What to Do When You Lack Sufficient Insurance Seniority for Retirement: A Step-by-Step Guide for Ukrainians
Ukrainian citizens face ongoing challenges within the pension system, especially when their insurance seniority falls short of the minimum required to retire with benefits.
Insufficient insurance experience is a common issue that can impact a person’s retirement calculations and future payouts.
However, today’s system offers several options to address this problem.
Citizens with between 22 and 32 years of insurance seniority are eligible to retire at age 63.
For those who reach 65 years, the minimum seniority is set at 15 years.
If your insurance record is shorter, alternatives include applying for social assistance instead of a pension or officially working additional years to accumulate the necessary seniority.
One effective solution is to ‘purchase’ additional insurance time — this is especially relevant for individuals who were unable to work legally, worked abroad, or experienced gaps in their social contributions after 2004.
To do so, they must sign an agreement for voluntary insurance contributions through tax authorities.
The process of ‘buying’ seniority can be done in two ways: a lump-sum payment covering the entire period or regular monthly contributions.
The minimum amount for a one-time payment is calculated based on the formula: minimum EU contribution × 2 × number of months.
Maintaining consistent, ongoing payments is crucial to ensure that the insurance seniority is properly credited, solidifying the individual’s right to a pension and protecting their financial future.