The Entnahmeplan in practice: Auszahlplan products versus selling ETF units yourself, order of sales and the FIFO effect

What you will learn

• Which product forms exist in Germany for regular payouts: bank Auszahlplan, ETF-Entnahmeplan at a broker and manual sales.
• How to set the order of sales so that each withdrawal also rebalances the portfolio.
• How the FIFO rule decides which units you sell and why the oldest units carry the largest taxable gain.
• How a second Depot lets you choose the gain share of a sale, and why this defers rather than removes tax.

Explanation

An Entnahmeplan (also Auszahlplan) is the mirror image of a savings plan: instead of buying units regularly, you sell them regularly and have the proceeds paid out. Three ways to run it exist in Germany, as of 2026; check current conditions with your provider.

Bank Auszahlplan. A fixed-interest product: you deposit a lump sum, the bank pays a fixed monthly amount for a fixed term, either with capital consumption (Kapitalverzehr, the balance reaches zero at the end) or without (only interest is paid). It is simple and predictable but offers no real-return protection and locks the money. It fits the cash bucket of lesson 5 or a short bridging period (lesson 8), not a forty-year retirement.

ETF-Entnahmeplan at a broker. Many German online brokers and robo-advisors offer automatic sales: you choose an ETF, a payout amount (for example €1,500) and an interval from monthly to yearly; the broker sells the matching number of units, often including fractions, and transfers the cash. Execution fees range from zero to a percentage of the payout depending on the provider, plus the spread. Advantages: discipline, no decision each month, cash arrives like a salary. Disadvantages: the plan sells the same fund regardless of which position is overweight, usually only whole-fund selections per plan, and you cannot time sales around year-end tax allowances.

Selling yourself. Quarterly or yearly manual sales of a larger amount give control over three things: which fund to sell, how large the gain share is, and when the sale falls in the tax year. The cost is that you must act, including in a crash, and keep a cash buffer between sales. A common hybrid is a yearly manual sale that refills a cash account, from which a standing order pays the monthly "salary".

Order of sales (rebalancing by withdrawal). Each sale is a free rebalancing opportunity. Rule: sell from the asset class that is above its target weight; if everything is below target, sell proportionally; sell bonds or cash in an equity bear market. Within an asset class, prefer the position with the lowest gain share (defined below) when the rebalancing need is equal. Covered elsewhere: rebalancing bands (course ETFs, Funds & Long-Term Investing).

FIFO. German tax law treats units of the same security in one Depot as sold in the order they were bought, first in, first out (the mechanics of acquisition costs are covered in the course German Investor Taxes). In a long savings plan the oldest units were bought cheapest, so the first sales realise the largest gains. The gain share of a sale is (sale value − acquisition cost) / sale value. For equity funds, 30 percent of the gain is tax-free under the Teilfreistellung (partial exemption), so only 70 percent is taxed at the flat rate of 25 percent plus 5.5 percent solidarity surcharge on the tax, 26.375 percent in total, before church tax and before the Sparerpauschbetrag (lesson 7).

The second-Depot method. FIFO applies per Depot, and FIFO also applies to transfers: if you transfer part of a position to a second Depot at the same or another bank, the oldest units move first. You can therefore move the old, high-gain units away and sell the younger, low-gain units that remain, or the reverse. A transfer between your own Depots is not a sale and triggers no tax, and the acquisition data travel with the units. The effect is tax deferral: the old gains remain taxable whenever those units are finally sold. Deferral is still valuable, because the tax not paid keeps compounding for you, and because lesson 7 shows years in which a larger gain can be realised almost tax-free. Check transfer fees and processing times with your broker; both vary.

Worked example

Hypothetical example: one global equity ETF, three purchase lots in the same Depot, price today €120 per unit. Fees, spreads and the Sparerpauschbetrag are excluded; church tax is ignored.

The retiree needs €36,000 this year, so 300 units are sold.

Case 1, FIFO in one Depot: 300 units of lot A are sold. Cost 300 × €30 = €9,000; gain €36,000 − €9,000 = €27,000; gain share 75 percent. Taxable after Teilfreistellung: 0.7 × €27,000 = €18,900. Tax: €18,900 × 26.375 percent = €4,984.88. Net cash: €31,015.

Case 2, lots A and B transferred to a second Depot beforehand: only lot C remains, so 300 units of lot C are sold. Cost 300 × €90 = €27,000; gain €9,000; gain share 25 percent. Taxable: 0.7 × €9,000 = €6,300. Tax: €6,300 × 26.375 percent = €1,661.63. Net cash: €34,338.

The difference of €3,323 this year is not saved for ever; the €18,000 of extra gain stays in lot A and will be taxed when sold. But three things are gained: the €3,323 remains invested, the retiree can spread the old gains over years with unused allowances, and if units are later inherited or gifted the acquisition cost carries over, so timing can still matter. To raise the same net €34,338 under case 1, the retiree would have had to sell about 332 units instead of 300, which is the real cost of FIFO in the first years of withdrawal.

Common mistake

Practice activity

On paper: an equity ETF trades at €80. Lots in one Depot: 500 units bought at €20 (2012) and 500 units at €65 (2023). You need €20,000. (a) How many units must be sold? (b) Gain, gain share and tax under FIFO (Teilfreistellung 30 percent, 26.375 percent). (c) Same, if the 2012 lot had been transferred to a second Depot first. (d) What is deferred, not saved?

Key takeaways

• Bank Auszahlplan: fixed and short-term; broker ETF-Entnahmeplan: automatic and convenient but blind to markets; manual sales: full control, more effort.
• Use every sale to rebalance: sell what is overweight, and bonds or cash in an equity bear market.
• FIFO sells your oldest, cheapest units first, so early withdrawals carry the highest gain share and tax.
• A second Depot lets you choose which lots to sell; it defers tax and preserves flexibility, it does not cancel the tax.

Next step

Lesson 7 completes the tax picture of withdrawals: the gain share, using the Sparerpauschbetrag, the Günstigerprüfung in retirement and health insurance on capital income.