If you are a parent in Germany and you want to start building something real for your child, a Junior Depot (also called a Kinderdepot) is the most tax-efficient way to do it. It is a brokerage account opened in your child’s name, funded by you, and usually running a simple monthly ETF savings plan. Over 18 years, even €50 or €100 a month compounds into a meaningful sum, and the German tax system is unusually generous to accounts held by a minor.
There is one catch to understand first, because it shapes every other decision. The money legally belongs to the child. On their 18th birthday they get full, unrestricted control over the account and everything in it. That is both the biggest advantage of a Junior Depot and its biggest risk, and it matters more than the fund you pick.
I have run ETF savings plans for over a decade, and the mechanics here are worth getting right. Below is how the account works, the tax edge over investing in your own name, which German brokers to use, and the ETF I would choose for a child’s 18-year horizon.
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A Junior Depot is a normal securities account registered to your child using their name, birth certificate and tax ID (Steuer-Identifikationsnummer). Because the child is a minor, the parents act as legal guardians until the child comes of age: you choose the ETF, set the savings plan and place any trades.
The legal ownership point is not a technicality. Under German law, assets in the child’s account are the child’s property. You manage it in the child’s interest, so you are not supposed to use it as a flexible pot for your own needs, and money you pay in is generally treated as a gift to the child. When they turn 18 the guardianship ends and they can sell everything and spend it however they like. Many families are fine with this. For those who are not, a normal account in the parent’s name, earmarked mentally for the child, is the safer structure even though it loses the tax advantage. Decide this honestly up front.
The tax advantage: why a child’s account beats your own
This is the real reason a Junior Depot exists. A child in Germany has their own tax allowances, and while their investment income is small those allowances usually cover it in full.
- Sparer-Pauschbetrag (~€1,000): every taxpayer, including a child, has a saver’s lump-sum allowance of roughly €1,000 per year. Capital gains, dividends and the annual Vorabpauschale on an accumulating ETF are tax-free up to that amount. You claim it by filing a Freistellungsauftrag with the broker.
- Grundfreibetrag: the basic personal income-tax allowance (well over €11,000 in recent years) means a child with little or no other income can receive substantial investment income before any income tax is due.
- NV-Bescheinigung: because a child’s total income normally sits below the basic allowance, you can apply to their local Finanzamt for a Nichtveranlagungsbescheinigung (a “non-assessment certificate”). Give it to the broker and they pay out interest, dividends and gains without deducting the usual 25% Kapitalertragsteuer at all. This is what makes a child’s account genuinely tax-free while balances are modest, and it is an edge you cannot get in your own account.
Treat the figures above as 2026-vintage and approximate. Allowances are adjusted periodically, so verify the current Sparer-Pauschbetrag, Grundfreibetrag and NV-Bescheinigung rules on the official pages of the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern or your local Finanzamt before relying on them. If the account grows large, income can eventually exceed these allowances, so review it every couple of years.
Documentation: what you need to open one
German brokers apply strict identity and guardianship checks on minor accounts, so expect more paperwork than a standard signup. You will typically need:
- The child’s birth certificate (Geburtsurkunde).
- The child’s tax ID.
- Identification for the parents, usually verified by video-ident or Post-Ident.
- The signatures or consent of both parents. Where both parents share custody, most brokers require both to agree to opening the account and to any withdrawals. Single parents with sole custody may need to show proof of that custody.
The “both parents” requirement trips people up, so factor it in if the other parent is not easily reachable. Once open, file the Freistellungsauftrag (and ideally the NV-Bescheinigung) so the tax allowances apply from the first cent.
Free ETF savings plans from €1
The engine of a Junior Depot is the Sparplan: an automated monthly purchase of your chosen ETF. The German neobrokers have made this almost free, with savings-plan execution at €0 on a wide list of ETFs and minimums as low as €1 per month. You can start tiny, add birthday and Christmas money as one-off buys, and let dollar-cost averaging work across the full 18-year runway. Automation also removes the temptation to time the market, which over a multi-decade horizon is exactly what you want. Our ETF savings plan guide for Trade Republic walks through the setup step by step.
The best ETF for a child’s account: one accumulating all-world
For an 18-year horizon I would not overthink the fund. A single broad, accumulating, global equity ETF is the right core for almost every child’s account. “All-world” means it holds thousands of companies across developed and emerging markets, so you are not betting on one country or sector. “Accumulating” means dividends are reinvested inside the fund, which keeps compounding automatic and admin minimal, and pairs neatly with the child’s Sparer-Pauschbetrag covering the annual Vorabpauschale while the balance is small.
The usual candidates are the large FTSE All-World and MSCI ACWI UCITS trackers, with total expense ratios roughly in the 0.12%–0.22% range in 2026. I will not quote a precise TER or ISIN as guaranteed current, because providers cut fees regularly. Check the official factsheet before you buy, and to line a few up side by side use our UCITS ETF comparison tool. One fund, held for 18 years, rebalanced never: that simplicity is a feature, not a compromise.
Where to open a Junior Depot in Germany
Four brokers dominate here. The two app-first neobrokers offer the cheapest savings plans; the two established banks offer broader service. Figures are illustrative for 2026 and worth confirming on each provider’s site.
| Provider | Junior Depot? | Savings plan cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scalable Capital | Yes | Free on a wide ETF list, from €1 | App-first; large ETF universe |
| Trade Republic | Yes | Free, from €1 | Very simple app; single account per child |
| ING | Yes | Free on selected ETFs | Established direct bank; full support |
| comdirect | Yes (JuniorDepot) | Free on selected ETFs | Broad service; long-standing minor account |
Scalable Capital
Scalable offers a proper Junior Depot with free savings plans on a large ETF list and a €1 minimum, which suits a lean one-fund setup. Onboarding is app-based with the standard birth-certificate and dual-parent checks. If you already run your own account there, it keeps your personal portfolio and the child’s under one login.
Ready to open an account? You can open a Scalable Capital account directly.
Trade Republic
Trade Republic keeps things about as simple as a Junior Depot gets: pick the all-world ETF, set a €1+ monthly Sparplan, done. Savings-plan execution is free, and the app is easy to run for a set-and-forget child’s account. I cover why it works for long-horizon investors in this breakdown of Trade Republic for ETF investors, and how it compares in our Scalable Capital vs Trade Republic comparison.
Ready to open an account? You can open a Trade Republic account directly.
Family insurance and Kindergeld: watch the income thresholds
Two benefit interactions are worth knowing before the account gets large. First, family health insurance (Familienversicherung): a child can normally be co-insured free on a parent’s statutory GKV policy only while their own income stays under a monthly threshold, and a big pile of dividends or realised gains could push them over it and cost the free co-insurance. Second, for adult children in education, high investment income can affect certain Kindergeld-related thresholds. With an accumulating ETF and modest balances neither is usually triggered, but watch the account’s annual income once the balance runs into the tens of thousands, and check the current limits with your Krankenkasse and the Finanzamt.
What I would do
If you are comfortable with your child controlling the money at 18, open a Junior Depot, file the Freistellungsauftrag and an NV-Bescheinigung, and run a free monthly Sparplan into one accumulating all-world ETF. That combination is cheap, tax-efficient and almost maintenance-free. For a lean app-based setup I would use Trade Republic or Scalable Capital; if you prefer a full-service direct bank, ING or comdirect do the job well. If handing over full control at 18 genuinely worries you, keep the money in your own account and accept the small tax cost as the price of control. For the wider picture beyond Germany, our guide to custodial investment accounts for kids in Europe covers how other countries handle this, and if you are still choosing a broker, start with our best broker for German investors rundown.
What actually lands in your account: your own country taxes the distribution after the fund already has — the free EU dividend tax calculator models the investor-level bite across 14 countries.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who owns the money in a Junior Depot?
A: The child does. The account is registered in the child’s name and the assets are legally their property, with the parents acting as guardians until the child turns 18. From that birthday the child has full control and can sell or spend everything, so only open one if you are comfortable with that.
Q: Is a Junior Depot really tax-free?
A: Largely, while balances are small. The child has their own Sparer-Pauschbetrag of roughly €1,000 plus the basic income-tax allowance, and with an NV-Bescheinigung the broker pays out gains and dividends without deducting Kapitalertragsteuer. Once income exceeds those allowances, normal tax applies.
Q: Do both parents need to sign to open one?
A: Usually yes. Where parents share custody, most German brokers require both to consent to opening the account and to any withdrawals. A single parent with sole custody may open one alone but should expect to prove that custody.
Q: Which ETF is best for a child’s account?
A: For an 18-year horizon, one broad accumulating all-world ETF (a FTSE All-World or MSCI ACWI UCITS tracker) is the sensible core. It spreads risk across thousands of companies globally and reinvests dividends automatically. Check the current TER on the official factsheet before buying.
Q: How much can I invest each month?
A: You can start from as little as €1 per month, since the main German neobrokers charge nothing to run ETF savings plans. Many parents pay in €25 to €100 monthly and add birthday or Christmas money as one-off buys.
Q: Can a Junior Depot affect family health insurance or Kindergeld?
A: It can if the account generates large income. Free family co-insurance on statutory health cover depends on the child’s own income staying under a monthly limit, and high investment income could exceed it. With an accumulating ETF and modest balances this rarely happens, but check the current limits with your Krankenkasse once the account grows.
European UCITS/ETF investor with 11+ years building a global dividend and index portfolio, and founder of Financial Expert Class. I write every guide here from first-hand experience investing across EU brokers and tax regimes — not theory. More about me →