ETF Sparplan vs Riester vs Altersvorsorgedepot 2027

You set up a €200-a-month ETF Sparplan, felt quietly proud of yourself, and then read the headline: Riester is being scrapped and replaced by a state-subsidised ETF pension from 2027. Now the quiet pride has curdled into doubt. Is your plain, unsubsidised savings plan leaving free government money on the table? The honest answer is "it depends" — and, unusually for a finance question, it depends on numbers you can actually work out. This guide does the math across all three routes so you can stop guessing.

TL;DR

The state subsidy is real money, but it is not free — you repay part of it through a full income-tax bill on every euro paid out in retirement, and (for Riester) through a guarantee that caps your returns.
Riester loses to a plain ETF Sparplan for most single, childless earners: its ~3% guaranteed-net return can't overcome a global-equity ETF's long-run ~6%, even with the Zulage.
The 2027 Altersvorsorgedepot fixes Riester's fatal flaw — it lets the subsidised money sit in a 0%-guarantee ETF, so you keep both the growth and the subsidy.
On a like-for-like €54,000 of your own money over 30 years, the subsidised depot came out ~€13,000 ahead of a plain ETF in our worked example — and further ahead once children's Zulagen are added.
A plain ETF Sparplan still wins on flexibility: it's the only one of the three you can touch before age 65.

KEY-STAT: 27 March 2026 — the date the Bundestag passed the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz, confirming the Altersvorsorgedepot for a 1 January 2027 start

The three options, in plain English

Before the math, get the three products straight — because the 2026/2027 status of each one is changing under your feet.

A plain ETF Sparplan is an automated monthly purchase of a global index fund inside an ordinary brokerage account. No state subsidy, no lock-up, only your investment gains are ever taxed. If you're new to this route, our ETF Sparplan starter guide walks through opening one.

Riester is the old state-subsidised private pension: you get cash Zulagen and a tax deduction, but the contract must carry a 100% guarantee on your paid-in capital, which forces low-return safe assets. It is closing to new business on 31 December 2026 — existing contracts continue. We cover its wind-down in detail in is Riester Rente still worth it in 2026.

The Altersvorsorgedepot is Riester's successor, enacted by the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz that the Bundestag passed on 27 March 2026. From 1 January 2027 it lets you hold ETFs inside a subsidised pension wrapper and — crucially — choose a 0%, 80%, or 100% guarantee. The 0% variant is essentially a plain ETF Sparplan with a government top-up bolted on.

The subsidy that bends the math

Here is the case for the subsidised route, in real numbers.

Riester pays a Grundzulage of €175 a year plus a Kinderzulage of €300 a year per child born from 2008 (€185 for older children), with contributions deductible up to €2,100 a year under §10a EStG.

The Altersvorsorgedepot is more generous on the base subsidy: the state adds 50 cents per euro on your first €360, then 25 cents per euro up to €1,800 of your own contribution — a maximum Grundzulage of €540 a year. The Kinderzulage is 100% of your own contribution, up to €300 per child, and you may pay in up to €6,840 a year per depot.

KEY-STAT: €540 — maximum annual base subsidy (Grundzulage) in the 2027 Altersvorsorgedepot — over three times Riester's €175

Note

The child subsidies are where the real leverage sits. A two-child household that puts in a modest own contribution can pull well over €1,000 a year of Zulagen into a depot — a return boost no plain ETF can match, because the government is effectively co-investing.

The three drags nobody puts next to the subsidy

Subsidy comparisons love the numbers above and quietly omit the three things that claw value back.

Guarantee drag. Riester's 100% nominal guarantee forces the provider into low-yielding safe assets, historically netting roughly 2–4% a year after costs — against a global-equity ETF's long-run ~6–9% nominal. Over decades, that gap dwarfs the Zulage. The Altersvorsorgedepot's 0%-guarantee option removes this drag entirely.

Fees. Traditional Riester contracts carry acquisition and administration costs of roughly 1–2% a year, compounding against you for the life of the plan.

The payout tax. This is the big one. Subsidised pensions use nachgelagerte Besteuerung — taxed in retirement, where 100% of every payout is taxed at your personal income-tax rate. A plain ETF taxes only your gains. Part of your shiny Zulage is, in effect, a loan against a future tax bill.

Warning

Never compare the subsidy against nothing. The right comparison is subsidy minus the full income tax you'll pay on the subsidised payout, minus any guarantee and fee drag. Do that, and "free money" sometimes turns out to cost more than it gives.

How a plain ETF is actually taxed

To keep the comparison fair, price the ETF route honestly too. German investment gains face Abgeltungsteuer of 25% plus 5.5% Soli = 26.375%, but equity funds get a 30% Teilfreistellung, dropping the effective rate to about 18.46%. You also get a €1,000 tax-free Sparerpauschbetrag each year (€2,000 for couples), and you pre-pay a little tax annually via the Vorabpauschale (2026 base rate 3.20%). The headline: only your gains are taxed, and at roughly 18% — versus 100% of a subsidised payout at your full rate.

The break-even: the same €150/month of your own money, for 30 years

Below is the whole argument in one table. Each option gets the same €1,800 a year of your own money (€150/month) for 30 years — €54,000 out of your pocket. The subsidy is extra where it applies. Figures are rounded and illustrative for a single earner with no children; assumptions are noted underneath.

Option	Your money in	State subsidy added	Assumed net return	Gross pot at 30 yrs	Tax at payout	Net in hand
Plain ETF Sparplan	€54,000	€0	~6%	~€142,000	~€16,000 (gains only, ~18.5%)	~€126,000
Riester (classic, guaranteed)	€54,000	~€5,250	~3%	~€94,000	~€23,000 (full payout, ~25%)	~€71,000
Altersvorsorgedepot (0% guarantee)	€54,000	~€16,200	~6%	~€185,000	~€46,000 (full payout, ~25%)	~€139,000

Assumptions: €150/month own contribution for 30 years; ETF and depot grow at 6% nominal, Riester at 3% after guarantee and fees; ETF taxed only on gains at ~18.5%, subsidised products fully taxed at a 25% retirement rate; Zulagen as per 2026 Riester / 2027 depot rules for a single childless earner. Real returns, fees and tax rates vary — treat this as a model, not a promise.

Read the bottom line, not the gross pot. Old Riester loses to a plain ETF — its guarantee caps growth so hard that the €5,250 Zulage can't rescue it. But the Altersvorsorgedepot's 0%-guarantee variant beats both: it grows at the same 6% as your ETF, and the €16,200 of compounded subsidy stays ahead even after the full payout tax.

Where the subsidy wins

Two situations tilt the math decisively toward the subsidised depot.

You have children. The Kinderzulage is a percentage boost on a small own contribution — free money that compounds for decades. A parent's break-even against a plain ETF arrives far sooner than the single-earner table above.

You're a high earner now, expecting a lower rate in retirement. Nachgelagerte Besteuerung becomes an arbitrage if you deduct contributions at a 42% marginal rate today and pay tax on the payout at 25% later. The bigger that gap, the better the subsidised route looks. This is the same deferral logic that makes private pensions attractive to high earners generally.

Where the plain ETF Sparplan still wins

Liquidity, and the freedom to change your mind. The subsidised pots are locked until at least age 65, and if you exit the subsidy early you repay the Zulagen. A plain ETF Sparplan is reachable any Tuesday — for an emergency, a house deposit, or the day you leave Germany and want your capital to come with you.

A single, childless earner with a flat tax profile. No children means no Kinderzulage leverage; no big drop in retirement tax rate means no deferral arbitrage. In that case the plain ETF's ~18% effective rate and total flexibility are hard to beat, and the subsidy's edge shrinks toward noise.

Tip

For many people the answer isn't one or the other. A common approach is to fund the subsidised depot up to the point the Zulagen and tax deferral are maximised, then route everything above that — and your emergency-reachable money — into a plain ETF Sparplan.

Compare subsidised pension and Altersvorsorgedepot products

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So which builds more?

On raw growth of a like-for-like contribution, the ranking in our model is: Altersvorsorgedepot (0% guarantee) > plain ETF Sparplan > Riester. But "builds more" only settles the arithmetic. Whether the depot's extra €13,000 is worth locking your money away until 65 is a call only your own timeline, family, and tax rate can make. The route that generally suits people who value flexibility above the last few thousand euros is the plain ETF; the route that generally suits families and high earners with a long horizon is the subsidised depot. The 2027 detail is still bedding in, so watch the provider terms as they launch.

FAQ

Is Riester dead?

For new contracts, effectively yes — it closes to new business on 31 December 2026. Existing Riester contracts keep running and keep their Zulagen; you're not forced to move.

Can I move my Riester into the Altersvorsorgedepot?

The reform anticipates transfers, but the mechanics and any cost depend on your provider's terms once the depot launches in 2027. Check the specific conditions before switching anything.

Is the Altersvorsorgedepot just an ETF with a subsidy?

The 0%-guarantee variant is close to exactly that — a subsidised, tax-deferred wrapper around ordinary ETFs — but with a payout locked to age 65+ and full taxation on the way out, unlike a free brokerage account.

Do I pay tax twice?

No. On the subsidised route you skip tax on contributions and pay it on payouts (nachgelagerte Besteuerung). On a plain ETF you invest already-taxed income and pay only on gains. Each euro is taxed once — the question is when, and at what rate.

What if I leave Germany?

A plain ETF Sparplan travels with you as ordinary assets. Subsidised pensions have residency and repayment conditions on the Zulagen — a real consideration if you might not retire in Germany. Compare this alongside a private Rentenversicherung, which has its own exit rules.

Can I have both a depot and a plain ETF Sparplan?

Yes — and for many savers that combination is the point. Nothing stops you running a subsidised depot and an unsubsidised ETF Sparplan side by side.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or insurance advice. Compare options via licensed intermediaries such as Check24 or Verivox.