the payment is made before reaching the standard age limit. The payout must be taxed in full. So, if you make use of the benefit while you are still working, your tax burden may increase.
90% of the amount you pay in for the old-age part of your policy is guaranteed. Through participating in insurance surpluses and positive capital market development, your pension assets will continue to grow until you retire. In the event of death before the start of your pension, your dependents entitled to benefits receive the existing retirement savings capital including benefits from profit participation in the case of security-oriented annuity insurance, or the current policy value in the case of a unit-linked contract. The benefit is paid to the beneficiary survivor as a lifelong - or in the case of children as a time-limited - annuity.
A lifelong pension or a lump sum payment? The choice is yours. There is a 10-year pension guarantee period. This means that if anything should happen to you within the first ten years after the start of your pension, the outstanding pension payments will be converted into a lifelong benefit and paid to your surviving dependants.
When paying in, you benefit from the tax advantage and the saved social security contributions. However, taxes and social security contributions apply to the payment of benefits. You then bear full contributions for health and nursing care insurance, including employer contributions, insofar as you are insured under statutory health insurance. However, you make no contributions to unemployment and pension insurance. The tax rate during retirement is, nevertheless, generally lower than during working life.
You can apply to participate in direct insurance immediately after the start of your employment at Fresenius. You can pay your own contributions. To apply, send this form with your personal details to the Fresenius Insurance department by September 15th at the latest. You will then receive your personal insurance proposal. Happy? Then send in all completed documents by September 30th. Done - Fresenius takes care of the rest.
We will be happy to check whether your insurance can be transferred within a capital transfer to our group contract partner, Allianz Lebensversicherungs-AG, and continued there under the currently applicable conditions. To do this, please contact the insurance department shortly after joining the company to give us sufficient time for processing. Alternatively, you can continue the contract privately and take out a new direct insurance policy under our group contract. The required deferred compensation amount for the payment of contributions must be established by September 30th of the current calendar year at the latest. A deviation from this deadline is only possible with a start date at Fresenius after this date; this does not apply to a possible new contract.
Are you about to retire? Please contact the Insurance Department to clarify which payment date is suitable for you and which payment option you wish to choose.
You make a saving on social security contributions when paying in your own contributions from gross salary. This saving can lead to a reduction in statutory pension benefits. However, this potential reduction in statutory benefits is generally more than compensated for by the basic amount and the performance of the contributions in direct insurance.
As with most contracts, there are administrative costs payable to Allianz for participating in direct insurance. These are already accounted for and will not be invoiced separately. Due to the favourable terms of the group agreement, the costs are significantly lower compared to taking out private insurance.
The basic amount is an annual contribution to your direct insurance. In the first year of employment, this is paid proportionately by Fresenius, since the entitlement only comes into effect after seven months. In order to get the full annual premium, the missing sum may be retained in the first insurance year from your Christmas bonus. To prevent this, you can apply to participate in direct insurance from your second year of employment onwards.
Do you have further questions about direct insurance? You can find out more here.