Number format: this calculator uses German notation throughout — a comma is the decimal separator and a dot groups thousands. “1.234,56” means one thousand two hundred thirty-four euros and fifty-six cents. The figures come from German tax law, so they are shown the way German authorities write them.
Annual escalation (Dynamik)
An annual percentage increase in the savings instalment, so that you put more aside as income grows.
In plain language
Escalation means your savings instalment rises by a fixed percentage every year. It sounds like a detail but it is the most effective lever there is — more effective than a slightly better interest rate. The reason is simple: over the years you simply put more money aside, and at roughly the rate at which your salary usually rises.
In detail
Escalation is not a statutory figure but a contractual arrangement: at the start of each further year the instalment is raised by the agreed percentage. It works in two ways — through the higher payment itself and through compound interest on those payments, the second effect being the smaller one because the increases arrive late and therefore work for a short time. When comparing two savings plans it matters not only to place the closing capital side by side but also the sum of the payments: an escalating plan delivers more because more went in, not only because it calculated better.
Worked example
200 € a month at a nominal 5 % with monthly compounding over twenty years: without escalation 48.000,00 € is paid in and 82.206,73 € comes out. With 3 % annual escalation the payments are 64.490,40 € and the closing capital 105.202,04 €. Of the additional 22.995,31 €, some 16.490,40 € comes from higher payments and 6.504,91 € from the interest on them.
In brief
From the second year onwards the instalment is raised by the escalation rate at the start of the year.
Legal basis: contractual agreement · as at 2026