Changes in the social sphere of material payments are of great concern to all citizens of the Russian Federation in connection with changes in the economic situation of the country. Everyone's attention has been drawn to the latest news and innovations in the pension sector, which have been discussed at the government level for more than a year. But right now such conversations have become most relevant.
Will there be an increase in the retirement age in 2017?
At the moment, in Russia, the retirement age limits are defined as follows: men retire at 60, and women at 55. Moreover, one should take into account the length of service that affects the size of the pension; it is determined for each profession individually, but on average it is 15 years.
However, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation are talking about changing these figures upward - up to 65 years for both men and women. The fact that the retirement age will be raised is a fact, the only question is when? Analysts claim that retirement dates will grow no earlier than 2018, because This year the presidential elections will take place. So those pensioners who were planning to retire in , don’t have to worry for now.
As the head of the Ministry of Economic Development A. Ulyukaev pointed out, such a decision was caused by the budget deficit in Russia, as well as the unstable economic situation that has developed both in foreign and domestic policy. Thus, raising the retirement age, as Ulyukaev emphasizes, is a forced measure to maintain the economic situation in the country at an acceptable level.
The only category of people whose retirement age will be increased from January 1, 2017 - officials and civil servants(municipal, state, and civil servants of the Russian Federation), for women up to 63 years old, for men up to 65 years old.
Latest news about retirement age since 2017
At the end of last year, Deputy Prime Minister O. Golodets said that there were no plans to increase the retirement age in 2017. Changes in the pension sector should be expected starting in 2018. The position of this remark was supported by Russian President V.V. Putin, who noted that the government does not intend to prematurely increase the length of service and retirement age of citizens. But this measure will be put into effect after 2017 due to the need to restore the economic situation in the country.
Why will the retirement age be raised for Russians?
At the moment, the economic situation is such that for every 120 working citizens there are more than 100 pensioners. Due to the crisis situation in the country, the pension fund is not able to pay the necessary payments to the unemployed population without damaging the Russian economy. 
If we leave everything as it is, the country may enter a state of serious budget deficit, which, of course, is extremely undesirable.
What will be the retirement age in Russia from 2017-2018
According to world statistics, the retirement age in Russia is currently quite low; for example, in the United States, the entire working population retires only at 65 years old, both men and women. But at the same time, in the USA, the life expectancy of citizens differs markedly from the indicators in Russia.
Thus, the increase in the retirement age will occur up to 65 years, but in stages: every year the retirement age will increase first by 6 months, and then by 12, until it reaches the agreed upon value.
The presidential elections are behind us, and a change of government is ahead. Apparently, the updated composition of the Cabinet of Ministers will begin with the retirement age, which officials have been planning to increase for several years. We figured out what awaits potential retirees in Russia and how they solve the problem of retirement age in other countries.
Judging by the statements of former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, whom some predict to be prime minister, the unpopular measure will still be implemented. The Center for Strategic Research, headed by him, has already prepared a strategy for the development of the Russian economy. And it clearly states an increase in the retirement age. For women it is planned to raise the bar to 63 years, for men - to 65.
Work until death
Raising the retirement age in Russia has been talked about for many years. But this issue has been actively discussed since 2014. The emerging crisis has clearly demonstrated that the state cannot afford to maintain a growing army of pensioners due to demographic reasons. Old people have become a kind of economic ballast for the budget. High oil prices, which supported the entire Russian economy in the early 2000s, have slid down. As a result, the budget began to experience a sharp shortage of funds. I even had to put my hand into the funded part of the pension, set aside by working citizens for future old age. Then officials vowed to return the money to the population as soon as the GDP reached a growth trajectory. However, this has not yet been done.
However, this turned out to be not enough to fulfill the budget’s impressive social obligations – primarily to older people. That is why Russian officials decided to take a different approach - to oblige citizens to work longer. The financial and economic bloc of the government literally bombarded the country's top leadership with arguments to raise the retirement age.
One of the main arguments of supporters of the “age” reform is outdated standards for retirement. The fact is that they were installed in 1932 and have not changed since then. Meanwhile, thanks to advances in medicine, people have since begun to live and remain active on average much longer.
The need to raise the bar is also explained by the fact that over the past 35 years the number of pensioners in Russia has grown from 24 million to 43 million people, that is, almost doubling. At the same time, the working population increased by only 5% over the same period. As a result, Russia will face a record decline in its working-age population—4 million people from 2017 to 2030.
As the deputy notes. Director of the Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting of RANEPA Vladimir Nazarov, now in Russia a very large post-war generation is retiring, and the small generation of the 1990s is entering the labor market. “And all this is added to the increase in life expectancy. As a result, the ratio of pensioners and people from whose wages insurance premiums are taken is quite sad,” the expert emphasizes.
Indeed, now we have 1.3 people per pensioner, from whose wages insurance premiums are paid in full. By the early 2030s, this ratio will become 1:1. And the system that exists now can exist more or less stably only with a ratio of 1:2. Two people must work and pay contributions - and this will provide a more or less decent pension for one old man.
As predicted by the Ministry of Economic Development, if the retirement age is not raised by 2036, then every working Russian will bear financial responsibility for himself, for his family and additionally for one more pensioner. And in the future the situation will become completely critical - one employee will have to support more than one pensioner.
Against this background, the budget deficit of the Russian Pension Fund (PFR), which is already estimated at trillions (in rubles), will only grow. As a result, in order to plug the “hole”, it will be necessary to increase the amount of funds allocated from the federal budget to the Pension Fund. “If citizens work longer, then employers’ contributions for their employees will increase. Accordingly, the need for funds from the federal budget for pension payments for several years will be reduced,” says Alexander Grigorenko, asset manager at IC Global Capital.
According to expert estimates, savings will reach about 300 billion rubles per year. Moreover, it will not be possible to save more, since there are no longer enough new workers to replace those who are retiring.
Alignment with Albania?
While Russia is only planning to raise the retirement age, developed countries started thinking about this issue several years ago. Those abroad already realized that they could not delay this, and began to gradually raise the bar.
As a result, today the retirement age of our citizens is one of the lowest among the CIS countries and Europe. Apart from Russia, the countries that work the least in the post-Soviet space are Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The remaining ex-republics of the USSR changed these parameters. Even Belarus, starting in 2017, begins to gradually raise the retirement age to 63 years for men and 58 years for women.
As for Europe, here the increase in the retirement age is a passed stage. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the retirement age in Europe has risen gradually and with a significant increase in the minimum length of service. The changes took place against the backdrop of millions of strikes throughout the European Union and served as another source of the crisis in the eurozone. At the same time, funds saved on state pensions (private ones can be obtained before retirement) were most often redistributed to migrants and social unemployment benefits. In addition, private pension funds exist on average for no more than 15 years.
Now the Western pension system is beginning to fall apart - and it is not yet possible to stop this process. “The crisis of 2008 and 2014 led to a shortage of fixed assets, which is beginning to affect the capabilities of Western pension systems now, and the demographic decline does not allow the situation to be corrected,” explains Alexander Grigorenko. According to the expert, “financial “props” in the form of a savings component work there as auxiliary, since they divert resources from payments, but help mitigate the consequences of budget deficits.” Therefore, now the main emphasis in the West is on increasing the birth rate, reducing mortality and increasing the number of jobs.
Meanwhile, later a well-deserved rest awaits the residents of Albania. Here, men retire at 69.5 and women at 64.5. Citizens of Denmark and Germany must also work longer than everyone else. Here, a single barrier is set for everyone: both men and women retire at 67 years old.
Kudrin's main mistake
As experts note, the Russian authorities should have thought about raising the retirement age several years ago, which, in fact, is what Alexei Kudrin is now lamenting. Speaking at an investment forum in Sochi in February, he expressed regret that, while serving as Minister of Finance, he never decided on an unpopular measure. But, as they say, he does not lose hope. According to him, raising the retirement age is “the most difficult and resource-intensive issue that needs to be resolved.”
Apparently, it is no coincidence that in his current capacity as head of the Center for Social Development, Kudrin presented the priorities of Russia’s future development strategy, among which the emphasis is on gradually increasing the retirement age so that in 2034 it reaches 63 years for women and 65 years for men. Now, as you know, our ladies retire at 55, and the stronger sex at 60.
“This will give everyone the opportunity, even in adulthood, to realize themselves in a profession and receive a higher income in old age. If I worked five years longer, I received a pension that was a third higher,” says the CSR strategy.
According to the document, by 2024 the average old-age pension should become twice the minimum subsistence level, and “pensions will increase by no less than a third in real terms.”
Experts are skeptical about the forecasts of the ex-minister and his team. They call the stumbling block the ratio of working and retirement years. For Russian women it is almost one to one. Moreover, such a ratio does not exist in any country in the world. On average, representatives of the fair sex work for about 30 years, and spend about 24 years in retirement.
The situation with Russian men is more complicated. Their average life expectancy is low - only 60% of the stronger sex survive to retirement. And those who have overcome the pension barrier spend 13-14 years in well-deserved retirement, despite the fact that they work on average for almost 33 years of their lives. “Citizens, before going on an honestly earned vacation, will have to work 3-5 years longer, wearing out their health. It turns out that the problem of finding money for men over 65 years of age and for women over 63 years of age will be solved due to the huge number of people who have the right to a pension,” explains Chief Analyst of TeleTrade Group Petr Pushkarev.
The expert notes that if you follow the approach of the Center for Social Development, you can raise the retirement age to 90 years. Those who reach this level can receive a million rubles a year - at the expense of those who will not make it. “But the goal of the state’s social policy is to provide material support to all older people who are no longer able to work intensively, and not to push back retirement as much as possible and not pay anyone anything until then,” explains Pushkarev.
As the expert notes, it is possible to do without raising the age limit. For example, increase the income of the Pension Fund by raising the tax base of enterprises. “To do this, it is enough to allow any new business to grow as much as possible. In particular, do not impose a fiscal burden on startups for 2-3 years until they become profitable. In addition, it is necessary to set priority areas in each region, giving benefits and even shared subsidies to all LLCs, individual entrepreneurs, and any forms of enterprises that agree to work in these priority areas,” suggests Pushkarev.
In addition, payroll taxes, which a company pays before it has earned money, should be reduced, and profits should be taxed more after the fact. “You shouldn’t divide an existing pie. It’s better to let us bake more new ones and help multiply them. As a result, tax revenues will increase, and they, in turn, can be redistributed in favor of the Pension Fund,” Pushkarev is sure.
By the way, at present the regulatory authorities have big questions about the efficiency of managing the collected pension money: it could grow due to more profitable financial investments. Therefore, experts advise Russians not to wait for mercy from the government, but to independently invest in various savings programs, maintain investment accounts, invest in the education and future of their children, which will provide them with a decent old age.
Meanwhile, another important aspect of raising the retirement age: in Russia it is very difficult to find a job after 50 years, and in many industries even after 40, despite the fact that people of pre-retirement age are full of strength and energy. Looking at resumes, HR officers and employers automatically reject older candidates.
With the increase in the pension level, it will turn out that some Russians will find themselves in a situation of “no pension, no work,” or those older citizens who lose their previous jobs will have to work for much less money.
So if there is an opportunity not only to teach your children and grandchildren, but also to learn yourself, mastering new skills and competencies (pay special attention to specializations related to the Internet and education), you should start now.
HELP "MK": Retirement age in different countries
Austria: women - 60, men - 65
Armenia: women and men - 63
Belgium: women and men - 65
Germany: women and men - 67
Georgia: women - 60, men - 65
Ukraine: women - 55, men - 60
Russia: women - 55, men - 60
Japan: women and men - 70
Irina Badmaeva
On January 1, 2017, the Federal Law comes into force, according to which the retirement rules for federal civil servants are changed. The required age for the appointment of their insurance pension will be increased by 2026 to 65 years for men and by 2032 to 63 years for women. At the same time, the retirement age will be increased gradually - by 6 months per year. The changes will affect about 70 thousand Russian officials who were supposed to retire in the coming year.
These are persons holding government positions in the Russian Federation, government positions in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as municipal positions filled on a permanent basis, positions in the state civil and municipal service, that is, officials at all levels. For example, employees of the tax authorities, the employment service, the statistics department, the federal treasury department, the judicial department, the bailiff service, the forestry department, etc. will retire in a new way.
The minimum civil service length of service has also been increased, upon reaching which an official has the right to apply for a long-service pension (a monthly supplement to the pension, other payments). It will also increase gradually - by six months every year, starting in 2017. And from 2020 and in subsequent years, the minimum length of service in the state civil service will be 20 years, now 15 years is enough.
However, the new requirements do not apply to current pensioners and those whose service on the date of entry into force of the law was at least 20 years.
Raising the age for assigning an old-age insurance pension is valid only for the period a citizen fills positions in the state civil service. After leaving the civil service, subject to reaching retirement age, you can apply for an old-age insurance pension in the manner established for all citizens.
According to the Ministry of Labor, there are currently about 1.1 million employees at various levels in Russia. In the Amur region, about 700 people receive civil service pensions from among federal and regional officials alone. The average size of their pension is 16 thousand rubles. The number of municipal retired civil servants is many times greater.
Olga Golodets, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government, said that the retirement age in Russia will not rise from 2017. The government of the country had such plans for all categories of Russians in the spring of this year. However, soon after this interview, Law No. 143-FZ was adopted, according to which some citizens will still have to work longer than the previously established deadlines.
Raising the retirement age - who gets it? Latest news
Despite various statements from the federal authorities, experts are confident that raising the retirement age is inevitable, but requires a smooth approach and phased implementation. For example, in the spring of this year, all the latest news quoted a television interview with Olga Golodets, who said that the government was not considering the issue of raising the retirement age. Also during last year’s press conference, the head of state was asked questions regarding pensions and retirement age.
To which Putin said the following: “ I believe that the time has not yet come. But many expert practitioners say delaying this decision can cause harm».
Meanwhile, the initiative to increase the retirement age was supported by the Ministry of Economic Development. According to analysts, the optimal solution would be to raise the retirement age by eight for women and five for men. This measure will extend the productive period of life of future retirees and reduce tension in the labor market.
The first stage of the initiative’s implementation affected officials - on May 26, 2016, the federal law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Regarding Increasing the Retirement Age for Certain Categories of Citizens” was adopted in the third and final reading. To the question: “who falls under its action?”, we answer:
- State civil servants;
- Municipal employees;
- Persons holding government positions in the Russian Federation;
- Persons holding government positions in regions and municipalities.
The adopted law spells out the stages of raising the retirement age for civil servants - six months will be added every year until the established level is reached. The authors of the bill say that this measure will help balance the budget of the Russian Pension Fund.
Who has the retirement age raised, and what other changes did the new law bring?
So, Federal Law-143 will come into force on January 1, 2017, and the answer to the question: “who has the retirement age raised” is clear - to all state and municipal employees. The increase will occur gradually - the increase will be 6 months for each year. If now women retire at 55 years old, then next year this age will be 55.5 years old. Accordingly, this year men have time to retire at the age of sixty, but already in the coming year - at 60 and a half. Thus, the established age limit will be reached in 2026 and 2032, and this is the last year when civil servants retire along with other employed Russians.
The next change regarding pensions is the required length of service. Now, in order for a civil servant to receive a pension, he must have 15 years, of which twelve years of continuous service in the civil service before dismissal. The adopted law increased this period to 20 years. The change will occur in a well-known way - growth every six months per year. That is, now, in the outgoing year, in order for a civil servant to qualify for a state pension, he only needs to have 15 years of work experience. And next year, 2017, the minimum experience will be 15.5 years, and in 2018 – 16 years. Thus, the twenty-year mark will be reached in 2026. The maximum possible age for civil service has also been approved: for management – 70 years, for all employees – 65 years.
At the same time, the new law reminds that only an employee who retires from a position in a government department can apply for a state pension. In other words, if a pensioner at 66 years of age has the required work experience, but in recent years he has worked in a structure other than the state, then he will not receive a state pension.
| Year of retirement/age | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Men | 60 | 60,5 | 61 | 61,5 | 62 | 62,5 | 63 | 63,5 | 64 | 64,5 |
| Women | 55 | 55,5 | 56 | 56,5 | 57 | 57,5 | 58 | 58,5 | 59 | 59,5 |
| Year of retirement/age | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 |
| Men | 65 | ||||||
| Women | 60 | 60,5 | 61 | 61,5 | 62 | 62,5 | 63 |
All of the above changes apply only to future pensioners, and not to real ones. According to experts, these measures will allow the pension fund to save about 600 million rubles, which are planned to be used for a general increase in social benefits.
Russia has undergone significant changes. Every year the conditions for receiving social benefits become more stringent. It is not surprising that many Russians are frightened by the possibility of raising the age at which state assistance is calculated. Currently it is 60 years for men and 55 years for women.
However, the Russian government is in no hurry to raise this bar. According to Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, the authorities will return to considering the issue of the retirement age no earlier than 2018. And in 2017, the transformations will affect only one category of old-age pension recipients - civil servants of all ranks.
The issue of raising the retirement age will be considered no earlier than 2018
Retirement age for officials
From January 1, 2017, the retirement age for civil servants will begin to rise and will eventually reach 65 years. The bar will be raised gradually: annually by 6 months. At the same time, the minimum work experience of an applicant for state assistance will increase from 15 to 20 years. Deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council will have to work in their positions for 5 years to receive payment in the amount of 55% of the current salary and 10 years for 75%.
The reform will affect civil and municipal employees, as well as persons working in government positions in the Russian Federation and its constituent entities. The innovations will apply only to officials who will continue to hold their posts after reaching the age limit. If a civil servant stops working, his pension will be calculated according to the general rules: from the age of 60 for men, from the age of 55 for women.
The retirement age for civil servants in 2017 will be 65 years. The corresponding law was approved by the State Duma in December 2015 and was supposed to come into force on July 1, 2016. However, the need to prepare a regulatory framework forced the implementation of the reform to be postponed for 6 months. Raising the retirement age will save 622 million rubles - a significant amount for the state treasury.
It should be noted that not all deputies accepted the bill with enthusiasm. According to some forecasts, the reform may limit the rights of retired officials in the social sphere. There is an opinion that innovations discriminate against this category of the population. But most MPs are also concerned about the possibility of an aging workforce and the prospect of worsening the problem of youth unemployment.
Retirement age in Russia and abroad
As already mentioned, Russians retire earlier than foreigners. For example, Japanese of both sexes retire at 70, while Americans retire at 65. The average retirement age in Europe is approximately 65 for men and 5 years less for women. But do not forget that this bar is primarily determined by life expectancy in each country. According to these indicators, the Russian Federation is losing to Western countries.
Retirement age in Western countries is linked to life expectancy However, the possibility of raising the retirement age still exists. Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukaev has repeatedly noted that the bar should be raised to 63 years – for both women and men. The Ministry of Finance advocates a more radical option - 65 years for all Russians. Otherwise, the country awaits.
Today, for every 120 economically active citizens there are 100 pensioners. According to analysts, the number of the latter will only increase in the coming years. Thus, the Pension Fund will not have funds to assist them. But we will only find out in 2018 what actions the Russian government will take to avoid a crisis.
