Return in the terminal: higher contributions, harder pension rules!

Return in the terminal: higher contributions, harder pension rules!

Österreich - On Tuesday, Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer presented the double budget for the 2025/26 in the National Council, which provides for far -reaching savings and reforms, especially in the pension area. One of the nuclear measures will be the introduction of an e-card fee from November 2026, which will particularly charge pensioners. In addition, health insurance contributions will increase from 5.1% to 6% from June 1, 2025, which will bring considerable financial burdens for many pensioners.

The pension reform aims to create incentives for longer work. As part of this reform, the heavy work regulation for nursing professions is expanded, so that nursing staff can retire under certain conditions from the age of 60. At the same time, the access age is raised to the corridor pension, and the necessary months of contribution are also increasing, which makes the conditions difficult for an early retirement. In addition, retirement salute is reintroduced, which means a uniform regulation for all Austrians.

Financial effects on pensioners

The budget also provides relief measures: the social security refund for retirementists should be increased, and the recipe fees will be frozen by 2026. But here too there are changes such as reducing the upper limit of the recipe fees from 2% to 1.5% and the introduction of a maximum limit for drug costs. Nevertheless, social associations and senior citizens' representatives fear additional financial burden on recipients of low and medium pensions, despite the planned compensation payments. For example, a pensioner with a monthly gross gross of 1,500 euros from June 2025 will have to pay around 162 euros more to health insurance contributions.

The new pension system also includes a “partial board” that enables older workers to continue working while they are already in retirement. This will come into force from 2026 and is designed without limitation of the additional earnings. In addition, the necessary insurance years for the corridor pension are increased from 40 to 42 years and the access age is increased from 62 to 63 years.

demographic change and labor market

The reforms are a reaction to demographic change, which is considered a decisive challenge for Austrian prosperity. Economic Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer emphasizes the need for more healthy years of life to result in more years of working. Against this background, tax incentives are to be created that make the continued work more attractive after the regular pension age.

The pension area will contribute to budget consolidation as part of the budget plan by 2031 at 2.9 billion euros. Despite the extensive measures, there are concerns about financial burdens for future pensioners. The fiscal council has already published a critical report on the sustainability of the pension system, which calls for further measures. The current reform has been seen as the largest pension reform for 20 years in terms of creating a sustainable pension system.