Another increase in June. 500 PLN to the pension

• From 1 June, ZUS will carry out a general indexation of the capital accumulated in the accounts.
• The benefit increase only covers pensions that will be paid in the future.
• Delaying retirement, for example to the second half of the year after the June indexation, usually translates into a higher ZUS benefit.

Let us recall that every year on June 1, ZUS starts indexing the funds accumulated in the accounts and sub-accounts of the insured, including indexing the initial capital. The funds increase by a certain percentage.

The amount of the account indexation depends on inflation (increase in the prices of goods and services) and on the premiums written (increase in wages and the number of insured) from the previous year. In turn, the indexation of the sub-account is a derivative of the GDP growth dynamics for the last 5 years.

The indexation covers money collected in ZUS accounts and sub-accounts until 31 December of the previous year. As Łukasz Kozłowski, chief economist of the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs, told "Fakt", the indexation rate of contributions in the first pillar of the pension system may amount to about 14.3%.

The pension capital of insured persons will also be indexed by this amount in June this year - he noted.

The final annual indexation rate of contributions is to be announced in May. How will this translate into the money saved by Poles? "Fakt" showed this with two examples:

• a person with PLN 500,000 of capital in ZUS will gain PLN 71,500 on indexation,
• a person with PLN 700,000 of capital in ZUS will gain over PLN 100,000 from indexation.

Pension to increase by PLN 500. Another increase in June

Based on these forecasts, "Fakt" checked how much one can gain by postponing retirement.

By postponing the application submission deadline until July, the pension - depending on the collected capital - may be higher by PLN 400-500 gross per month - we read.

Interia showed how indexation works using two examples:

• The 60-year-old has collected PLN 500,000 in her retirement account. If she had retired before the June indexation, she would have had a chance of receiving a benefit of PLN 1,876. The pension awarded to her in July would have reached PLN 2,145 after the indexation, which is over PLN 250 more.
• The 70-year-old collected PLN 600,000. If he had retired in the first half of the year, he would have received PLN 3,351. After the June indexation, the pension would have amounted to PLN 3,832. That is almost PLN 500 more.

Łukasz Kozłowski reminded "Fakt" that only people who have not yet retired benefit from the June indexation. - Therefore, a high indexation rate of contributions may be a strong argument for delaying retirement , thanks to which the benefit received later will be at a significantly higher level - he emphasized.