Vietnam: Reduce social insurance contributions to 15 years, what are the pension levels? Can I retire from 15 years of insurance?

Main Content

• Is it possible to retire after 15 years of insurance in Vietnam?
• Reducing social insurance contributions to 15 years, what is the pension level in Vietnam?
• What are the regulations on calculating the pension in Vietnam?

Vietnam: Reduce social insurance contributions to 15 years, what are the pension levels? Can I retire from 15 years of insurance?

Is it possible to retire after 15 years of insurance in Vietnam?

Article 71 of the amended Draft Law on Social Insurance in Vietnam stipulates conditions for pension as follows:

Pension eligibility

1. An employee specified at Points a, b, c, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, Clauses 1 and 2, Article 31 of this Law, when leaving work with a social insurance payment period of full 15 years or more, is entitled to a pension if they fall into one of the following cases:

a) Full 61 years and 03 months for male employees and full 56 years and 08 months for female employees; After that, every 3 months for male employees until they reach full 62 years old in 2028 and every 4 months for female employees until they reach 60 years old in 2035;

b) The employee has a maximum age of 05 years younger than the age specified at Point a of this Clause and has full 15 years of working in heavy, hazardous, dangerous or especially heavy, hazardous or dangerous occupations or jobs on the list promulgated by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or has full 15 years working in areas meeting socio-economic conditions particularly disadvantaged associations including periods of employment where the regional allowance coefficient 0.7 or more was prior to January 1, 2021;

c) The employee has a maximum age of 10 years younger than the age specified at Point a of this Clause and has full 15 years of working in coal mining in underground furnaces as prescribed by the Government;

d/ Persons infected with HIV/AIDS due to occupational accidents while performing assigned tasks.

2. An employee specified at Points d and dd, Clause 1, Article 31 of this Law who quit their jobs with a social insurance payment period of full 15 years or more is entitled to a pension when falling into one of the following cases:

a/ Having a maximum age of 05 years younger than the age specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article, unless otherwise provided for by the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army, the Law on People's Public Security, the Law on Basic Elements, the Law on Professional Military Personnel, Defense Workers and Officials;

b/ Having a maximum age of 10 years younger than the age specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article and having full 15 years of working in heavy, hazardous, dangerous or especially heavy, hazardous or dangerous occupations or jobs on the list promulgated by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs or having full 15 years working in areas meeting socio-economic conditions particularly difficult including working time where the regional allowance coefficient is 0.7 or more before January 1, 2021;

c/ Persons infected with HIV/AIDS due to occupational accidents while performing assigned tasks.

3. Conditions on pension age for a number of special cases as prescribed by the Government.

4. If an employee specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article has a time to enjoy social insurance once after the effective date of this Law, the condition for enjoying a pension is to have a social insurance contribution period of full 20 years or more.

Thus, if the employee works under normal conditions with a social insurance contribution period of 15 years and reaches the retirement age as prescribed above, he will receive a pension.

Currently, retirement conditions for employees working under normal conditions are having full 20 years of social insurance contributions or more and full retirement age (full 62 years old for male employees in 2028 and full 60 years old for female employees in 2035)

If the draft is approved, the beneficiaries of pensions will be expanded.

Reducing social insurance contributions to 15 years, what is the pension level in Vietnam?

Regarding pension levels, the Draft Social InsuranceLaw on Social Insurance in Vietnam proposes:

- The pension is calculated as 45% of the contribution rate, if participating in social insurance for full 15 years for women and 20 years for men. After that, each year social insurance contributions are added 2% to the pension. The maximum pension is equal to 75% of the contribution (men pay up to 35 years, women up to 30 years).

- In case the period of participation in social insurance is from 15-20 years for men, each year of contribution is calculated as 2.25% of the monthly salary calculated for social insurance contribution.

Thus, if the above proposal is adopted, then:

- Female employees who reach retirement age when they have 15 years of social insurance contributions will be charged a pension equal to 45% of the contribution rate;

- Male employees who reach retirement age with a period of 15 years of participation in social insurance, the pension is calculated as 33.75% of the contribution rate.

What are the regulations on calculating the pension in Vietnam?

Accordingly, the pension will be calculated according to the following formula:

See details on how pensions are calculated here.