How much pension will ZUS pay you if you are 60 years old and have 40 years of work experience? Calculations and rules
Many Poles wonder whether long work experience guarantees a high pension. Unfortunately, the Polish pension system makes the amount of the benefit dependent not only on years of work, but primarily on the amount of accumulated contributions. This means that even after 40 years of work, retirement can be decidedly disappointing.
See also: How does ZUS calculate pension in practice? A simple step by step guide
As the infor.pl website reminds, the amount of the pension depends on the indexed contributions collected on the ZUS account, the initial capital (for people working before 1999), the funds on the sub-account and the average life expectancy announced by the Central Statistical Office.
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The higher the contributions and the shorter the expected duration of benefit collection, the higher the monthly pension. For example, people with only 10 years of service are not entitled to the minimum pension. Their benefit is calculated solely on the basis of collected contributions and may amount to as little as PLN 250-300 gross per month.
What pension will ZUS pay you if you are 60 years old and have 40 years of work experience? Calculations and rules
This is why many Polish women and men may be disappointed with the amount of their retirement benefit. If someone has been earning the national minimum wage for 40 years, the pension will be only slightly higher than the minimum. Which means that a 60-year-old will receive approximately PLN 1,900-2,000 gross.
The situation will be different for people who have earned the national average salary or more for 40 years of work. Then they can count on up to PLN 6,600 gross – calculates infor.pl. This clearly shows that the amount of the pension depends primarily on the amount of contributions paid, and not only on the length of the professional career.
See also: Retirement without secrets. Seven rules every senior should know
However, it is worth remembering that reaching retirement age does not force anyone to stop working. ZUS encourages Poles to continue working after reaching the statutory retirement age.
As ZUS explains, each additional year of work may increase the pension amount by up to several percent – even without additional contributions or indexation. “For a 60-year-old person, each year of delay means an increase in the pension by 3.7 percent, and after five years – by more than 1/5. In the case of a 65-year-old person, it is 4.1 percent one year and as much as 23.4 percent after five years, respectively,” ZUS calculates.
Source: infor.pl
