Hi,

At present, I have "Das Junge Konto" at Deutsche Bank. As I have started my Job, I would like to open a Savings Account. Does any one know which Bank has the best savings account (interest rates,etc.. )? and advantages, disadvantages in opening a savings account...

Thanking you,
N

I know of one, but you can't get money directly out of it with a card because there's no card given :-) It's the American Express Bank (www.amexbank.de), I'm with them since 2 years now and they offer a 3% interest rate per month (which you can't get elsewhere). But it is mainly an online account, so you have to transfert money from your Amex account to your "Normal" account if you want to use money from there.

D.

Just seen that they are at 1.5% pa now, I think they changed, but I still get a 3% per month (maybe they kept that way for older customers).

D.

BTW It's the Online Daily Cash

Hi,

check www.1822direkt.de

this one is good - its online bank - offers good interest plus sparkasse card - its part of sparkasse frankfurt.

regards

Hello NoBody,
it's 3% p.a not month. check it out :-)

Cheers
Raghu

Hi Raghu,

that's what I said in my second message, they switched it to a year cyclus, but I had and still have one of 3% per month.

D.

:-)

3% per month - they would be crazy to give 36% per annum - so you mean you get 3600 euro per annum for every 10000 - :-)

cool..... :-)

3% per month is 36% per year

somehow hard to believe

DvD

it was joke of the day....

hey nobody, don't mind - i just cant stop laughing on your miss-typing.....

hello Nagananda (hope you are from India),

I would say the best way to open a savings account is opening a ICICI NRI bank account in India. They offer you around 3.5-4.5 % based on different schemes.
They have an understanding with Case Manhattan bank in Frankfurt and if you want to transfer money to ICICI you can just transfer to CASE MANHATTAN and they will transfer it to India free of charge.So the transfer is Kostenlos.

Moreover you can open a joint account with your mother's name and transfer a fixed amount every month. In this case you can show this account as the money sent to your mother and claim it in the Tax Returns.

Good luck in savings..
chandra

About the AMEX online bank.
Which product do you use? I checked it out, it isn't 3%, probably I checked the wrong one .
thanks.

Hi Chandra,

Thank you very much for your information.
You wrote "Moreover you can open a joint account with your mother's name and transfer a fixed amount every month. In this case you can show this account as the money sent to your mother and claim it in the Tax Returns."

I do not know the procedure how to claim Tax returns :-( could you explain me how to get Tax returns ?

Thanking you,
Nagananda

Hi Nagananda,

when you fill your tax papers, you have the right to design one person in your home country to whom you could have sent money for living. This person has to solely be a member of your family, not a friend or someone you know or deal with (for me, it's my mother).
You then have to give a proof of all the money sent to this person (I usually use the Western union coupon I receive when sending the money) and you also have to submit a proof that the person did took the money (for this I give copies of receipt taken by my mother).
And it can be the case that you have to also submit a proof that this person needs this money for living. Normally there's no such proof, at the best of my knowledge, but you can deal with it as I did (won't tell how).
And on all this money, you can have some tax returns and it's always good to have some money in return, isn't it? :-)

D.

@NoBody, @Chandra, others

I am working here for the last two years and till now I have not sent any money back home. For this year 2004 I want to send some money say 5000 Euros and to claim some tax back. I was to Finanzamt and they said I need to give them "Bedürftigkeits-Bescheinigungen" from my country which in my case is India.

Do you know any of these documents. Do you think it is possible to claim some tax back if I send the money in the end of this month or I need to send it every month. How moch money can we send to our relatives every year.

Thanks in advance
Sunny

Hi,

Of all the money they cut from our salary, like the following, which are the ones that we can get back. How do we apply and where ? (I mean there is any special name of the form for this ) I am completely new to this because I started my Job just some months back.

1. Summe Lohnsteuer
2. Krankenversicherung
3. Rentenversicherung
4. Arbeitslosenversicherung
5. Pflegeversicherung
6. Anteil Arbeitnehmer

Thanking you,
Nagananda

Hi Nagananda,

You can get some money back from '1. Lohnsteuer' when you make your tax declaration, basically "Werbungskosten", and "Unterhalt" if you are an employee.

You may get '3)Rentenversicherung' back when you leave germany if you spend less than 5 years here.

For the rest, this is what you get:

2. Krankenversicherung, you get it "back" everytime you go to the doctor.

4. Arbeitslosenversicherung, you "may" get it in the form of support for one year if you loose your job (Arbeitslosengeld). That is if 1) your ABH gives you a visum for this time period, and 2) you have contributed over the last 12 months.

5. Pflegeversicherung, this is for the case that you become "Pflegebedürftig" that means that you can not care for yourself.

regards,
-a

You may get '3)Rentenversicherung' back when you leave germany if you spend less than 5 years here.

I don't know about other countries but, it's not true in case of Indians i.e., an Indian will get Rentenversicherung (only his part but, not the employer contribution) even after 5 year(last week I was BFA berater).

this is because, Indian govt. and German govt. don't have an agreement regarding the Pension funds transfer. (this is quite sad)

May be we got to contact NRI minister in this regard

Cheers
Raghu

sorry for the mistake

last week i was by BFA Berater

Hello Raghu,

It is same for everyone... no one will get 100% pension returns.. Only your contribution will come back.. I had a discussion with Bfa people..

Srikanth

Hi,
I think it is better the Indian government does not make any pact with the German government. With an average life period of 62 years for an indian male i dont see the posibility of enjoying my pension after 65 years!!! It is better we can claim back whatever amount possible and have an early retirement in india. I hope my fellow indians agree in this regard.

Cheers
Rajesh