Retirement comes early to many people who have paid social insurance for 15 years

Implementing the revised Law on Social Insurance (SI) 2024, effective from July 1, 2025, has reduced the minimum number of years of SI contribution to receive pension from 20 years to 15 years, many people have begun to receive pension, especially those of retirement age.

Pension in old age

Early this August, at the Binh Son Social Insurance Office, Quang Ngai Province, a pension decision was awarded to Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy. Ms. Thuy was born in May 1968, and was a part-time official in Binh My Commune, Binh Son District (old) of Quang Ngai Province; she participated in social insurance from January 2012 to November 2024.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy was given a pension book after 15 years of social insurance contributions.

After quitting her job at the end of 2024, Ms. Thuy proactively participated in voluntary social insurance. When the Social Insurance Law No. 41/2024/QH15 officially took effect on July 1, 2025, Ms. Thuy made a one-time payment for the remaining 18 months, with a total amount of VND 8.37 million, to meet the condition of 15 years of social insurance participation. Thereby, she will be entitled to pension benefits from August 2025 and will be issued a retirement health insurance card.

At the pension decision handover ceremony, Binh Son Social Insurance also instructed Ms. Thuy to complete the procedure to refund the amount of money paid for family health insurance from August 2025 to February 2026, because she was eligible for a free retirement health insurance card.

Ms. Phan Thi Hong Duyen, Deputy Director of Binh Son Social Insurance, shared: If she receives social insurance at one time, Ms. Thuy will only receive over 40 million VND. Ms. Duyen advised Ms. Thuy on the appropriate voluntary social insurance contribution level for the remaining 18 months to complete 15 years of social insurance participation.

“Working in the commune, I know that my social insurance contribution is not high and my working time is not long, but I still want to become a beneficiary of social security policies, so I choose to pay for the remaining time. Although the monthly pension is 774,000 VND, I am still very happy and satisfied, because I understand that the low contribution level and short working time have corresponding benefits. For me, the most important thing is to be recognized as a beneficiary of social security policies, have a stable monthly pension and be granted a retirement health insurance card to take care of my health in old age. In rural areas, having a few tens of thousands of VND each day can also help me pay for some meals, rice and fish sauce,” Ms. Thuy confided.

Deputy Director of Binh Son Social Insurance Phan Thi Hong Duyen added that in the initial period of implementing the new policy, Binh Son Social Insurance recorded 6 cases of employees who were eligible for pensions, including reaching retirement age and having paid social insurance for at least 15 years (1 person receiving pensions from July 1, 2025 and the remaining 5 people receiving pensions from August 1, 2025). These cases had previously participated in social insurance for 10 years or more, but because they had not yet completed 15 years, they were not eligible to receive pensions under the old Law. Thanks to the regulation allowing one-time payment of up to 5 missing years, they have completed the conditions, had their pensions resolved, started receiving monthly pensions and were issued free health insurance cards with high benefits. The social insurance agency has proactively contacted the employees to carry out retirement procedures.

In the first 6 cases receiving pensions at Binh Son Social Insurance, the lowest pension is 774,000 VND/month, the other cases receive higher pensions. Among them, Ms. Pham Thi Le, a former paint worker, receives a pension of 2.337 million VND/month.

The representative of Binh Son Social Insurance said that with positive changes, bringing many benefits to participants, especially the regulation on minimum time of participation in social insurance to receive pension from 20 years down to 15 years, it will help social insurance participants easily get pension.

Security in old age

Recently, Mr. Bui Thanh Phong, born in January 1963 (residing in Tan Phuoc 1 commune, Dong Thap province) was very excited when he received a retirement decision in July 2025 from Tan Phuoc 1 Social Insurance - Dong Thap Social Insurance.

Mr. Phong, 62 years and 6 months old, confided: "I used to think I would not have a pension because I had only paid social insurance for more than 10 years. After being advised about the new policy, I learned that I only needed to pay for 15 years to receive a pension, so I decided to pay at once for the missing years. Now, I have a stable monthly pension."

Mr. Phong makes a living by growing pineapples. Now he has an additional pension of 2.17 million VND/month, which has made his life easier.

Similarly, in July 2025, Tan Phuoc 1 Social Insurance also granted a retirement decision to Ms. Le Thi Hai Luyen. Ms. Luyen participated in compulsory social insurance from April 2008 to March 2023, a total of 14 years and 8 months. After that, she participated in voluntary social insurance and the total time of participation in social insurance was 15 years and 8 months. Ms. Luyen has received a pension with a monthly pension of nearly 2.9 million VND.

Ms. Luyen's family currently has two daughters, and the family's income comes from growing pineapples, bamboo shoots, and coconuts. "Adding the income from fruit trees to my pension of 2.9 million VND/month is enough for me to live comfortably. Before that, I was advised by the Social Security staff on two options: receiving a one-time Social Security payment or receiving a pension. After listening to the analysis, I thought and discussed with my family, and decided on the pension solution. With this pension, I have more income to take care of my daily life. In addition, I was also given a health insurance card for lifelong health care," Ms. Luyen shared.

Ms. Thuy Diem, an official of Tan Phuoc 1 Social Insurance, commented that the new social insurance policy has created conditions for many social insurance participants to have the opportunity to receive pensions, especially for those who participate in social insurance late. Thereby, it has created a strong motivation, encouraging many people to continue participating. This policy not only helps workers have a stable pension soon, but also solves the difficult problem, helping participants consider not withdrawing social insurance at once, ensuring long-term and sustainable benefits.

Reducing the time to pay social insurance to receive pension has opened up a new and meaningful option. Instead of receiving social insurance at once and losing the opportunity to receive health care, workers can now choose to pay for 15 years so that when they retire, they will have a stable pension and a health insurance card for life. This is a clear demonstration of the social security policy in expanding benefits for voluntary social insurance participants. Specifically, at Tan Phuoc 1 Social Insurance, in July 2025, 2 voluntary social insurance participants received a decision to receive pension benefits. Having a pension not only brings financial stability, but people are also granted health insurance for health care with a health insurance benefit rate of up to 95%.

According to the representative of Dong Thap province's Social Insurance, due to the reduction of the time requirement for social insurance payment to 15 years, the minimum pension rate of 45% according to the Social Insurance Law 2014 has also changed to suit. Accordingly, for female workers, the monthly pension is equal to 45% of the average salary used as the basis for social insurance payment corresponding to 15 years of social insurance payment, then for each additional year of payment, an additional 2% is calculated, with a maximum of 75%.

For male workers, the monthly pension is equal to 45% of the average salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions corresponding to 20 years of social insurance contributions, then 2% is added for each additional year of contributions, up to a maximum of 75%. In the case of male workers who have paid social insurance for 15 years but less than 20 years, the monthly pension is equal to 40% of the average salary used as the basis for social insurance contributions corresponding to 15 years of social insurance contributions, then 1% is added for each additional year of contributions.

baotintuc.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/luong-huu-den-som-voi-nhieu-nguoi-dong-bao-hiem-xa-hoi-duoc-15-nam-post879795.html