New in Germany, or in a first job here: what to set up first

4 min read · Updated 3 November 2026 · Written for English speakers dealing with money in Germany

Your first payslip already pays into a pension. Set up the basics, then look at the gap the state pension leaves while it's still cheap to close.

On this page

  1. Set up the basics
  2. Know your pension starts now
  3. Decide what staying means
  4. Your pension gap

  1. Set up the basics

    A tax ID, a bank account and health insurance come first: your employer needs all three.

    Health insurance. Chosen before your first working day.

    It's compulsory. Below an income threshold you join a public insurer of your choice; above it, private cover becomes an option too. Choosing your cover.

    Liability insurance (Haftpflicht). Not compulsory, but cheap.

    It pays for damage you cause to others. Here, liability for it has no upper limit.

    Tax-free savings income. €1,000 a year, €2,000 for a married couple.

    File an exemption order (Freistellungsauftrag) with your German bank, so it deducts no tax on interest and dividends up to that amount.

    Already have children? Kindergeld isn't automatic for a newcomer.

    EU, EEA and Swiss citizens generally wait three months after moving; everyone else's claim turns on the residence permit held, and payments are never backdated more than six months. Who qualifies, and when.

  2. Know your pension starts now

    Employees pay 18.6 % of gross pay in 2026, half from you and half from your employer. Every year earns pension points.

    Five years is the minimum. Years in other countries can count.

    No old-age pension without at least five years of contributions or credits (§ 50 SGB VI). Years in the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK and countries with a social security agreement, such as the US, Canada and Japan, are added together to reach them.

    Your employer's pension. Ask HR what's on offer.

    Every employee paying into the state pension can ask to convert up to €4,056 a year of pay into a workplace pension in 2026 (§ 1a BetrAVG). The employer adds 15 % where it saves contributions.

  3. Decide what staying means

    For good, a few years, or not sure yet? It changes which pension, insurance and savings choices make sense.

    Your German pension stays yours. Paid abroad too, from pension age.

    What you've earned is paid wherever you live. A refund of your own contributions instead is possible only in some cases, after 24 months outside German insurance, and it ends every claim (§ 210 SGB VI).

    Long lock-ins. Check they fit if you might leave.

    Some products pay out only in retirement, such as a Rürup pension, and many private pension policies cost most if you stop early. Know before you sign whether you'd still want them abroad.

Your pension gap

The check-up in our guide to planning for retirement works out what the state pension leaves on your own pay, and what closes the gap.

The other life stages

Primary sources checked on 26 October 2026: the statutes and official pages linked above.

Keep reading on this

Kindergeld for Foreigners in Germany

The three-month wait for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, the permit-based test for everyone else, how much is paid and for which children, and the six-month limit on backdating a claim.

Money as a Couple in Germany: Tax and Cover

Tax as a couple, the cover you can share and what stays separate, what protects a partner, and two incomes and two pensions planned together.

Having a Baby in Germany: Money Checklist

The first-weeks deadlines, Elterngeld and its €175,000 limit, Kindergeld in 2026, the baby's health insurance, liability and life cover, a will and a guardian, and saving in a child's name.

Everything above is general. For advice on your own situation, you can ask for an English-speaking financial planner in Germany. They agree their fee with you before they start. You pay us nothing. If you go ahead with them, they may pay us a referral fee. What they pay never decides who your request goes to.

General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. A financial plan turns on details — your income, your family, and where you will live in ten and thirty years, and none of that can be judged from an article. A licensed professional who knows your situation can tell you what applies to you.