See who gets the INSS retirement age at 61 years old

Women who are already or are going to have their 61st birthday by December 31st can get old-age pension from the INSS (National Social Security Institute) this year. In addition to the required age, you must prove the minimum contribution time of 15 years.

As of January 1, 2022, the requirement will increase and the insured will need to be 61 years and six months old. The minimum age for women has increased six months every year since the Social Security reform took effect, in November 2019. As of 2023, it will reach 62 years and will not increase any more, according to the rules defined in the Social Security reform, valid from November 13, 2019.

For men, the minimum age of 65 has not changed and it is also necessary to prove the 15-year grace period for payments to the INSS. Men who were not yet in the labor market when the reform took effect will have to prove, in the future, a minimum of 20 years of contribution.

According to the INSS, the lack of contribution time is among the main reasons that lead the agency to deny requests for pensions. The request for the benefit is made by My INSS (website or application) or by phone 135.

Grace period x contribution time

Called a grace period, there are some restrictions to be able to complete this minimum period of 15 years. According to the lawyer Roberto de Carvalho Santos, from the Roberto de Carvalho Santos Advogados Associados office, the period in which the insured person received sick pay counts as a grace period when there are interspersed contributions. In other words, it is necessary to have contributions to the INSS in periods before and after the leave. “It doesn’t have to be immediately after, if there is any contribution after the sick pay, this period counts as a grace period”, he says.

Care must also be taken with paying late contributions. According to the expert, the contribution in arrears does not count as a grace period, unless you are in the insured condition, within the grace period. “The optional insured, for example, has a six-month grace period. If he fails to pay four contributions and collect these four contributions within the grace period, he will be counted as a grace period,” he says. “What is not admitted is the person who has lost the quality of insured and wants to pay late,” he explains.

House donuts

Retirement by age is the benefit granted to those who contribute to the INSS as MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur), as self-employed at the rate of 11% and by low-income housewives who contribute 5% of the minimum wage. In these three cases, retirement will be granted in the amount of the minimum wage (R$ 1,100 in 2021).

Lawyer Thiago Luchin, from the Aith, Badari e Luchin Advogados law firm, emphasizes that it is important for housewives to return to paying contributions to the INSS in order to be entitled to a pension. “Many have stopped paying and have not returned to contribute and are in limbo because there is not enough time to meet the requirements for retirement by age”, he says. See options for the housewife to have retirement.

Calculation

The calculation of age benefit was one of the most affected by the Social Security reform. Before the change in the rules, this benefit was calculated at 70% of the average salary plus 1% for each full year of contribution. Men and women could have the full benefit with 30 years of contribution. After the reform, the general calculation began to be applied, which is 60% of the average salary plus 2% for each year that goes beyond 15 years (for women) and 20 years (for men).

If, on the one hand, the reform did not increase the minimum age for men for this type of benefit, on the other hand, it “frozen” the percentage applied to policyholders who have 15 to 20 years of INSS at 60%. For men who were already in the labor market when the reform took effect, the minimum contribution time is 15 years, but the benefit amount will only increase after 21 years of contribution.

Vested right

Those who can prove that they have completed the conditions for retiring by age with the rules prior to the Social Security reform can still apply and have the most advantageous calculation. Another differential of the pre-retirement age pension is that the average salary will be calculated with the withdrawal of the 20% lowest contributions since July 1994. This discard is no longer valid for those who retire under the rules after retirement. For those who have the so-called acquired right, arrears begin to count from the date on which the request for retirement is registered with the INSS.

Retirement by age

1 – For those who started contributing to the INSS until November 13, 2019

1.1 – For those who already paid the INSS before retirement, but were unable to retire

• For these cases, there are transition rules. In the transition from retirement to age, the required age of women increases by six months a year, until reaching 62 in 2023

15 years

It is the minimum time for contributions to the INSS required of men and women. This minimum time, called grace period, did not change with the reform

Calculation

• Retirement will be 60% of the average salary plus 2% for each year of contribution that goes beyond 15 years (women) and 20 years (men)
• The average salary considers all salaries since July 1994
• It is allowed to discard contributions of lesser value, as long as you maintain the minimum time required of 15 years of contribution

1.2- For those who were able to retire by age until November 13, 2019

• The request can still be made today, as long as you can prove that you had the minimum time and age before the reform took effect.

Requirements for those who can prove that they have completed the requirements before starting the reform:

• Women: 60 years and 15 years of contribution
• Men: 65 years and 15 years of contribution

Calculation

• Retirement with pre-retirement rules is more advantageous for men and women
• The benefit is 70% of the average salary plus 1% each year 12 months of contribution
• Those who have 15 years of contribution, for example, earn a pension of 85% of their average salary
• In addition, the old average salary has the discard of the 20% lower contributions, which can result in a higher benefit
• For those who contribute the minimum wage, there will be no difference
• The arrears will only count from the DER (Date of Entry of Application) in the INSS

2. For those who started contributing to the INSS after November 13, 2019

Requirements to retire:

For men:65 years of age and 20 years of contribution (240 payments)
For women: 62 years of age and 15 years of contribution (180 payments)

Calculation

• The general calculation of the reform will be applied, 60% of the average salary plus 2% for each year of contribution that exceeds 15 years (women) and 20 years (men)
• The retirement of men aged 15 to 20 years will have the same percentage, 60% of the average salary
• The average salary considers all salaries since July 1994
• Those who have more than the minimum time required can discard contributions with smaller amounts, if it is advantageous

Check your contributions

• Access the site meu.inss.gov.br with your registered login and password
• Click on “Contribution Statement (CNIS)”
• The statement will show the start and end date of each job, as well as periods with contribution as self-employed or optional insured
• If any period is missing, it is possible to request the correction from the INSS
• Cnis tends to have flaws, especially from periods prior to 1982, when wages were registered in Cnis
• Registration in the work card, as long as there are no gaps or erasures, is sufficient to prove a period worked

simulate retirement

• The worker can use My INSS to check how much time is left to retire by age
• The simulation is carried out with the information that is in the INSS database
• You can also add links and change your birth date when you do the simulation.
• Attention: the result generated by the calculator is valid for consultation only and does not guarantee the right to retirement

How to consult

• Log in to My INSS
• In the center of the screen appears the “Retirement Simulator”
• After selecting “Detail”, the system will show your total contribution time
• It will also show whether you are already entitled to old-age pension, how much time is left to complete the grace period and how old you are