Early-Start Pension or your own ETF savings plan?
Note: The Early-Start Pension is only planned so far (key points 17 Dec 2025, intended start retroactive to 1 Jan 2026). No law has been passed yet.
Many parents looking into the planned Early-Start Pension quickly ask an obvious question: do I even need this if I already run an ETF savings plan for my child? The short answer: they are two different tools, each with its own strengths – and for many families they complement each other.
Before you decide, it is worth looking at the orders of magnitude. The Early-Start Pension calculator shows you what the state funding plus optional top-up can produce by retirement. For a freely funded ETF savings plan, our ETF savings plan calculator helps you.
The strengths of the Early-Start Pension
- Money from the state: 10 euros a month that you do not have to provide yourself.
- Very early start: Funding from age six, i.e. with maximum compounding time.
- Planned tax advantages: Returns are to remain tax-free during the saving phase, and private top-ups from 18 are to be tax-advantaged.
The disadvantages
- Fixed lock-up: The capital is tied up until the standard retirement age. Before retirement, neither child nor parents can access the money.
- Little flexibility: The investment form and rules are set by the legislator; the choice is not yours.
- Legal uncertainty: The law has not yet been passed, and many details are open.
The strengths of your own ETF savings plan
- Full flexibility: You choose the ETF, savings rate, and term yourself and can adjust at any time.
- Availability: The money is generally accessible – for education, a driving licence, or the first flat, not only at retirement.
- Transparency: Costs and investment are known and comparable.
The disadvantages
- No state funding: Every euro comes out of your own pocket.
- Tax: Returns are generally subject to capital gains tax, even if allowances help.
- Discipline required: What is available at any time is also more easily dissolved early.
Why the combination is often the most sensible
The fixed lock-up of the Early-Start Pension is at once its biggest disadvantage and its biggest advantage: it prevents early access and thus secures the long investment horizon. A flexible ETF savings plan, on the other hand, covers the needs that arise before retirement. Combining both uses the state funding for the very long term while keeping flexibility for the medium term.
Run both routes side by side once: start with the Early-Start Pension calculator and then compare the result with a self-chosen ETF savings plan. That way you see in black and white what each building block can contribute to your child's provision.
Conclusion
It is not an either-or. The Early-Start Pension brings – if it arrives as planned – state money and tax advantages for the very long term, while an ETF savings plan offers flexibility and availability. For many families, combining both tools is the rounded solution. As long as the law has not been passed, however, the Early-Start Pension remains a planned building block that you should not yet firmly rely on.