How do voluntary social insurance participants expect to receive pensions from July 1?

The Ministry of Home Affairs is drafting a circular guiding the time to receive pension, the basis for calculation, and conditions for each case of voluntary social insurance participation when reaching retirement age and paying social insurance for 15 years or more. The policy is expected to apply from July 1.

Accordingly, for those who have paid voluntary social insurance for 15 years or more, the retirement age is calculated from the first day of the month following the month of reaching retirement age according to regulations.

For example, Mr. An was born on April 5, 1964 and has paid voluntary social insurance for 19 years. As of July 2025, he will be 61 years and 3 months old and will reach the retirement age according to regulations. Mr. An will receive his pension from August 1, 2025.

In case a voluntary social insurance participant continues to pay after meeting the conditions for retirement, the time to receive benefits is the first day of the month following the month in which he/she stopped paying and requested retirement benefits.

For example, Mr. An does not receive his pension immediately but continues to pay voluntary social insurance from August to December 2025. In March 2026, his request to receive his pension from January 2026 was resolved, and his retirement date was calculated from January 1, 2026.

Ms. Binh was born on April 23, 1969 and has paid social insurance for 16 years. As of December 2025, she will be 56 years and 8 months old, the legal retirement age. However, Ms. Binh continued to pay voluntary social insurance from January to March 2026, then stopped and requested to receive a pension. Her pension is calculated from April 1, 2026, even though she was 56 years and 11 months old in March.

In case a voluntary social insurance participant makes a one-time payment for the missing years to receive retirement benefits, the time to receive benefits is the first day of the month following the month in which full payment is made for the missing period.

For example, Ms. Cuc was born on January 14, 1969, and will be 56 years and 8 months old in September 2025, which is the legal retirement age. However, at this time, she has only paid social insurance for 12 years and 8 months, which is not enough time to receive a pension. Ms. Cuc chooses to pay a lump sum for the remaining time in September 2025, and will receive her pension from October 1.

The amended law stipulates that people who participate in voluntary social insurance before January 1, 2021, and have paid for 20 years or more, are eligible for early retirement compared to the prescribed age, men 60 and women 55. In these cases, the time to receive pension is calculated from the first day of the month following the month of retirement age.

For example, Ms. Dung was born on August 16, 1970 and will be 55 years old in August 2025. She has participated in voluntary social insurance for 20 years and 3 months and requests to receive a pension when she reaches the age. Ms. Dung's pension date is calculated from September 1, 2025.

In case the employee has determined the time to receive pension before July 1, 2025, the benefit date will be calculated from this date.

For example, Ms. Dien was born on August 16, 1968, voluntarily participates in social insurance and is reserving 18 years and 9 months of payment. In August 2025, she requests to receive a pension when she meets the conditions, the time of receiving is calculated from July 1, 2025.

Mr. Nam was born on April 25, 1965, and will be 60 years old in April 2025, and has paid social insurance for 20 years and 8 months. In July 2025, he requested to receive his pension, and the time of receiving it will be calculated from July 1, 2025.

In case the date of birth cannot be determined but only the year of birth is available, the retirement date is calculated from the first day of the month following the month of eligibility. January 1 of the year of birth is used as the basis for calculating the employee's age.

For example, Ms. Giang was born in 1969 but her date of birth is unknown, and she has paid voluntary social insurance for 16 years. According to the instructions, if January 1, 1969 is used as the basis for calculating her age, her pension will be received from October 1, 2025.

It is expected that from July 1, employees who are old enough to retire and participate in voluntary social insurance can make a one-time payment for the missing time to receive pension but not more than 5 years, instead of 10 years as currently. The one-time payment for the missing years is calculated by the total payment of the missing months, applying compound interest equal to the average monthly investment interest rate of the Social Insurance Fund of the year preceding the payment year announced by the Vietnam Social Security.

In addition, employees can choose to pay at once for many years in the future, but not more than 5 years at a time. The payment is calculated by the total payment of the previous months, discounted according to the average monthly investment interest rate of the Social Insurance Fund of the previous year adjacent to the payment year announced by the Vietnam Social Security.

By the end of January 2025, the number of voluntary social insurance participants will reach 2.3 million, accounting for about 4.9% of the working-age workforce.

PV (synthesis)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/nguoi-dong-bao-hiem-xa-hoi-tu-nguyen-du-kien-huong-luong-huu-the-nao-tu-1-7-408529.html