Is voluntary supplementary pension insurance worth it in Slovenia? (2026)

Voluntary supplementary pension insurance (PDPZ) is one of the few ways to save in Slovenia where the state gives you part of the money back through your income tax. In 2026 you can pay in up to 5.844% of your gross salary with tax relief, at most €3,224.18, and depending on your salary you get back between 16% and 50% of what you paid in.

Whether it pays off for you depends on three things: how much you earn, whether you will really leave the money until retirement and how much your provider charges. All three are worked out below with 2026 figures.

We checked the data between 16 and 21 October 2026 in the fund rules, price lists and websites of all seven providers, with providers by email, and in the ZPIZ-2 and ZDoh-2 acts.

How the tax relief works

What you pay into PDPZ is deducted from your annual income tax base. Because you pay tax on a lower amount, you get part of the payment back. How much depends on your marginal tax rate, the rate at which the last euro of your salary is taxed.

Three rules apply:

• The cap is 5.844% of gross salary, and in 2026 no more than €3,224.18 a year (ZDoh-2, Article 117).
• The employer’s premium counts first. If your employer already pays into a collective supplementary scheme for you, only the difference up to the cap is left for individual insurance. Public sector employees are the exception and can use the individual relief in full.
• The deadline is the last working day of December. What counts is the day the money reaches the pension account. Anything that arrives in January counts towards the next year.

How much you get back by salary

Maja earns €2,000 gross a month. With tax relief she can pay in up to €1,403 a year, or €116.88 a month. Her marginal rate is 26%, so the state gives her back about €365 in income tax. Saving €1,403 really costs her around €1,038.

Calculation: 2026 income tax scale, general allowance, 23.1% employee contributions, 12 salaries without holiday pay, no child allowances and no employer premium. At €1,500 the extra general allowance makes the tax refund move more than in the other rows, so treat that figure as a rough guide.

The relief grows quickly with salary. At around €1,500 you get back a sixth of what you pay in, at higher salaries a third or more. In the top 50% bracket you get back half, but the €3,224.18 cap limits the amount.

What is new in 2026

On 1 January 2026 the pension act amendment ZPIZ-2O (Official Gazette of the RS, no. 90/2025) came into force. For PDPZ savers it brings several important changes:

• Lower management fee. A provider can charge at most 0.9% of your savings a year, and from 1 January 2027 at most 0.8%. The limit used to be 1%.
• Up to €12,000 at retirement. At retirement you can take up to €12,000 as a lump sum without having to buy a pension annuity.
• The annuity no longer has to be for life. You can also choose an annuity for a fixed period.
• Withdrawal on a disability pension or terminal illness is now possible before retirement.
• An heir can transfer the savings to their own account and keep saving. According to Triglav, the 1% exit costs and the 25% advance income tax, which is final, are charged here too, just as on a withdrawal.
• Collective insurance for more employees. Employers with more than 10 staff must reach an agreement on collective supplementary insurance for their employees by the end of 2027.

What it costs at each provider

The law sets upper limits on all costs: entry costs up to 3% of each payment, exit costs up to 1% of the payout and up to €15 for a transfer to another provider. That is why costs are very similar across providers and the differences are mostly in the details. According to Triglav and Generali, in practice the transfer fee is paid by the provider you move to, not by you.

Sources: fund rules and cost pages of each provider, checked 16 October 2026. "Law" means the provider does not publish a separate amount and the legal maximum applies (ZPIZ-2, Article 260). Triglav (20 October 2026) and Generali (21 October 2026) confirmed the 0.9% fee for 2026 (0.8% for 2027) and the transfer fee practice by email. Triglav publishes a request form for a free transfer of savings to it; the tax on a transfer to an heir is as explained by Triglav (23 October 2026). Generali's entry costs are from its key legal information document for KPS LEON 2.

What does that mean in euros? If Maja pays in €1,403 a year, 3% entry costs come to €42 a year. Once she has €20,000 in the account, the 0.9% fee will cost her €180 a year. Next to €365 of income tax back, costs are small in the first years, but over time the fee on a growing balance becomes the biggest cost.

Since providers differ little on costs, how well they manage the money matters more. When choosing, look at fund returns over the last five years or more, not just the last year. One good year says little. Each provider publishes its returns on its website.

Which fund to choose

Most providers have three funds with different risk: a dynamic fund (mostly shares), a balanced fund and a guaranteed fund (mostly bonds, with a guaranteed return). Providers automatically suggest a fund based on your age, an approach called the life cycle:

• up to about age 50 the dynamic fund, because you have enough time before retirement to ride out falls,
• between 50 and 60 the balanced fund,
• in the last years before retirement the guaranteed fund, so you don’t lose part of your savings just before withdrawing them.

Age limits differ slightly between providers. If you are younger and in the guaranteed fund, it is worth checking whether that was really your choice. Over 25 years the difference in returns can be large, which you can try out in the investment calculator.

The catch: the payout

The relief is not a pure gift but partly a tax deferral. Tax you don’t pay now is partly paid at payout. How much depends on how you take the money.

A pension annuity at retirement. This is the regular way to be paid and the best one for the saver. Only half of the annuity counts towards the tax base, and your tax rate in retirement is usually lower than while working. This is where the relief really pays off.

A lump sum at retirement. Since 2026 you can take up to €12,000 at once at retirement. Before deciding, check with your provider how such a withdrawal will be taxed in your case.

Withdrawal before retirement. With individual insurance you can withdraw at any time, but it is the most expensive route:

• you pay exit costs of up to 1%,
• 25% advance income tax is withheld from the payout and then settled in the annual tax assessment,
• if fewer than 10 years have passed since you started saving, an 8.5% insurance transaction tax is added.

With an early withdrawal you lose most of the tax benefit you received while saving. If there is a good chance you will need the money sooner, PDPZ is not the right choice.

When it pays off and when it doesn’t

PDPZ most likely pays off for you if:

• your salary is in the 26% or higher tax bracket (gross salary above about €1,800 a month),
• you will really leave the money until retirement,
• your employer doesn’t already pay a collective premium up to the cap,
• you want saving to “discipline” you, because the money can’t easily be spent on something else.

It pays off less if:

• you have a low salary and are in the 16% bracket, since you only get back a sixth of what you pay in,
• you have no emergency fund. Build a reserve for at least 3 to 6 months of expenses first, and only then save for retirement,
• you will probably need the money in the next 10 years, for example for a home deposit,
• you want full control over your money and access at any time.

PDPZ or ETFs through an INR

The most common alternative is investing in ETFs, since 2026 also through an individual investment account (INR). A rough comparison:

The two don’t exclude each other. A common combination is to pay into PDPZ as much as gets you the full relief and invest the rest in ETFs. How ETFs are taxed is explained in How ETFs are taxed in Slovenia, and where an INR is cheapest in the INR comparison. If you are still deciding whether to invest at all, read Saving or investing.

In short

PDPZ pays off mainly if you earn enough for the 26% tax bracket and will really leave the money until retirement. Then you get back a quarter to a third of what you pay in, and if you take it as an annuity only half is taxed. Because of the legal limits, costs are similar at all providers, so long-term fund returns matter more than costs when choosing. If you want the relief for 2026, the money has to be in the account by the last working day of December.

Unfamiliar terms are explained in the financial glossary.