The pension adjustment notice: what it contains
Every summer, all pensioners in Germany receive a letter from the pension insurance: the pension adjustment notice. It shows how your pension changes on 1 July. Many people file it away unread, yet a closer look is worthwhile. This article explains the key figures and what to look out for.
The key figures at a glance
The notice compares your pension before and after the adjustment. It typically contains:
- the previous and the new monthly pension amount,
- the adjustment rate, 4.24 percent in 2026, and the new current pension value of €42.52,
- your health insurance contribution, split into the general contribution and the additional contribution,
- your long-term care insurance contribution,
- the payment amount actually transferred to your account.
Your earnings points do not change with the adjustment. They reflect your working life and are fixed. Only the value they are multiplied by is new.
Gross pension, contributions and payment amount
The difference between the pension and the payment amount is the health and care insurance contributions. An example for 2026: a pension of €1,563.62, with the average additional contribution of 2.9 percent and with children:
- health insurance: 7.3% + 1.45% = 8.75%, i.e. €136.82
- long-term care insurance: 3.6%, i.e. €56.29
- payment amount: €1,370.51
Income tax does not appear in the notice. No wage tax is withheld from pensions; whether tax is due is only decided with the tax return. More on this in the article Does the pension increase make you liable to tax?.
What to look out for
1. Is the additional contribution correct? It must match your health insurer's rate. If your insurer raises its additional contribution, it applies to pensioners only after a two-month delay.
2. Is the care insurance contribution correct? Childless people aged 23 and over who were born after 1939 pay 4.2 instead of 3.6 percent. If you have children but still pay the surcharge, the pension insurance usually just lacks the proof. Send it in.
3. Is the increase correct? The gross pension must rise by exactly the adjustment rate. For survivors' pensions, the payment amount may differ because of income offsetting. The article Survivor's pension after the increase explains why.
4. Are your bank details correct? The notice is a good opportunity to check quickly.
When the notice arrives and what you need to do
The notices are sent from June onwards; it can take until July before every pensioner has received theirs. You do not need to apply for anything: the adjustment is automatic. The notice is a formal decision. If you think it is wrong, you can lodge an objection within one month of receiving it. That is worthwhile for errors in your personal details, such as the care insurance contribution. An objection against the pension value itself, on the other hand, has no prospect of success, because it is set by ordinance.
Keep the notice. It is a convenient proof of your current pension amount, for example for housing benefit, rental agreements or your tax return.
Conclusion
A quick check of the pension adjustment notice takes only a few minutes and can be worth real money. Check the figures with the pension increase calculator. The guide German pension increase 2026 and 2027 gives a full overview of the 2026 increase and the 2027 forecast.