Starshollow

Yes, that would be it ---but there are no banks offering that in Germany. There are 1-2 "foundations" which will kinda purchase your house, offer you life-long living rights plus some ongoing pension payments, but it is all rather complicated and not even close to what is being offered in other countries to this regards. Cheerio  

calling @PandaMunich ...   Cheerio

any ongoing periodontal disease will usually lead to a rejection of an application  by private health insurance companies, sorry... too late for that now.   Cheerio  

if you go back to public health insurance - which can be a viable option indeed - just make sure you'll turn your existing private health insurance into an "Anwartschaft" in the process of giving notice. That way and for a small monthly fee only you can get back into private health insurance without additional health check-ups or additional health-risk-costs at a later point in time in case you'll find out that private health insurance is actually the better choice. Especially for the children, I would also advise looking into the questions whether any orthodontic treatments could be coming up in the next years as the public health insurance offers only scant to no coverage for that and you'd be needing to fork out some serious money if you don't have private coverage for that.   Cheerio  

So, it seems that around 389k US-nationals around the world have received some unpleasant letters from the IRS that their US passport might become revoked due to tax debts.   Read more about this here: https://www.internationalinvestment.net/news/4005562/us-start-revoking-passports-american-expats-tax-debts?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=New%20Newsletter%20-%20Special%20Report%201&utm_campaignid=6026&utm_cmdid=123483 Since we are specialized in offering financial/investment advice to US Expats who live in Germany, we do also have an excellent network of tax advisors who are specialized in assisting such clients with their US-taxation issues. Happy to help if you want... :-)   Cheerio  

You are lucky that they consider you NOT to be a teacher but rather a consultant. There is a lot of definition-grey-zone in these areas and some people are then caught on the wrong side of it and have to pay into the pension like teachers and others don't Count yourself truly blessed by this... and still don't forget to build up your own adequate provisions for pensions/retirement, right ?   Cheerio  

It is a sad truth that the consumer protection in Germany is still on the level you would expect from a third world country rather than a leading OECD country (and I  am probably insulting a large number of so-called 3rd world countries in this comparison, too).   I am glad you got out of the health insurance issue, which was already a really criminal act on behalf of the salesperson, and the RIESTER plan.  Without having seen any of the letters you have received claiming now commissions or something from you, I am fairly certain that they have no leg to stand on, legally speaking.  Particularly since the woman who sold you this basically admitted to her fraudulent behaviour with the acceptance to pay back your damages.   What I would suggest unless you'd be willing to involve the Honorarberater once more again and front his fees in order to reclaim them later from the culprits, is that you take these letters to the next/closest Verbraucherzentrale. they can offer you advice and even write back to those crooks on your behalf for a very small fee..and have an inherent interest to do so.   If you like, you can PM me your contact info and I'll give you mine so that you can send me copies of the letters you have received to give it a glance.   Cheerio  

I usually don't beat my drum here on Toytown (providing loads of good information and content is usually sufficient enough anyway :-) ) but if you like to get some advice on this, just click on the "contact me" link below and I'll be happy to assist you like we did with many employers past and present. And here is a link to our website where you can find some presentation for employers about the benefits of company pension schemes: https://www.crcie.com/employer-hrm/ Cheerio  

no, they won't pay this no-claims bonus to you, neither in full nor pro-rata. In all such contracts, there is a clause that the bonus will only be paid out if you are still a client at the point when it is due. Since that is usually around May/June with most insurance companies, anyone who switches by the turn of the year (either by giving normal notice or giving special notice due to increase in premium) will always lose out on the next bonus payment.   Cheerio  

it is fairly simple, actually. What you should do for your employees are two things, actually: - offer them a decent company pension scheme (they have a right to join one anyway, might as well make it something good that binds them even more to you) - offer them those company paycard systems where you can put in tax free up to 40 EUR a month. this here in one of those providers that offer excellent services to this regards: https://www.spendit.de/spenditcard/   Cheerio  

This here is the reference/comment section under a paid advertising of an excellent tax advisor for Expats. Please scroll down to the actual forum and post your question there...

if and when your gross salary falls below the legal threshold, you'll be compulsorily insured in public health insurance. I.e. you MUST go there. Should you plan on going back later to private health insurance, it would be wise to set up a so-called "Anwartschaft" which lets you back at the same prices (and without additional health risks) later anytime.   Cheerio PS: the legal threshold in 2020 will be a gross salary of 62.550 EUR per year or 1/12 of that per months. If your monthly salary drops below that threshold, you'll be forced to move to public insurance right away. 62.550 Euro 62.550 Euro 62.550 Euro

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for starters, please try to understand the different ways and means to set up an income protection for folks residing here in Germany. You can read a lot of good info here on our website: https://www.crcie.com/insurance/income-protection-insurance/overview-income-protection-insurance-germany/   A Dread Disease insurance (Schwere Krankheitenversicherung) has a number of pros as compared to a occupational disability insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung). Yet it also has drawbacks, such as that the Dread Disease "only" pays out a lump-sum once. if the money is gone/spent and you still have no other source of income, you might find yourself up a certain river without a certain tool at hand... Generally speaking: the BU (occupational disability insurance) covers the highest imaginable risk. It, therefore, provides the highest amount of coverage, which also means consquently it is the more expensive one in comparison. The SKV (or DD, dread disease) covers a large number of ailments and diseases and thus your statistical likelihood of actually getting a pay-out is much higher. But it is not concerned with whether you'll recuperate in full later and get back to working/generating income in any way or form.   Therefore I would indeed strongly advise to get very qualified and experienced advice on this topic, especially since understanding the small print in the competing insurance offers is imperative for a real comparison of costs and benefits and that is something even most "normal" insurance intermediaries will faill to do properly because it is a very special area of expertise.   Cheerio