German early retirement pension age reform (EM-Rente) and Zurechnungszeit, Digi Mart USA News: Anyone who can no longer work sufficiently for health reasons may be entitled to a disability pension under Section 43 of the German Social Code Book VI (SGB VI), and payments can begin at a relatively young age. For this reason, the attributed time credit, known as Zurechnungszeit, plays an important role in the calculation.
Under Section 59 SGB VI, insured persons are treated for a legally defined period as if they had accumulated additional pension-relevant periods. For disability pensions starting in 2026, the attributed time extends to age 66 years and three months.
The gradual increase is regulated in Section 253a SGB VI.
On September 4, 2026, the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) pointed to a possible conflict. If the future statutory retirement age were fixed only five years before it is reached, it could still be unknown when a disability pension begins.
A person who becomes incapacitated at age 55, for example, would have twelve years left until today’s statutory retirement age of 67, and any later adjustment would not yet be binding at the start of the pension.
The legislator would therefore need to determine which age limit should apply to the attributed time in the future. The core legal conflict is that a disability pension starting before a new age limit is finally set could be calculated under a different legal standard than pensions for people born in the same year who begin receiving benefits later.
The pension insurer considers uniform treatment desirable. However, this does not mean that disability pensions already granted will automatically be reduced or recalculated in the future, and the statement explicitly does not imply such consequences.
An important distinction must be observed in the discussion. The attributed time is governed by Sections 59 and 253a SGB VI and, under current law, does not end automatically at each individual’s statutory retirement age.
A reform would therefore need to state explicitly whether and how the attributed time is linked to a new adjustment mechanism. That precise legal coordination remains open.
For people who currently receive or apply for a disability pension, the existing calculation rules continue to apply. The recommendations of the pension commission do not change this.
Only a new law could introduce different age limits or a modified calculation of the attributed time.
Source: Position of the Federal Board of the DRV Bund on the recommendations of the Retirement Security Commission (Alterssicherungskommission).
