Ukrainians who have already reached retirement age and have acquired the legal right to benefits can significantly increase their amount without additional financial investments. To do this, it is enough to temporarily refrain from submitting an application for assigning a pension and continue working. The Pension Fund of Ukraine explains the mechanism of deferral, which makes it possible to substantially raise future monthly accruals through special bonuses for each month of waiting.
Mechanism of calculating bonuses for deferral
According to current rules, if a citizen continues to work after acquiring the right to benefits and does not apply for them, the state applies stimulating coefficients. For each full month of deferral within the first 60 months (up to five years), 0.5% is added to the base pension amount. If the waiting period drags on and exceeds 60 months, 0.75% is charged for each subsequent full month.
Thus, twelve months of official deferral guarantee an increase in the base payment by 6%. After two years, the indicator rises to 12%, in three years — to 18%, and after five years of continuous deferral, the pension increases by 30%. The maximum bonus is achieved with a deferral of 72 months (six years), in which case the main pension amount increases by a record 54%.
Conditions for assigning increased payment
It is important to emphasize that the increased coefficients apply exclusively to the main amount of the pension calculated according to the law, and not to the total amount with all possible allowances and surcharges. In addition, only those citizens who, at the time the right to an age-related pension arose, fully met all requirements (including the necessary insurance experience) but voluntarily decided to postpone registration have the right to such an increase.
The Pension Fund clarified an important nuance in a separate explanation: working directly until the moment of applying for a pension is not at all necessary. The main condition is that after the legal right to benefits arises, the citizen refrains from their assignment and acquires the necessary full months of insurance record. At the time of submitting documents, a person may no longer be in an employment relationship.
Controversial data
It is worth noting that discussions and related materials regarding the expediency of deferring pension payments in various countries periodically appear in the information space. For example, some financial analysts in other jurisdictions warn about the risks of losing funds if the long-term retirement strategy is calculated incorrectly. However, the Ukrainian practice of the Pension Fund has a clear mathematical formula of bonuses that protects the interests of working citizens, provided all strict criteria of length of service are met.
