[germanier]

For the retirement fund only the first 74,400€ (west) or 64,800€ (east) of your income is used (2016 numbers, different rules if you work in mining). For anything over you don't pay into the retirement fund.

There are some self-employed that need to pay into the retirement fund, including teachers (which is applied broadly, e.g. training supervisors and moderators), journalists, and artists.

Also don't forget about the unemployment fund into which employees must pay.

> lower price, 500€ private

Heavily depends on your health and age. Additionally family members are insured for free in public but not private insurance which might tip the scale. Also important to note is that it's close to impossible for most to switch back to public insurance once they decided to go private (e.g. if the premiums rise in the future).

[k__]

Only after 50 it is impossible to switch back.

Before that you just have to report, that you're unemployed and the state forces you to go back into public healthcare