The amount of the pension worries not only people who are approaching the statutory age entitling them to receive benefits from ZUS. This is also an increasing problem for younger employees. And the latest simulations only confirm that the fears are quite justified.
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Today's 45-year-olds are in the prime of their careers and rarely look at retirement forecasts. There is a tool on the ZUS website – “Projected retirement” – that may be astonishing to some people. It turns out that current 40- and 50-year-olds can only receive PLN 800-1,200 in pension – explains the website infor.pl.
Pension of PLN 800. ZUS forecast for 40- and 50-year-olds
How is this possible? Or maybe it's some kind of error? The truth is sad: unfortunately, these are correct simulations that take into account the times when current people in their 40s and 50s started their professional careers.
As the infor.pl website explains, the culprits for this disaster include, among others: work under contracts for specific work, illegal work and junk work, under-the-table payments and gaps in employment.
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Workers who are now at the peak of their careers entered the labor market in the times of “wild capitalism”, when avoiding contributions was the norm. The pension system is ruthless: how much you contribute is what you get. Years of work without paying contributions is a gap that cannot be quickly made up for.
Disastrously low pensions. This is not a mistake, it is a sad reality
This combination results in catastrophically low pensions from ZUS. Forecasts indicate that their amount may not be enough even to rent the cheapest room in a large city.
See also: How does ZUS calculate pension in practice? A simple step by step guide
As the infor.pl website reminds, in order to receive the minimum pension (in 2026 it is PLN 1,978 gross), you must have appropriate length of service – 20 years for women, 25 for men. Work under contracts for specific work is not always included.
The inexorable fact is that the longer we live, the more the capital accumulated in ZUS stretches. The forecasts for 2026 are clear: benefits will be lower because the system assumes that retirees will live longer.
How does ZUS calculate your pension?
The basis for calculating the pension is the indexed contributions and capital accumulated in the ZUS account. Included here:
- indexed initial capital if the person was covered by social insurance before January 1, 1999,
- indexed pension insurance contributions recorded in the ZUS account after 1998, until the end of the month preceding the pension payment,
- funds accumulated on the sub-account at ZUS, including those transferred from the open pension fund (OFE), if the person is an OFE member.
ZUS reminds that in the case of persons who were not covered by retirement and disability insurance after 1998, the basis for calculating the pension is only the initial capital. In turn, in the case of early retirement or mixed pensions, funds from the subaccount are not taken into account.
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When calculating the pension, ZUS takes into account the average life expectancy, i.e. the number of months during which a given person is expected to receive a pension. When determining average life expectancy, the age of the person on the date of submitting the pension application or on the date of reaching retirement age is taken into account.
How to increase your pension? ZUS suggests
As ZUS explains, the easiest way to increase – or even double – your pension is to stay professionally active for longer. Each additional year of work means higher pension capital and a larger benefit.
The longer an employee contributes, the more capital he will accumulate, and each subsequent payment increases his future retirement benefit. It works like interest in a bank – the longer an employee saves, the more they will receive in retirement.
See also: Are you not satisfied with your pension? Six ways to increase its height
Delaying retirement translates into a real increase in benefits – even without additional contributions or indexation. ZUS provides specific calculations that may convince some people to extend their professional activity. “For a 60-year-old person, each year of delay means an increase in the pension by 3.7%, and after five years – by more than 1/5. In the case of a 65-year-old person, it is 4.1% in one year and as much as 23.4% after five years, respectively,” explains ZUS.
