Experts spoke about legislative changes for Russians on their well-deserved retirement
In the second half of the year, Russian pensioners will face important legislative innovations, which for many of them can adjust the conditions and amounts of monthly payments received from the state . Experts told MK exactly what changes await Russians during their well-deserved retirement.
In July, 4 legislative surprises have been prepared for domestic pensioners, which may change the rules and amounts of payments they receive.
. Banks will no longer charge fees for housing and utility bills from people who need social support. In addition to parents of large families, disabled people, war veterans and family members of fallen combatants, legislators included all Russian pensioners among them. More precisely, President Vladimir Putin did it. As Konstantin Krokhin, a member of the Committee on Entrepreneurship in the Sphere of Housing and Communal Services of the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reminded MK, in December 2023 the head of state said that the commission charged by financial organizations when paying for utilities will be abolished for all pensioners. This happened during his Direct Line, and was regarded as a public promise to the Russians, which, of course, must be fulfilled. Meanwhile, by that time, there was by no means unanimity in the government and the State Duma on this issue: options for exempting only certain categories of beneficiaries from housing and communal services fees were considered. But the president’s “reservation” outweighed all doubts and work began to implement this decision. And from the second half of 2024 it comes into force.
At the same time, Krokhin does not consider the “zeroing” of the commission itself to be an important financial achievement for families. “The fact is that paying the commission itself is not too important for families’ budgets,” says the expert. “This is only 0.5-2% of the payment amount.”
As noted by Konstantin Krokhin, the overwhelming majority of commissions are paid in the range from 100 to 300 rubles. “Of course, for some, both 300 rubles and 100 rubles are money that is important to save, but in general it can hardly be said that this will somehow significantly reduce the financial burden for people.” However, for pensioners living in more or less spacious apartments, savings can amount to 2-3 thousand per year: not such a small amount for this social category.
. The amount of the supplement is 100% of the fixed part of the pension. In 2024 it is 8134 rubles 88 kopecks. Also, the fixed payment will be doubled for elderly people who received the first disability group.
The fixed payment is doubled only on one of these grounds, that is, if the pension was increased, for example, when a person received the first disability group, then a second time, with When he reaches 80 years old, it will no longer be increased.
The authorities make such a “gift” for 80-year-olds every month, and no applications or other documents need to be submitted to the Social Fund for this — the increased pension will be accrued automatically the next month after the anniversary.
Economist Andrei Loboda, director of communications at BitRiver, recalls that in Russia there are about 4% of the population over 80 years of age. And supporting them financially is an important state task and simply a humanly noble goal. “After all, due to age-related health problems and, as a rule, difficult life circumstances, they, on average, have less income and often higher expenses compared to other groups,” says the economist.
The fact is , that previously the SFR informed people only about those savings that were formed in it, and previously were in the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR). Starting from the second half of 2024, the Social Fund will also tell future pensioners about their savings in non-state pension funds (NPF).
It is assumed that the Social Fund will send the relevant messages once every three years through a personal account on the public services portal. The information will be provided in the order and in the form determined by the Ministry of Labor.
Andrey Loboda called such information an unequivocally positive moment for citizens. «The fact is that over the past years, many simply do not even know or do not remember where, in which fund their pension savings are located, not to mention the amounts that have accumulated there,» the expert explained.
However, according to him, simply informing citizens about their pension savings is not enough. It is also important to explain in more detail to the population the rules of savings in a non-state pension fund and how to transfer them to another fund, if desired or necessary.
A funded pension can be assigned in one of three ways: a one-time, fixed-term monthly and lifetime monthly payment. From the beginning of the second half of 2024, the type of receipt will be determined depending on the size of the pensioner’s subsistence level (PMP) in the country. If the estimated amount of pension savings is 10% or less of the PMP amount, then the insured person will be assigned a lump sum payment. Previously, this option was available only upon reaching a certain age and if the size of the funded pension was less than 5% of the insurance amount.
As economist Andrei Loboda explains, the innovation will allow more Russians to receive a funded pension at a time, rather than in in the form of a regular payment, and will make the definition of its type more understandable for NPF clients. In addition, the new procedure will simplify the work of employees of non-state pension funds.