How much is the German disability pension in 2026?

The amount depends on your earnings points, the credited period, the reduction and the type of reduced earning capacity. Example: with 30 earnings points and the onset of full reduced earning capacity at age 50, the credited period adds around 15 earnings points. After the 10.8% reduction, at a pension value of €42.52 this gives about €1,700 gross per month. A partial disability pension is half as much. The average disability pension is considerably lower because many people previously had gaps or low incomes.

What is the difference between full and partial reduced earning capacity?

You have full reduced earning capacity if, due to illness or disability, you can work less than three hours a day on the general labour market for the foreseeable future. Partial reduced earning capacity means you can work three to under six hours (§ 43 SGB VI). The full pension has a pension type factor of 1.0, the partial one 0.5. If you have partial reduced earning capacity but no suitable part-time job, you can still receive the full pension — the so-called labour market pension.

What is the credited period (Zurechnungszeit)?

The credited period treats you as if you had continued paying contributions after the onset of reduced earning capacity up to a certain age — at the average of your previous contributions. For pensions starting in 2026 it ends at 66 years and 3 months (§ 253a SGB VI). It rises gradually and reaches age 67 for pensions starting from 2031. The earlier the reduced earning capacity begins, the larger its share of the pension.

How high is the reduction on the disability pension?

For each month the pension starts before your 65th birthday, the access factor drops by 0.3%. Because a pension starting before 62 is treated as if it started at 62, the reduction is at most 36 months × 0.3% = 10.8% (§ 77(2) no. 3 SGB VI). With 40 years of contribution and credit periods, the reduction only applies if the pension starts before 63 (§ 77(4)). The reduction also carries over to the later old-age pension as far as it is based on the same earnings points.

How much can I earn on top of a disability pension?

In 2026 you may earn €20,763.75 per calendar year alongside a full disability pension (3/8 of 14 times the reference value of €3,955). For a partial disability pension the limit is at least €41,527.50 — or higher if you earned well in the last 15 years before the onset. If you exceed the limit, 40% of one twelfth of the excess is deducted from the monthly pension (§ 96a SGB VI). Note: with full reduced earning capacity your working time must still stay below three hours a day.

Is the disability pension time-limited?

Usually yes. Disability pensions are granted for a maximum of three years and can be extended (§ 102(2) SGB VI). A time-limited pension is only paid from the seventh calendar month after the onset. It becomes permanent if improvement is unlikely — this is assumed after nine years of time-limited payments at the latest. The gap until the pension starts is often bridged by sickness benefit or unemployment benefit.

What is left net from the disability pension?

Compulsorily insured pensioners pay 7.3% health insurance plus half of the additional rate and 3.6% care insurance (4.2% if childless) on the disability pension, just like old-age pensioners. For a €1,700 pension that is about €210 per month. The pension is also taxable at the taxable share of the start year — 84% in 2026. As long as the pension is your only income, little or no income tax is often due.

What happens to the disability pension at the regular retirement age?

When you reach the regular retirement age, the disability pension ends. A regular old-age pension is then paid automatically, without a new application (§ 115(3) SGB VI). It is based on at least the previous personal earnings points (§ 88 SGB VI) — so the reduction of the disability pension remains, but so does the credited period. The earnings limits no longer apply once you receive the old-age pension.

Earning Money on a Disability Pension in 2026: Limits and Offsetting | Disability Pension Calculator

Working while receiving a disability pension

Many people receiving a disability pension want to keep working within their capabilities — for a daily routine, contact with colleagues or the extra income. That is allowed. Since 2023 the limits have been considerably more generous than before. For 2026 they look like this.

The 2026 earnings limits

The limits are set out in § 96a SGB VI and are linked to the social insurance reference value (Bezugsgröße), which is €3,955 per month in 2026.

Full disability pension: three eighths of 14 times the monthly reference value, i.e. 3/8 × 14 × €3,955 = €20,763.75 per calendar year.

Partial disability pension: 9.72 times the monthly reference value, multiplied by the earnings points of your best calendar year in the last 15 years before the onset, but at least six eighths of 14 times the reference value, i.e. €41,527.50.

For the partial pension this means: if your best year brought up to about 1.08 earnings points, the minimum limit of €41,527.50 applies. With 1.2 earnings points it is 9.72 × €3,955 × 1.2 = €46,131.12.

The limits apply per calendar year, so it does not matter if you earn more in some months and less in others. Additional earnings include wages, income from self-employment and comparable income. For the partial pension, certain sickness benefit is counted as well. Care allowance that you receive as a carer does not count as long as it does not exceed the care allowance amount.

What happens if you exceed the limit?

The pension does not stop completely. Instead, one twelfth of the excess amount is deducted from the monthly pension at a rate of 40% (§ 96a(1a) SGB VI).

Example, full pension: Mr K. receives a full disability pension of €1,800 and earns €25,000 a year. He is €4,236.25 over the limit. One twelfth of that is €353.02, and 40% of that is €141.21. His pension drops to €1,658.79. Together with his earnings he still has considerably more than without the job.

Example, partial pension: Ms L. receives a partial disability pension of €850.50 and earns €45,000 a year. The limit is €41,527.50. The deduction is €3,472.50 ÷ 12 × 40% = €115.75, so the pension is €734.75.

Only when the deduction reaches the full pension is the pension no longer paid. The entitlement itself remains and revives when your earnings fall.

Caution: working hours matter more than money

The earnings limit only concerns the amount of money, not the extent of work. If you receive a full disability pension because you can work less than three hours a day, you should actually stay below three hours a day. Anyone who regularly works more risks the pension insurance reviewing the reduced earning capacity and withdrawing the pension. For the partial pension the corresponding threshold is six hours.

Ideally, talk to the pension insurance before taking up work. You have to report additional earnings anyway.

What is left of the extra income

On wages from employment you pay the usual social security contributions. Pension contributions increase your old-age pension later on. For tax purposes, pension and wages are added together, which can make a pension that would have been tax-free on its own taxable. The net pension calculator shows how additional income affects your tax.

Calculate your limit

Enter your planned annual earnings in the disability pension calculator. The chart shows from which amount your pension drops and by how much. For partial reduced earning capacity, also enter the highest earnings points of one year from the last 15 years — you will find them in your insurance record.

Earning Money on a Disability Pension in 2026: Limits and Offsetting

Working while receiving a disability pension

The 2026 earnings limits

What happens if you exceed the limit?

Caution: working hours matter more than money

What is left of the extra income

Calculate your limit

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