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Important changes
- 2000 untätigkeitsklage filed in 2025 against LEA (Ausländerbehorde) for taking too long to decide on German citizenship applications. [1] If your application is stuck for more than 10 months, this law firm is filing Untätigkeitsklage for FREE.
- Pension reform proposed by Merz has passed without amendments. The reform stabilizes the pension level at 48% of average wages until 2031. Read more about the pension reform in our last week's newsletter.
- 2026 budget has passed. More on it later.
- You can withdraw cash from grocery stores like Rewe, Edeka, etc., without making a purchase. The proposal needs formal approval by the European Parliament and the Council. [2]
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Germany 2026 budget highlights
- Total spending: €524.5 billion
- Debt: €180 billion
- Interest payments on debt: approximately €30-34 billion
Key areas where the government is investing
- Infrastructure: Approximately €58.3 billion is allocated from the main budget and a similar amount from the special €500 billion fund. The investment will be used to expand electric vehicle charging stations, modernize rail, and upgrade the road network.
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Defense: €108 billion
- Personnel salaries: €24.7 billion
- Operations & Maintenance (barracks, facilities): €11.3 billion
- Equipment & Procurement (weapons, munitions): munitions (€12.6 billion ), IT/cyber (€2.5 billion), artillery/drones/armor for Ukraine aid (€11.5 billion).
- Other: cyber hub (€40 million) and research/culture (€7.4 million)
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Climate and Energy: €82 billion
- €33 billion: Funds renewables, energy efficiency in homes, hydrogen tech, and transport upgrades.
- €49 billion: Supports grid expansion and energy infrastructure.
- Social Housing: €2.65 billion for affordable housing development and social infrastructure.
- Research and Innovation: €17.1 billion for digitalization initiatives and artificial intelligence.
How much budget is spent on social security?
€197.4 billion is allocated to social security. It's 38% of the total budget. It was €184 billion in 2024.
- Pension Insurance: €128 billion goes to the statutory pension system to maintain stability as the population ages.
- Basic Security in Old Age/Disability (Grundsicherung): €12.3 billion - supplements for low pensions.
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Citizen's Income (Bürgergeld): €51 billion
- €28 billion core benefits
- €13 billion housing costs
- €4.7 billion job integration.
What does this mean for you?
- As an investor, investing in defense companies in the near term is lucrative.
- Portion of the budget contributing towards social security is increasing. This is unsustainable. Hence, a premium increase is inevitable for the next 5 years. Moreover, if you are under 50, take retirement planning seriously.
- German debt is increasing rapidly. Unless the investments deliver the returns the government expects, the Euro's devaluation is inevitable. Diversify your investments and cash outside Europe.
- Health insurance premiums will increase again in 2026. Insurance companies will announce the premium increase soon. If your insurer increases the premium, you have the special right to terminate the contract. You can switch to an insurer with a lower premium. We have built a calculator you can use to estimate your savings potential.
- Eligibility criteria for social security benefits (Elterngeld, Bürgergeld, etc.) will become tougher in the near future.
Sources: 1, 2, 3
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Webinar on how to start a business in Germany
A clear and practical session for anyone planning to launch a business in Germany. We’ll walk through the
- Basics of getting started
- How to register a business and the costs involved
- Common mistakes new founders make
- What new founders need to know about taxes in Germany
- Accounting basics
The webinar is designed to give you a solid overview of the essentials so you can begin your startup journey with confidence.
Can’t join live - register anyway. We’ll send you the full recording after the session.
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AfD’s 12-Point Reform Plan
Weidel presented the AfD’s “emergency program”—a 12-point plan. She claims that the plan can be
- implemented immediately with Union support,
- it can save €150 billion annually,
- boost GDP growth to 3%, and
- restore sovereignty.
Here is what the 12-point reform plan looks like.
- Border Closure: Reintroduce immediate border controls, turn back all illegal entrants, and deploy the Bundeswehr if necessary.
- Mass Deportations: Organize charter flights to deport 500,000 failed asylum seekers and criminal foreigners annually, with no exceptions.
- End Energiewende: Halt all new subsidies for wind and solar, and restart nuclear plants within 12 months.
- Flat Tax Revolution: Implement a 25% flat income tax and abolish inheritance and wealth taxes to stimulate capital investment.
- Bureaucracy Purge: Eliminate 50% of EU-derived regulations and digitalize administration to cut costs by €30 billion.
- Pension Protection: Raise the retirement age to 67, index pensions to wages, and avoid cuts for current retirees.
- Migrant Benefits Cap: Restrict social aid to Germans and long-term residents, requiring five years of contributions.
- Education Overhaul: Prioritize German-language teaching, eliminate “woke” curricula, and focus on STEM and trades.
- Family Support: Provide €500/month child allowance and tax breaks for marriage and birth, but only for German families.
- Defense Boost: Allocate 3% of GDP to the military and introduce conscription for all 18-year-olds (men and women).
- EU Renegotiation: Opt out of migration and green pacts, and veto further financial transfers to Brussels.
- Corruption Clean-Up: Impose lifetime bans on lobbyists in government and ensure transparency in coalition deals.
You can watch the complete speech of Alice Weidel here.
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Black Friday deals for you
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C24 under BaFin's radar
BaFin has identified issues with C24 Bank's anti-money laundering and fraud-prevention measures.
What this means for you:
- If you are looking for a new bank, choose a different provider from our list for current accounts.
- If you are already a C24 customer, you don't need to take any immediate action. Your money is not at risk. However, it's always wise to be careful with online banking and follow best practices to avoid phishing scams.
We will continue to monitor the situation and inform you as the situation develops.
One of our readers also shared a bad experience with C24. C24 blocked the user's account, and they had trouble getting their money back.
We have seen this problem often with fintech banks. This is why we recommend opening at least two bank accounts: One with a traditional bank and one with an online bank.
If you have experienced any issues with C24 lately, please reply to this email and share your story.
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A Request 🙏
Reviews mean everything for online platforms, and GermanPedia is no different.
You can help us compete in Google search by leaving reviews on Google. These really (yes, really) help and are a vital part of Google's discovery and recommendation algorithms.
So, if you find what we are doing helpful, please leave a simple star rating or a short review on Google. This will help more users discover GermanPedia.
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Current Black Friday Deals
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Latest News
- Germany’s gas storage levels have declined from about 75% to 71%. It's because of the colder weather and higher gas use for power generation. This has intensified political debate, with AfD urging renewed Russian imports. [1]
- Alice Weidel delivers a fierce 21-minute Bundestag speech accusing the Merz-led coalition of driving Germany into five crises—social welfare overload, mass migration, industrial decline, energy shortages, and soaring national debt. She presented a 12-point AfD “emergency program” as a solution. Read the AfD's 12-point reform here.
- Rossmann has quit the Association of Family Entrepreneurs after the group decided to hold talks with the far-right AfD. [2]
- Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak has resigned amid a major corruption investigation. The investigation included searches of his apartment. [3]
- AfD forms new youth organization. Around 1,000 AfD members will gather on November 29, 2025, at the Messe in Gießen, Hesse, to formally establish the new youth organization. [4]
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Community Shoutouts! 📣
- SIM24* is offering a 60GB mobile data plan for 9.99€ per month.
-
C24* is offering a 75€ bonus for opening a new account. You must also transfer your existing checking account using the CHECK24 account switching service.
- Perplexity is offering a 12-month Pro subscription for free. You can sign up here.
- Google Gemini is offering a 12-month free Pro subscription to students. You can get it here.
- Join our Facebook community. Ask questions, share experiences, join webinars, and stay updated about your rights, laws, and latest changes in real time.
- Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, and Pinterest to get more insights about Germany daily.
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