Save for retirement with an insurance company. Retirement: do it yourself! Will the money “burn”?

Creating a personal pension is one of the priorities for every person. The pension system in Russia does not provide its citizens with support in old age. Therefore, it is very important to accumulate your pension independently at the stage while you are young and full of strength. The more time you have, the simpler and easier you will create your pension savings. So, how to save for retirement yourself?

There are two ways to secure your pension, each of which includes two stages:

1. Creation pension capital .

2. Receiving regular payments.

At the first stage, you need to choose an instrument that will provide a yield of 5-9% per annum in foreign currency for ten to thirty years. At the second stage, you need an instrument that will ensure receipt of a guaranteed personal monthly annuity - annuity. Let's consider possible tools for creating and receiving pension capital.

1. Creation of pension capital using the unit-linked investment method

Using this method in European countries they save money for themselves. pension since the 1960s. The idea is that within a life insurance policy there are investments to mutual funds automatically without the possibility of speculation: a portfolio of five to eight such funds is opened. The investment period for regular investments is from 15 years, for one-time investments – from five years. This method offers two different investment strategies - progressive monthly contributions (from $300-500 per month) or one-time investments with the ability to invest money annually (from $50 thousand).

The return on investment in US dollars, euros and British pounds averages 6-9% per annum for regular investments and up to 10-12% for one-time investments, which is two to five times higher than the inflation of these currencies. There is no annual guaranteed interest, meaning the amount in the account can either rise or fall. Therefore, to smooth out stock market fluctuations optimal time investment – from five years or more.

The method has been successfully working for more than 50 years, so it provides stability, reliability and a safe environment for increasing your capital. But capital liquidity is limited: in the first 5-15 years, money from savings pension can only be partially used.

This investment method ensures complete confidentiality and legal protection of your capital, including in the event of litigation (the created capital cannot be taken away by a court decision, in case of divorce, etc.). Because legally this is a contract life insurance, your capital is not subject to taxes. The tax return will only need to be prepared after the policy is closed.

The heirs are registered in the contract. In the event of the death of the policy holder, the money is paid to the heirs within one month and is also tax-free. It is impossible to sue or challenge the payment.

The contract can be concluded remotely. Russians have the opportunity to accumulate pension capital using the unit-linked method with insurance companies such as RL360, Hansard, Investors Trust.

Conclusion. The method is ideal for those who value security, reliability, confidentiality for their own investments and think about creating capital in the long term.

2. Creation of pension capital through a life insurance plan

The second option is a universal plan with the ability to save for retirement + life insurance. Universal index insurance plans were developed about 25 years ago and gained enormous popularity in the United States and European countries, and then throughout the world. Why? Because investors have long dreamed of making money on the growth of the stock market and not losing anything when it falls. This dream has become a reality.

Such plans with a guarantee of +1% annually are only available from insurance companies. In such plans, when an investment index, for example, the S&P500, grows, you earn an average of 8-10% per annum, while when the index falls, you receive 1% from the insurance company (this was, for example, when the market fell in 2008). The average return over the last 20 years, taking into account growth and decline, is 6-7% per annum. At the same time, you need to understand that this method is not an investment in the pure SP500 index, that is, the return will usually be slightly lower than the pure growth of the index. This is an insurance product.

The plan includes life insurance, an essential element of financial security. Another undeniable advantage of the plan is flexibility. It can be corrected throughout your life.

Liquidity is limited. You can partially use the money (withdraw, take out loans) from the second year of investment, while the full amount of savings usually cannot be withdrawn during the first 15 years.

Foreign insurance plans are available to Russian citizens. There are a number of companies that accept Russians remotely, without leaving the country. Depending on age, investments can start from $2000 per year.

The capital is fully protected, including from all lawsuits. In case of death, money is paid to the heirs within a month.

Conclusion. The method is perfect for those who solve financial issues while multitasking.

3. Annuity

These types of plans are available from companies that specialize in life insurance. An annuity can be created either by a one-time contribution or by transferring capital from an insurance policy to a regular annuity. With a one-time contribution, the minimum period for the formation of an annuity, which is necessary to begin payments, is usually 12 years. You can convert your insurance policy into an annuity after one year or later. To receive payments from the insurance policy, you can apply for a guaranteed monthly annuity starting from the second year. This method is especially suitable for people who need to receive money in any situation in the world from the age of 40-50 and for life.

Foreign pension funds are not available to non-residents, but you can make annuities from foreign insurance companies and receive guaranteed payments.

The annuity is guaranteed to provide an annuity up to age 121. For example, if you turned 60 yesterday and you have $1 million in your annuity, you will receive $4,000 to $4,500 each month until age 121. An annuity cannot be replaced by any other instrument. Only within the framework of this plan you are guaranteed to receive a fixed monthly annuity, regardless of the situation in the world and other circumstances.

Conclusion. An annuity is great for creating a personal pensions those who are going to live happily ever after prefer complete clarity in numbers.

Among my clients there is no clearly traceable dynamics in the use of a specific instrument; for each, we select a method and method that solves individual problems within the framework of the long-term financial plan of a particular client.

Pension- this is age, personal pension is capital, a choice that you are making now. The European pension is available to Russians. And you don’t even need to leave the country for this. Use this opportunity to save money and secure your future yourself.

For the younger generation, it is clear that the state pension will not be enough. Even if you receive a high salary or are a civil servant in a high position, the pension will be low in any case. Many representatives of the older generation are convinced that the state should pay them a decent pension, but in practice this, unfortunately, does not work. The conclusion is clear: you need to save it yourself.
You need to proceed from what you want and what lifestyle is comfortable for you, the main thing is not money, but goals and needs. Retirement is not just about “I want to live on $1000 a month.” It is important where you will live: in Moscow, in the Moscow region, in a village or in a house in Cyprus. Where and what do you want to eat: in restaurants or products from your own garden. The point of a personal financial plan is to correlate what you want with what is real.
The standard approach is to save as much as possible by retirement age and then buy a lifetime pension from an insurance company. But I would suggest looking for alternatives where you take a more active role in shaping your pension. Many of them are related to lifestyle changes. For example, if you live in Moscow, you can sell an apartment and buy a house with half the proceeds, and “buy a higher pension” with the other half. You don’t have to sell the apartment, but rent it out. This will be better than living in Moscow on a pension and limiting your spending.
Another alternative is to independently invest money to form a future pension. If a man is now 30 years old, then he has 35 years left before retirement. This is a long horizon, and therefore consultants recommend spending most of the money on buying stocks and investing less in bonds. As you get closer to retirement, buy fewer stocks and more bonds, reducing portfolio risk. But if you pay yourself a pension from your own savings after reaching 65, then your horizon becomes longer - not 35, but rather 50 years. The investment period is extended, so you can afford more risk.
There are no perfect instruments that are good enough to invest all your savings into. Some will choose real estate, while others will choose Russian or foreign stocks and bonds. The main thing is to diversify your investment portfolio.
It's better not to invest in something you don't understand, it's dangerous. For example, people who do not understand anything about cryptocurrencies invest money there and lose it. First, you should study the tools and only then, if you understand and believe in them, invest money there.
Financial intermediaries can help, but not with everything. Many people have the illusion that they can turn to a financial advisor, pension fund or insurance company - and they will solve all their problems. This is wrong. You need to understand both the advantages and disadvantages of the available tools, take into account intermediary fees and possible conflicts of interest.
When planning personal finances, people often forget about their most important asset - family and children. For the sake of money and career, many overwork, and this is to the detriment family relations. Children who do not see their parents for 5–6 days a week are raised by a nanny, kindergarten, school, social networks. If there is no full contact with children, they are unlikely to want to take care of their parents later. Meanwhile, support from children was once considered the main way to provide for oneself in old age.

Long-term investments have a different attitude towards risk and return, so they make sense in an environment of low inflation and confidence in the stability of the financial system. In developed countries, raising the retirement age most often took place precisely in such conditions. A variety of financial instruments are available for the formation of pension savings - both ordinary bank deposits and bonds (that is, instruments with fixed income and moderate risks), and special pension programs and non-state pension funds.
In Russia, the situation is intermediate: inflation has decreased, but I cannot say that a developed and stable system of financial institutions has already emerged that would provide a large selection of instruments in which one can invest for the long term. For example, in the event of reorganization or revocation of the license of banks, the state has an obligation to depositors within the framework of the deposit insurance system - but this will not protect the amount that a person has saved for old age: in Europe, the guarantee system covers €100,000, in our country - less than €20,000. According Non-state pension funds and investment funds do not have a guarantee system, the same applies to corporate bonds: if something goes wrong, payments will only be made through a bankruptcy mechanism.
This is not to say that the pension offer for the population is ready, and I would not recommend relying entirely on our pension funds in the form in which they exist. Many people support themselves by buying real estate and renting it out - this allows them to create some kind of stable income, plus the liquidity of this real estate remains. And the same short-term deposits.
Corporate pension systems. We have a very “nationalized” economy, large corporations occupy a large share, and they often develop such tools. Pension reform is likely to encourage companies to create such systems - this will allow them to attract and retain the best talent. But it will remain a big problem in the small enterprise sector, not to mention informal employment - however, it was there even before the reform.

The strategy depends on when a person plans to retire, what kind of pension he wants and how much risk he is willing to invest. Let's say, if he wants to receive 50,000 per month (that is, 600,000 per year), then by the age when he plans to retire, he must accumulate an amount that would bring 600,000 per year. At the same time, something should be left for reinvestment and growth - at least 5% of the amount to cover inflation.
A portfolio for passive income is usually made up of conservative or moderately conservative instruments, the yield on which is unlikely to exceed 10% per annum, half of which should be used for reinvestment, and the other can be withdrawn for current expenses. If 600,000 is 5% of the investment, then you need to save at least 12 million rubles at current prices. If you save this amount in conservative instruments with returns at the level of inflation, you need to save monthly an amount equal to 12 million divided by the number of months until retirement. For example, a person is 30, he wants to retire at 60, he is not ready to take risks, he wants to receive 50,000 a month - which means he needs to save 12 million/30*12 = 33 thousand rubles a month.
If a person is saving from scratch and his further investments depend entirely on his ability to work, I would advise minimum pension save within the framework of accumulative life insurance until retirement, and everything beyond that in an individual investment account with a strategy that corresponds to its risk.
If you plan to regularly replenish your investments, you need instruments for which this is technically possible: stocks, bonds, funds. If you need to invest a certain amount one-time, then instruments where replenishment is rarely possible are also suitable: structured products, purchase of real estate and business. For small amounts up to 300–500,000 rubles, I would recommend basic instruments: stocks, bonds, funds (primarily ETFs), since instruments such as real estate and business, with such amounts, can make up more than 50% of the portfolio or even lead to loans (mortgage). And for diversification purposes, it is better not to invest more than 15% in one instrument.
If a person is ready for risk, and there are at least 5 years left until retirement, you can place more than 30% of the portfolio in aggressive instruments (stocks, equity funds, commodities, business). If there is no risk appetite or if retirement is less than 4–5 years, then the basis of the portfolio should be the most conservative instruments: investment-grade bonds or bond funds, instruments with 100% capital protection.
You cannot invest all your retirement savings in high-risk instruments (cryptocurrencies, Forex, venture capital). If you want to take risks, you should allocate no more than 5% of your portfolio for this. And you can’t invest in something you don’t understand: you must be able to explain to yourself what the money will be invested in. If you're thinking of investing in a fund for the potential development of bamboo plantations in Antarctica using unique robotic technologies, but you don't have even close knowledge of it and don't understand how it will work, don't invest.
It is worth checking your pension investments at least once a year. If the portfolio is not conservative, but moderate or aggressive, you need to monitor the dynamics once a quarter and, if necessary, make decisions on adjustments.

Convention International organization Labor has established a minimum level of pension relative to wages at 40%. In developed European countries, this figure ranges from 50–70%. In Russia, it is just over 30% - taking into account the fact that the pension consists of two parts: insurance, which is formed from insurance contributions paid by the employer to the Pension Fund, and funded - which has been “frozen” in recent years by decision of the Government.
Suppose that to the above-mentioned 30%, a 30-year-old person receiving a salary of 50 thousand rubles per month would like to add another 20% through self-saving and receive 25,000 rubles as a pension. Due to insurance premiums, 15,000 rubles will be accumulated, the remaining 10,000 must be saved on your own. The accumulation period will be - taking into account the increase in the retirement age - 35 years, the payment period - 20 years. This means that it is necessary to accumulate 20 x 12 months x 10,000 = 2,400,000 rubles in an individual pension account in 420 months. Then the monthly contribution to the pension fund should be about 6,000 rubles. If the pension fund works efficiently and beats inflation, you can count on a larger monthly payment.
You should invest in instruments with maximum profitability and minimum risk. Following this logic, it is not recommended to invest in risky instruments, which primarily include shares - especially of little-known issuers. Venture projects should also be used only in exceptional cases.
Information about the savings account can be requested from the pension fund annually. For more careful control over the status of the account, you should have access to your personal account and monitor online the receipt of contributions to the account, the accrual of income and all other actions that the fund performs.
Changing the fund, if necessary, is recommended at intervals of no more than 5 years. In this case, during the transition, the income that the fund received for the client when investing his pension funds will not be lost.
If we are talking about independently accumulating funds, I would recommend monitoring your account through your personal account from the moment you enter into a pension agreement. The answer to the question about the frequency of transfer of independently accumulated funds in each pension fund is regulated differently and is in Pension rules fund, which the client must familiarize himself with when concluding the contract.

Working Russians, it seems, will have to put together a pension constructor and save for their retirement on their own

The government is preparing proposals to increase the retirement age - state pension You can receive it from 60-65 years old. Banki.ru found out who is better to save for an alternative pension.

DIY pension

In the very short term, the Cabinet of Ministers will prepare proposals to increase the retirement age and submit them to the State Duma. Dmitry Medvedev stated this on May 8 during a speech in the State Duma before voting for his candidacy for the post of Prime Minister of Russia. The options currently being discussed include retirement age for women at 60-63 years old, for men at 63-65 years old. This means that the moment the pension is calculated will be delayed by at least five years. The size of this pension also does not promise to be worthy. Especially for those who are now making good money. So, in any case, you should take care of your future pension yourself. Moreover, it’s time for even thirty-year-olds to think about it.

Now there is a wide range of pension products on the market - from non-state pension funds (NPFs) and from life insurers. Most of them relate to the corporate segment - when the employer saves for an additional pension for an employee (possibly co-financing by the employee), including this in the social package and considering it as an additional bonus in order to increase employee loyalty. For example, in the portfolio of Ingosstrakh-Life Insurance Company, corporate programs account for 80% of contributions.

In the corporate segment, the activity of life insurers in the pension market is greatly limited due to asymmetric tax regulation with non-state pension funds, notes Sergei Faizov, vice president for strategic development of Renaissance Life. “It is more profitable for corporate clients to work with pension funds whose programs provide tax benefits", explains the expert.

But there are also special programs for individuals, which are becoming increasingly popular as the contours of future pension reform are drawn. "All more Russians understand that they need to take care of their material well-being in retirement age on their own. It’s not for nothing that long-term products are becoming more and more clearly the driver of life insurance growth every year,” says Sergey Faizov, “a considerable part of endowment life insurance clients apply for these programs specifically to form capital for retirement.” The development of specialized pension savings programs is only a matter of time for life insurers operating in the Russian market, he is sure.

General Director of Ingosstrakh-Life Insurance Company Vladimir Chernikov agrees that in connection with pension reform and the growing level of financial literacy of the population, in the near future the demand for pension programs aimed at individuals will increase.

The key question for a future pensioner is where to allocate the money intended for the formation of a future non-state pension. To answer it, you need to understand what distinguishes the pension programs offered by insurers and non-state pension funds.

Pension constructor

The main difference between the pension programs of life insurers and NPF programs is that life insurance programs do not depend on the onset of pension grounds (for example, retirement age), the start date for annuity payments is flexible and is chosen by the client himself. Simply put, you decide when you “retire” - at 45, 50 or 70 years old. In conditions where finding a job after 45 years of age is very problematic, this factor becomes an important argument in favor of choosing an insurance program.

In general, insurers, as a rule, offer clients design programs where you can choose any parameter at your discretion. The policyholder has the opportunity to independently determine the frequency and timing of payments, the currency in which contributions will be made - rubles or the equivalent at the Central Bank exchange rate (for NPFs only in rubles), the frequency of contributions, and the amount of insurance coverage. The client can receive a lump sum payment of the entire amount, sign up for a lifetime program with regular annuity payments, or limit the annuity to a fixed period (5-30 years).

Life insurers, unlike non-state pension funds, whose profitability depends entirely on the success of the investment strategy, offer two types of programs: with a predetermined stable profitability and with a potentially higher, but not guaranteed one. “NPFs currently mostly sell defined contribution plans. In such programs, at the time of concluding the contract, the client does not know the size of his future pension,” says Natalya Belova, head of individual insurance products at Sberbank Life Insurance.

As a client of an insurance company, you decide when you “retire” - at 45, 50 or 70 years old.

“Defined benefit schemes are not popular with clients of non-state pension funds and the funds themselves, since such pension programs require compliance with the procedure for making contributions over a significant horizon,” explains CEO NPF "Socium" Ekaterina Shishkina. - Clients prefer programs that are not tied to strict payment schedules. In this case, the pension is calculated based on the actual result without penalties or risk of non-fulfillment of the obligations of either party. Another option is instant funding by making a lump sum contribution to ensure the payment of the pension.”

The fund offers all types of payments: lifetime, including sequential payment to two participants (family scheme) and payments with a guaranteed period; urgent payments - both savings (with inheritance of the balance throughout the entire payment period) and insurance (in the event of the death of a participant, no payment is made to the heirs); payments until the account is exhausted. Urgent payments are offered with different conditions in terms of termination - receipt of the redemption amount, depending on the down payment, accumulation period, etc. Both schemes with registered pension accounts and a scheme with a joint pension account are available for enterprises.

“The vast majority of individuals choose schemes with urgent payments, which provide the opportunity to influence the final amount of the pension by adjusting the period and taking into account the possibility of inheritance throughout the entire term of the contract,” says Shishkina. Investors - legal entities are more focused on lifelong payments for employees - participants under the pension agreement, since the problem of additional social support throughout the entire period of life after completion labor activity, the expert notes.

“Life insurance products, among other things, contain an additional component in the form of insurance protection and allow you not only to accumulate funds, but also to protect yourself from significant financial losses in the event of unforeseen health-related events,” emphasizes Vladimir Chernikov.

“Our program provides the possibility of connecting additional insurance protection in the event of unfavorable circumstances, for example, payments in the event of injury or diagnosis of particularly dangerous diseases, as well as an early start of annuity payments for disability,” says Natalya Belova from Sberbank Life Insurance. “About 90% of our product clients choose a term annuity, no more than 10% of clients choose a lifetime annuity, and 60% of clients opt for additional insurance protection.”

Thus, insurers have greater variability for the moment of retirement, there is a guaranteed amount of payments and insurance protection, which non-state pension funds do not have. But on the other hand, the products of non-state pension funds are simpler and cheaper, the client is more free in terms of the frequency of depositing funds into the pension account: if there is money, he added to his pension, if not, he missed it. Some life insurers have the option of obtaining holidays due to changed financial circumstances. For example, the MetLife company, under some programs, automatically pays for the client if he missed a payment, but this is issued as a mini-loan. However, in general, the payment terms for pension programs of insurance companies are more regulated than those of non-state pension funds.

The possibility of obtaining a tax deduction on an annual contribution of up to 120 thousand rubles and the special status of funds (not divided in case of property disputes) are typical for products of both pension funds and insurance companies.

Inheritance in the event of the death of a pensioner in an insurance company is much simpler: the beneficiary specified in the contract receives payment within 14 days. In the case of inheriting pension funds from a non-state pension fund, the terms for receiving money are not clearly defined: the successor/heir must re-assign contractual rights to himself and then terminate the contract in order to receive the redemption amount.

A non-state pension fund client is more free in terms of the frequency of depositing funds into a pension account: if there is money, he added to his pension, if not, he missed it.

Who to rely on

When you trust a financial institution with money for long years Naturally, the issue of the company’s reliability and the safety of your funds becomes important.

Executive Director of NPF Safmar Evgeny Yakushev draws attention to the fact that NPFs take into account pension savings on a separate balance sheet, and in the insurance company they will immediately be allocated to their own property. “The NPF’s remuneration is calculated from earned investment income and is limited by law, but in the insurance business it’s the other way around: everything that is not paid to clients forms the profit of the insurance company,” he explains.

“Yes, NPFs account for pension savings on a separate balance sheet, and the insurer applies them to their own property, but this mattered when NPFs were non-profit organizations,” argues Timur Gilyazov, director of strategic projects at MetLife. - Now all NPFs have already undergone corporatization (or will undergo corporatization in the near future) and after some time they will be able to make a profit. The factor of a separate balance of savings ceases to be an argument.”

Timur Gilyazov believes that pension products of insurers are more reliable: “Under pension programs there is no probability of non-payment for any reason, as, for example, in risk programs when the insured event simply did not occur. Moreover, the terms of payment to the client are known in advance; they are specified in the contract.”

The risks of a life insurer leaving the market are extremely low. The requirements for the minimum authorized capital of an insurance company are significantly higher than those of non-state pension funds (240 million rubles versus 150 million rubles), there is a specialized bankruptcy procedure for insurers, repayment of the current deficit occurs automatically from own funds. In a non-state pension fund, it comes first from the insurance reserve, then through a targeted contribution by decision of the fund’s board. “Over the past five years, many non-state pension funds have gone bankrupt, but I can only remember one life insurance company,” recalls Gilyazov.

Few of us at a young age think about retirement, but sometimes the thought still comes to mind: I’m a freelancer, I’m not officially employed, what should I do later, in old age?

In our magazine, we have already talked about how a freelancer can save up a pension. Today we will return to this burning issue again and tell you about some more options for how a remote worker can ensure a decent old age.

Individual entrepreneurship and pensions

The first option on how to earn a pension is to formalize your activities, register as an individual entrepreneur.

The individual entrepreneur does not pay himself a salary, but receives income. Also, an entrepreneur is an insured person who annually pays insurance premiums for himself to the Pension Fund. Thus. IP has every right receive in old age labor pension, but for this you need to meet two simple conditions:

Reach retirement age;

- “accumulate” insurance experience for more than 5 years.

Insurance experience means the period during which insurance premiums were paid to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation for you. It doesn’t matter whether you paid for yourself as an individual entrepreneur, or whether your employer did it for you. This also includes periods of incapacity (sick leave) and parental leave.

Every year the amount of insurance premiums is growing, but businessmen should not hope for a large pension from the state. She may not even exceed the size social pension, which today is 4769.09 rubles per month. Funny money, isn't it?

The formula for calculating a pension is very complex, and it is much easier to contact your branch of the Pension Fund and find out how much you can count on when you reach retirement age.

How to increase your pension? This is a purely personal matter. You can invest money in gold or real estate, or put it aside for a deposit. Or you can use another one interesting option– voluntary pension insurance.

Voluntary pension provision

This option is very common in European countries. There, everyone thinks about their future and tries to save for their old age while still young.

Voluntary pension provision implies a system of saving for a future pension with the help of various organizations: non-state pension funds or insurance companies.

This is additional insurance that can be used in conjunction with the main one. That is, it doesn’t matter whether you are a freelancer, work in an office, an individual entrepreneur or the head of an LLC - you can save your pension in this way.

Another advantage of such insurance is that The amount of insurance premiums is determined by you yourself, not the state. Contributions can be cumulative or one-time. Those. you can pay monthly, or (if you have one) set aside a tidy sum for yourself right away.

You can also choose a payment option that is convenient for you: you will pay monthly, quarterly, or once a year.

Each insurance company and each fund have their own programs, and you can contact several organizations at once, consult, compare the benefits, and choose the most suitable option for yourself.

When you reach retirement age, you will be paid money from what you have accumulated. Payment can also be made as specified in the contract - once a month, once every six months, etc.

Don’t be afraid to trust your money to insurance companies or non-state pension funds. Just choose a reliable organization. The activities of insurers are controlled by the state, a special insurance supervision body. Therefore, you can be sure that all contracts are respected as they should be.

This way, you can create a decent pension on your own. And the sooner you start doing this, the more you will save.

To start saving for your future pension now, you need to take just a few steps:

choose a non-state pension fund or insurance company;
choose a suitable voluntary pension program;
enter into an agreement with a non-state pension fund or insurance company;
start paying pension contributions in accordance with the terms of the concluded agreement.

The insurance company may also offer you to use life insurance program. This is also a very interesting and useful opportunity to secure a future for yourself and your children.

When our son was born, my husband and I immediately thought about how we could set aside a certain amount “just in case,” so that when he grows up, we would have money for his education or to buy something serious - for example, car. One of our friends advised us to contact an insurance company and conclude an agreement for endowment insurance life.

This program combines two possibilities - savings and life insurance. Those. you can save a certain amount, and at the same time you are insured in case of unforeseen tragic events.

You can save money for any purpose: to educate a child at a university, to buy real estate, to receive an additional pension. We chose the first one.

Agreements of this type are concluded for a fairly long period, usually 10-20 years. For example, we have a contract for 18 years.

You can choose how much you want to receive at the end of the contract. Depending on this amount, it calculates the amount of insurance premiums, which should be made regularly (we pay once a month; you can pay quarterly or once a year, as is convenient for you).

As a result, when our son turns 18, we will receive a fairly round sum (accumulated amount + interest), which can be used at our discretion. Payments will also be made if (God forbid, of course) the insured person receives group 1 or 2 disability, temporarily loses his ability to work as a result of an accident, reaches retirement age, or if death occurs. The amount of payments in such cases depends on the sum insured.

We also have the opportunity to terminate the contract ahead of schedule, if desired, and withdraw the accumulated amount earlier (but at a minimum - so that a year has passed from the date of conclusion of the contract).

Don't confuse endowment insurance with a bank deposit. The main task of insurance is the safety and protection of your life and money, and not the accumulation of a large sum. Endowment insurance has many advantages:

In the event of the death of the policyholder, the payment will be received by the one he chose (the beneficiary), and not the direct heir;

Payments under accumulative insurance contracts are not taxed;

Insurance payments are not subject to confiscation (in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);

In case of divorce, premiums are not divided, even if the insurance contract was concluded during the marriage.

That is why more and more residents of the CIS are paying attention to endowment insurance as an excellent opportunity to ensure a decent future for themselves and their loved ones.

Freelancers have every right to take advantage of these insurance programs. The main thing is to choose a reliable company and favorable conditions for yourself.

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26.09.2018 Elena SADOVSKAYA. Photo from the VB archive and pixabay.com.

The Ministry of Finance proposes to reduce payments to the Social Security Fund for enterprises, and make pension savings insurance mandatory for citizens. In other words, people are encouraged to take care of the size of their pensions themselves, and not just rely on the state. But while this is still voluntary, we decided to figure out whether it makes sense for Belarusians to save money for retirement in insurance companies.

Help "VB"
A pension contribution is transferred monthly to the State Social Insurance Fund for all employees. It is 29% of the salary, of which 28% is paid by the employer and 1% by the employee. It is impossible to refuse to pay contributions to the Social Security Fund.

The scheme for calculating the size of a pension today is such that even a large seniority may not provide you comfortable old age. Some people don’t want to rely on “maybe” and take matters into their own hands – saving for retirement on their own. But since no one has canceled contributions to the Social Security Fund, and they make up a third of each employee’s salary, there are few of those who also save for retirement themselves. We found one of these few - he told us why he was sending money to the insurance company.

“For retirement I’ll save up for a one-room apartment”

30-year-old Bobruisk resident Ivan Khamrenko works as an international driver. In recent years, he began to think about the size of his future pension and realized that he would not be satisfied with the amount that the state could pay him.

A couple of years ago, Ivan accidentally came across insurance brokers who offered an option for a state funded pension insurance program. The man weighed everything and decided that this was the way out.

“Essentially, it’s a bank deposit with interest, and good interest,” he says. – At the time of the conclusion of the agreement, the profit in dollars was about six percent per annum, while the banks gave two to three percent. The rate is floating, but they promised that it will not drop below the initial level.

In addition, according to Ivan, the program includes insurance for disability and death.

– For me, this is also convenient because it is psychologically easier for me to keep money away from home. There is no way to take them and spend them on anything.

For two years now, Ivan has been saving about $300 (about 620 rubles) a year for his future retirement. By the time he reaches retirement age, he plans to save up at least 20 thousand dollars - “as much as for a one-room apartment in Bobruisk.”

How it works

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According to the Belarusian Association of Insurers, as of January 1, 2018, 141,108 people insure additional pensions in Belarus. Of these, 13,285 contracts were concluded by individuals, and 127,823 contracts were concluded by enterprises for their employees. At the same time, more than 4 million people are employed in the country’s economy, i.e. only 3.5% of working Belarusians have thought about retirement in advance.

The Belarusian Association of Insurers said that in our country today there are only two insurance companies that provide additional pension insurance services. One of them is public, the second is private (connected with a large bank).

The principle of operation of the programs is the same in both cases. A person enters into a contract, pays insurance premiums until he retires, and then he is given back what he has accumulated. And for the fact that the company has been using the money throughout this period, interest and various bonuses are added to the amount. For example, the insurance company promises to pay Ivan Khamrenko every year, in addition to interest, another amount depending on its own profit.

The refund period is negotiated separately. You can receive an increase in your pension every month, quarter or year, or you can withdraw the entire amount at once.

The size of the final payment depends on the age at which a person begins saving for retirement and the amount of funds set aside. Insurers say it makes sense to save at least 5-10 percent of your income.

The websites of both companies have insurance calculators where you can, by entering initial data, calculate the approximate additional payment to your future pension.

For example, if the average 40-year-old man decides to save 400 rubles annually, then after retirement he will be able to receive a monthly increase of about 255 rubles for five years, and if longer, for 10 years, then about 137 rubles. In order to receive an additional payment equal to today’s average pension for five years, our man will have to save 600 rubles a year.

Will the money “burn”?

Ivan Khamrenko admits: he is not completely sure that his contribution to the insurance company will not depreciate one day. But he still hopes that there will be no problems.

And here Marina Ushakova, a 52-year-old Bobruisk woman, although she knows about the possibility of additional pension insurance, does not want to risk money:

– Firstly, we have an unstable economic situation. I remember the fall of the ruble in 1990, and how quite recently, at the beginning of 2015, the dollar sharply increased by almost four thousand in “old” money.

Secondly, Marina says, the pension insurance service has appeared recently:

– I’m not sure that in the event of bankruptcy, changes in legislation or other disasters, insurance organizations will be able to return money to depositors.

In addition, the woman is sure that the state should deal with the issue of a decent pension size, since it has raised the retirement age. And the system as a whole compulsory insurance, when the employer pays the fees, she likes it better: “it’s calmer.”

– In this case, if a person is left without income for some time, then there is no need to pay contributions. I’m not sure that insurance companies work on the same principle - most likely, the investor under the contract must make a contribution in any situation, otherwise all previous ones will be canceled.

The last reason for mistrust was denied by one of the insurance companies. The specialists explained that they always try to adapt to the client’s situation. In case of failure to pay the fee on the date required by the contract, the client may be given a deferment for two months or offered to reduce the payment amount to a more comfortable one. And after three years of payment, the client can change the amount of the contribution and the time of its payment.