How Vietnam Calculates Pensions After 15 Years of Social Insurance Contributions

The An Giang provincial social insurance agency says workers who have contributed to social insurance for exactly 15 years and meet the conditions for a pension do not face an additional reduction in the pension calculation rate solely because they contributed for 15 years. Under the relevant provisions of Vietnam’s Social Insurance Law cited by the agency, the monthly pension calculation rate is 40% for male workers and 45% for female workers.

These rates apply to the average salary or income used as the basis for a worker’s social insurance contributions. The An Giang provincial social insurance agency gives an example of a worker who has contributed for 15 years, meets the eligibility conditions, and has an average contribution salary or income of VND 8 million per month: the monthly pension would be VND 3.2 million for a man and VND 3.6 million for a woman. These amounts are calculated under the example’s stated conditions.

File photo provided by the An Giang provincial social insurance agency.（VietVance）

For workers who have contributed for 15 years but have not yet reached retirement age, the agency says stopping contributions while waiting to reach retirement age does not invalidate their previous contribution years. Those years can be preserved under the regulations. Workers must still meet the other pension eligibility conditions before they can begin receiving payments.

The agency also notes that workers who retire early because of reduced working capacity are subject to separate retirement conditions and pension calculation rules. The rates and example amounts above for 15 years of contributions therefore cannot be applied directly to calculate their benefits.

Source: VietVance