Can I get the Riester allowance for every private pension?

No. You cannot receive Riester subsidies for every private old-age provision. Only old-age provision contracts certified by the Federal Insurance Supervisory Office are eligible for funding. The following requirements apply for certification:

• Start of pension: The payment must not start before the age of 60 or the legal pension.
• Payout: Payments must be made in the form of a constant or rising annuity; for new contracts, a one-off payment of up to 30 percent is also possible. A life-long pension guarantee must be in place for 85 years and older.
• Guarantee of contributions: At the beginning of the pension phase, at least the contributions paid in plus allowances must be available.
• Distribution of costs: For contracts concluded from 2005 onwards, acquisition costs must be spread evenly over at least five years. For older contracts, a limit of ten years applies.
• No transferability: A Riester contract cannot be assigned or transferred to others. Security: The capital saved may not be pledged or lent.
• Transparency: Providers must inform savers annually of the retained acquisition, distribution and administrative costs. Even in the event of a contract change, the associated costs must be disclosed.
• Unisex tariffs: Women and men pay the same premium for newly concluded contracts.

These certification criteria only indicate which old-age provision contracts can be promoted. However, certification is not a seal of approval for the quality of a Riester contract.