Money & Finance
Banks, taxes, salary, investing, and money transfer. The decisions that affect every paycheck you earn in Germany, from your first Girokonto to your annual Steuererklärung.
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Latest in Money
33 articles
German Mortgages (Baufinanzierung) for Expats: How They Work (2026)
How German mortgages differ from what you know, the long fixed-rate periods, the equity banks expect, and why non-residents face stricter terms.
Buying Property in Germany as an Expat: The Real Process (2026)
Whether foreigners can buy property in Germany (yes), the heavy purchase costs that catch people out, the notary-centred process, and what you actually need.
Gift and Inheritance Tax in Germany: What Expats Owe (2026)
How German gift and inheritance tax works, the generous tax-free allowances by relationship, the rolling 10-year rule, and when your worldwide assets are caught.
Getting Your German Pension Contributions Back When You Leave (2026)
Whether you can reclaim the pension contributions deducted from every German payslip, the strict non-EU rules, the 24-month wait, and why EU citizens cannot.
Side Income and Second Jobs in Germany: The Tax Rules (2026)
How a side hustle or second job is taxed in Germany, when you must register and declare it, the tax-class-6 trap, and what your main employer can and cannot say.
The Kleinunternehmer Rule: Germany's Small-Business VAT Exemption (2026)
How the small-business rule lets you skip charging VAT in Germany, the turnover limits, the trade-offs against regular VAT status, and who it suits.
Freelance Invoicing and VAT in Germany: The Basics (2026)
What a German freelance invoice must contain, when you charge VAT and when you do not, the quarterly VAT return, and how to stay on the right side of the Finanzamt.
Repaying a Foreign Student Loan from Germany (2026)
How to keep paying off a home-country student loan while living in Germany, the currency and transfer angle, the tax-deduction question, and how to plan it.
Cost of Living in Germany: Budgeting as an Expat (2026)
What life in Germany actually costs, the big-ticket items that dominate your budget, the gross-versus-net trap, and how to build a realistic monthly plan.
Emergency Fund in Germany: How Much You Really Need (2026)
How big an emergency fund expats in Germany should hold, why the strong safety net changes the maths, the extra buffer foreigners need, and where to keep it.
Savings Accounts in Germany: Tagesgeld and Festgeld (2026)
Why your money earns nothing in a German current account, the difference between Tagesgeld and Festgeld, how deposits are protected, and where to actually earn interest.
Church Tax in Germany (Kirchensteuer): How to Opt Out (2026)
Why you might be paying a church tax you never knowingly signed up for, how the 8-9% surcharge works, how to leave the church and stop it, and what you lose.
Steuerberater vs DIY: How to Do Your German Taxes (2026)
Whether to use a tax adviser or file your own German taxes, what each costs, which situations genuinely need a Steuerberater, and the cheap apps in between.
The German Tax Return: Deductions That Get Your Money Back (2026)
Why most employees in Germany get a refund, the deductions you are probably missing, how to file simply, and the deadlines that decide whether you owe or are owed.
Salary Bands in Germany: What Your Role Really Pays (2026)
How to find out what a job actually pays in Germany, why gross-versus-net changes everything, the regional and sector differences, and how to benchmark your worth.
Iranians in Germany: Banking and Money Under Sanctions (2026)
Why opening accounts and moving money is harder for Iranians in Germany, how sanctions affect transfers, and the practical workarounds that stay compliant.
US Citizens in Germany: Tax, FATCA, and Double Filing (2026)
Why Americans in Germany file taxes twice, how FATCA affects your bank account, and the treaty mechanisms that stop you actually paying tax in both countries.
Sending Money from Germany to Pakistan (2026)
The cheapest ways to send money to Pakistan from Germany, why the Roshan and remittance channels matter, real costs, and the bank checks large sends trigger.
Sending Money from Germany to the Philippines (2026)
The cheapest ways to send money home to the Philippines from Germany, real costs compared, peso delivery options, and the bank checks large remittances trigger.
Stuttgart for Expats: Banking and Money in the Auto Hub (2026)
Why Stuttgart's economy shapes expat money differently, what its high salaries meet in high rents, and how to set up banking in Germany's engineering capital.
Sending Money TO Germany: Inbound Transfers Done Right (2026)
How to move money into Germany without losing a chunk to fees and bad exchange rates, what banks flag, and the cheapest routes for funding your life here.
Crypto Tax in Germany: The One-Year Rule (2026)
Why Germany taxes crypto unusually well, the one-year holding rule that makes long-term gains tax-free, and the records you must keep to prove it.
Riester and Rürup: Germany's Private Pensions Explained (2026)
What the Riester and Rürup pensions actually are, who each one suits, the tax breaks and subsidies, and why expats who may leave should think twice.
Investing in Germany: ETFs, a Depot, and the Sparplan (2026)
How to start investing in Germany as an expat, what a Depot and a Sparplan are, the broker options, and the capital-gains tax that takes a fixed cut.
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