Bauspar-Check: Why Your Old Contract is Often a Money Brake Today

"Bausparen is safe," they used to say. But in today's financial world, many old contracts are more of a losing business due to high fees and meager interest rates. It's time for an honest assessment.

The Fairy Tale of the "Safe" Interest Rate

Many Bauspar contracts in German folders date back to a time when interest rates were completely different. The problem today: credit interest rates are often a meager 0.1% or 0.25%. When you factor in the closing fees and annual account management fees, your savings actually shrink in real terms – even before inflation hits.

The Cost Trap: Closing Fee

A Bauspar contract often costs 1% to 1.6% of the total Bauspar sum as a closing fee. For a sum of €50,000, that's directly €500 to €800 that needs to be earned back first. With current interest rates, this often takes decades.

When Does Bausparen Still Make Sense?

Bausparen is not a savings product, but a bet on rising loan interest rates in the future. It's only worth it if you definitely plan to build or modernize in the foreseeable future and want to secure today's low mortgage rates for later. As a pure savings model, it's almost always unsuitable today.

What You Should Do Now

Dig out your contract. Look at the last statement: What is the effective interest rate after deducting fees? As your fiduciary (Sachwalter), I support you in the analysis and am liable for the correctness of my assessment. If you don't specifically plan to use the loan, it's often more sensible to make the contract premium-free or to cancel it and invest the money more profitably.