How much pension do I get after paying social insurance for 15 years?

The draft revised Law on Social Insurance (SI) has just been sent by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to solicit opinions from relevant units, continuing to propose adding to the law to calculate pensions by reducing the minimum number of years of SI contribution to 15 years instead of 20 years as at present.

Workers in certain arduous, toxic, dangerous occupations, mines, and difficult areas can retire 5-10 years earlier than the general age.

In case of receiving social insurance payment once, the minimum social insurance participation time to receive pension must be 20 years instead of 15 years like others.

After reducing the number of years of social insurance contributions, the drafting agency proposed that the monthly pension be calculated at 45% of the monthly salary for social insurance contributions when paying for 15 years for women, and 20 years for men; after that, each year of payment is added 2%, the maximum pension is equal to 75% of the salary.

Shorten the pension period, the benefit level of workers will be lower. Photo: Thanh Tung.

If the above proposal is approved, women who reach retirement age after 15 years of social insurance contributions will receive a pension equal to 45% of the contribution rate. In the case of employees who only pay social insurance at the minimum wage, in the past 15 years of contributions, the average monthly salary for social insurance contributions is only 3.8 million VND/month, if they retire, they will receive a salary of 1.7 million VND/month.

For men, if they reach retirement age after only 15 years of social insurance participation, each year of contribution will be calculated at 2.25% (because they have not yet contributed for 20 years to be calculated at 45% of their salary), and their pension will be calculated at 33.75% of their monthly salary for social insurance contribution. If the same monthly salary for social insurance contribution is 3.8 million VND/month as for women, and they contribute for 15 years, men will receive a salary of less than 1.3 million VND/month when they retire.

Many people receive very low pensions.

If the proposal to reduce the social insurance payment period to 15 years is approved, it could encourage workers to pay social insurance for the full pension period instead of withdrawing social insurance at once. It is estimated that each year there will be an increase of 10-40 thousand workers with pensions.

Mr. Huan also said that the pension plan for people participating in social insurance for less than 20 years in the Draft Law on Social Insurance Amendment is mechanical and backward compared to the current law.

This solution will lead to a future where many people receive very low pensions.

From an expert perspective, Mr. Huan suggested that the law could research and provide options for workers to choose from. If the time of social insurance payment is short, they can receive a high pension but a short period of time, or receive a low pension but receive it until death.

Mr. Huan also expressed concern about the proposal of different pension levels for men and women. To receive a pension equal to 45% of the contribution level, women only need to pay social insurance for 15 years, but men need to pay for 20 years, even though the contribution level is the same. The drafting agency needs to study carefully to ensure harmony between contribution and benefit levels for workers.

Vu Diep