If I start paying voluntary social insurance at age 50, when will I receive my pension?

(Dan Tri) - Ms. Huyen is 50 years old and has just started paying voluntary social insurance. She does not know when she will be eligible for a pension.

Ms. Huyen has never participated in social insurance before. Now, at the age of 50, she intends to voluntarily participate in social insurance with an optional income of 5 million VND/month.

She asked: "Am I eligible to pay voluntary social insurance and until which year do I have to pay to receive my pension? At that time, how much pension will I receive each month?"

50 tuổi mới đóng BHXH tự nguyện thì khi nào được hưởng lương hưu? - 1 — Voluntary social insurance is a good solution for freelance workers to have a pension when they retire (Illustration: Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance).

According to Vietnam Social Security, Decree No. 134/2015/ND-CP of the Government stipulates that voluntary social insurance participants are Vietnamese citizens aged 15 years or older and are not subject to compulsory social insurance.

Thus, if Ms. Huyen is not subject to compulsory social insurance, she is eligible to participate in voluntary social insurance.

Regarding the conditions for receiving pension, Vietnam Social Security said that employees must meet two conditions: reaching the retirement age according to regulations and having enough years of social insurance contributions.

The retirement age is stipulated in Decree No. 135/2020/ND-CP of the Government. Accordingly, the retirement age for female workers from 2024 onwards is 56 years and 4 months, then increases by 4 months each year and by 2035 onwards is 60 years old.

Regarding the condition of the number of years of social insurance contributions, according to the current Social Insurance Law (Social Insurance Law 2014), participants who have paid social insurance for 20 years are eligible for pension.

However, according to Social Insurance Law No. 41 (Social Insurance Law 2024) passed on June 29, 2024 and effective from July 1, 2025, people who have paid social insurance for 15 years are eligible for pension.

Thus, when Ms. Huyen meets the above two conditions, she can enjoy retirement benefits.

Currently, Ms. Huyen is 50 years old, and her retirement age is 2033, when she is 59 years and 4 months old. If she pays social insurance now, when she reaches retirement age in 2033, Ms. Huyen will have paid social insurance for about 9 years, 6 years less than the regulations in the Social Insurance Law in 2024.

However, Article 36 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance stipulates that voluntary social insurance participants are allowed to pay voluntary social insurance one time for the remaining social insurance payment period to be eligible for pension.

Currently, the Government has not issued a document guiding the implementation of the above content according to the Social Insurance Law 2024.

But according to current regulations (Social Insurance Law 2014), when reaching retirement age, employees are allowed to pay voluntary social insurance one time for the remaining social insurance payment period to be eligible for pension, but the remaining social insurance payment period must not exceed 10 years (120 months).

If the Social Insurance Law 2024 also has similar regulations as above, when reaching retirement age in 2033, Ms. Huyen only needs to pay voluntary social insurance once for 6 more years to be eligible for pension.

Regarding pension, according to Vietnam Social Security, the benefit level depends on the number of years of social insurance contributions, the income level of social insurance contributions and the time of pension receipt, so it cannot be calculated accurately.

However, the principle is that the pension of female workers will be equal to 45% of the average income used as the basis for social insurance contributions corresponding to 15 years of social insurance contributions. After that, for each additional year of social insurance contributions, an additional 2% will be calculated, up to a maximum of 75% of the average income used as the basis for social insurance contributions.

(Dan Tri) - Ms. Huyen is 50 years old and has just started paying voluntary social insurance. She does not know when she will be eligible for a pension.

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