Don't forget your German pension contributions!

Germany is a country, where many people from all over the world are coming to. They study or work here for several years. The famous and big German companies are constantly looking for international experts. Besides the strong working market, Germany has an outstanding social security system, which helps people in different situations, e.g. illness, unemployment or old age. But many people, who are working or who worked in Germany don´t know about the contributions they personally pay into that social security system. Fundsback helps people to bring back the biggest part of this paid contributions, which is the pension contributions to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (almost 10% of the cross salary). This mostly unknown possibility is actually given in many cases.

We spoke to Rosanna Tam from Hong Kong. She lived and worked in Germany for some years.

Fundsback: Hi Rosanna, thank you very much for taking some time for our interview. It is a pleasure for me to talk to you today. You have worked in Germany for several years and now you are living in Hong Kong. Please tell us something about your time in Germany. What did you like most? And what do you love about Hong Kong?

Rosanna Tam: I like working in Germany as they respect the importance of work life balance. Germany has many good wine and beer which are not expensive. There are many interesting cities in Germany which worth a visit.
I love HK, it’s a tiny little city, but you can get everything you need easily. We have a lovely night harbour view, we can reach country side and beaches within 30 minutes. We have many 24-hour services like food, entertainment to cater different people’s needs.

Fundsback: Could you tell please why you decided to come to Germany and where and in what position you worked in Germany?

Rosanna Tam: I was working in a German company in Hong Kong. I moved to Germany (Leverkusen) to work as SAP Consultant as part of my personal development plan arranged with my former boss.

Fundsback: Germany is a very good organized country and people from abroad, who move to Germany, have many questions in all matters of living and working here. Many expatriates need help during their stay. There are websites which help expatriates during this time. Do you know websites like that?

Rosanna Tam: No, I was not aware of these websites, lucky I have some very nice and helpful colleagues in Germany who gave me a lot of support during my stay.

Fundsback: Do you think they are useful?

Rosanna Tam: Yes of course they are.

Fundsback: These websites help people who are planning to go to Germany or who still live in Germany to organize their life. We as Fundsback we want to help people too. But we try to help people who will leave or still have left Germany. Helping people is our profession, which we love. And that is why we decided to be a reliable partner of all people who need us. After returning to Hong Kong you decided to bring back your pension contributions from the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung). How did you hear about the possibility that Non-EU citizens, under certain conditions, can get their pension contributions refunded?

Rosanna Tam: I learn about that from another Asian colleague who has worked in Germany before.

Fundsback: Do you think all people from abroad, who are working in Germany, are informed about the possibility of getting back their own paid pension contributions?

Rosanna Tam: I don’t think so.

Fundsback: We see a huge requirement for professional advice and we wonder why people need help to communicate with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung. Do you think the entire process, the required forms and the needed documents are transparent and easy to understand for everyone?

Rosanna Tam: From my experience with various Germany government departments during my stay, it’s not easy to communicate effectively with them especially you don’t speak good German. There was no clear instruction or list of items that you need to submit to them in order to handle your request. And it’s time consuming to deal with them.

Fundsback: You contacted Fundsback to manage the complicated process of the application until the reimbursement of the pension contributions to your account. How did you get notice of Fundsback?

Rosanna Tam: I came across Fundsback when I was searching in internet for information about getting back my pension fund.

Fundsback: What convinced you to become a Fundsbacker?

Rosanna Tam: I believe there are many people similar to me who needs hazel free professional support to get their refund.

Fundsback: Please tell us something about your experiences during the whole process?

Rosanna Tam: While getting ongoing update from Fundsback about the chasing and following up with Deutsche Rentenversicherung, I am glad that I don’t need to experience these hazels directly.

Fundsback: After six months working time on your case you received a message from Fundsback. How was your feeling when you realized that the money will be transferred immediately to your bank account?

Rosanna Tam: I felt released knowing it’s end of the process.

Fundsback: What would you recommend your friends who worked or who are still working in Germany?

Rosanna Tam: I will suggest to my friends who are not fluent German speaker to hire a middleman like Fundsback to support them to get back their pension contribution.

Rosanna, thank you very much for your time.

Fundsback is a German service company helping foreign employees getting their paid pension contributions reimbursed from the German Pension Insurance Association.
With our long lasting experience, the right networks and the necessary expertise, our team assists employees during the complex reimbursement procedure regarding accumulated pension contributions left behind in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Fundsback
German Pension Contribution Service uG
Schiffgraben 43
30175 Hannover
Germany

Telefon: +49-(0)511 898 444 20
Fax: +49-(0)511 898 444 21

Homepage: https://www.fundsback.org
Mail: info@fundsback.org

This release was published on openPR.