A retirement pension is a monthly benefit paid by the Social Insurance Institution. There are two pension systems in Poland. Check who is en titled to the new and old pension and when it is possible to retire.

Retirement pensionis a monthly benefit paid by the Social Insurance Institution to an insured person who is no longer professionally active, but who has worked for a certain number of years and has reached a certain age. In Poland, the retirement age is 60 for women, and 65 for men.

Pension system in Poland

Currently, there are two pension systems in our country:

  • so-called old pension - for people born before January 1, 1949,
  • so-called new pension - intended for people born after December 31, 1948.

Old retirement

Old retirement pension is granted to women born before January 1, 1949, with at least 15 years of contributory or non-contributory periods and at least 60 years of age, and men with proven contributory and non-contributory periods for 20 years, who are at least 65 years old years.

If you are still working and you do not want to retire, your pension en titlement is suspended. However, if it turns out that the calculated old-age pension is lower than the amount of the minimum old-age pension, then the old-age pension is increased to this amount.

Important!In order to receive a retirement pension, you must submit an application (downloadable from the Social Insurance Institution website or at the facility) and submit documents regarding the contribution and non-contributory periods (this is a form that should be completed with information on places of work and length of employment), supporting documents (confirmation made by ZUS or the contribution payer).

Documents confirming the last salary (certificate of the employer or other contribution payer, e.g. employment and salary certificate, insurance card) are also required.

Contributory and non-contributory periods
  • Contribution periodis the insurance period for which there is an obligation to pay social insurance contributions or for which there was no obligation to pay contributions, but the legislator recognized them as contribution periods.
  • The non-contributory periodis the period when there was no obligation to pay social security contributions, butdue to its specific nature, it is taken into account when determining the right to old-age and disability pensions and their amount.

New retirement

The new pension system covers people who were born after December 31, 1948. The amount of the old-age pension depends on how long these people worked and how high contributions were paid to the ZUS account, i.e. the size of the so-called capital recorded on an individual retirement account with ZUS.

It includes the initial capital, which determines how much the insured person saved in the old pension system, i.e. before January 1, 1999, and the contributions paid for the pension insurance after that date.

When calculating pensions, the indicator calculated by the Central Statistical Office, which determines the average life expectancy, is also taken into account.

Retirement under the new system is available to women over 60 and men over 65, but without the condition of the number of years spent. This means that the old-age pension is due regardless of the contributory and non-contributory period, but its amount depends on them.

Contribution periods also affect the lowest amount of the benefit: the new pension cannot be lower than the lowest if the insured person has proven contributory and non-contributory periods of 20 - and 25 years (for men and women respectively).

Under the new pension system, the insured person may receive various types of benefits: old-age pension, temporary capital pension, retirement pension due to employment in special conditions or in a special nature, retirement pension for performing creative or artistic activity, mining retirement pension, regardless of age, a bridging retirement pension or teachers' compensation benefit.

Important!The application for determining the amount of the retirement pension can be downloaded from the Social Insurance Institution website or at the facility. You also need documents confirming the periods of work, non-agricultural activity, military service, unemployment benefit, parental leave or university education, as well as documents confirming the earned salary.

Małgorzata Wójcik The editor in charge of the website. Journalist with 25 years of experience. From the beginning, she was associated with the subject of children and he alth - she worked, among others. in the magazine "M jak mama". At mjakmama.pl, she specializes in pregnancy and childbirth. Privately - mother of three adolescent children. He is eager to read and walks in the woods with his dog.

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