Litouwen
The award and payment of the following state social insurance pensions are subject to the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania: old-age pension; disability pension; survivor’s and orphan’s pension; early retirement pensions.
Old-Age Pension.
Old-age pension is paid when a person reaches retirement age, provided they have made social insurance contributions for at least 15 years. The retirement age differs for men and women. The retirement age for men is 62 years and six months. The retirement age for women is 60 years.
The old-age pension consists of two parts:
The basic part of the State social insurance old-age pension is equal to the State social insurance basic pension and is the same for all persons having contributed for the obligatory period to the State social pension insurance for old-age pension (in the event of any shortfall due to non-contribution during the obligatory period for State social pension insurance, this is reduced on a pro rata basis). The obligatory pension insurance period for State social insurance old-age pension is 30 years. The amount of the basic pension shall not be less than 110 per cent of the minimum standard of living. Currently, the basic pension amounts to LTL 266.
The amount of the supplementary pension part depends on an individual’s contribution period to the state social insurance, the earnings that serve as a basis for the calculation of the pension, and the insured income for the current year.
Disability Pension.
Disability pension is granted if a person is a permanent resident of the Republic of Lithuania and when the Disability and Employment Capacity Assessment Office (‘NDNT’) recognises a person as incapable or partially incapable for employment and providing the person has the minimum record of State social pension insurance (employment), as required for the Disability pension.
A person shall be considered capable of work if he or she is recognised by the NDNT as having lost 75-100 per cent of working capacity (i.e. it is determined that his or her working capacity is 0-25 per cent). A person is considered partially capable of work if he or she is recognised by the NDNT as having as having lost 45-70 per cent of working capacity (i.e. it is determined that his or her working capacity equals 30-55 per cent).
The requirements of minimum or obligatory State social pension insurance are established on the basis of the age of a person unfit or partially unfit for work, i.e. the older the person, the longer the period of State social pension insurance that is required. If the person has met the minimum, but not mandatory, period of State social pension insurance, he/she will receive partial disability pension, in other words, a ‘partial’ pension.
The disability pension consists of two parts:basic and supplementary parts, as well as the pension bonus for the years of work record. For those individuals who have met the mandatory period for State social pension insurance for the Disability Pension, the basic part of the Disability Pension is equal to: 1.5 of the basic pension, where persons have lost 75-100 per cent of their capacity for work; the basic pension, where persons have lost 60-70 per cent of their working capacity; 0.5 of the basic pension, where persons have lost 45-55 per cent of their capacity for work. The amount of the supplementary part of the Disability Pension depends on a person’s period of service, the coefficient of the person’s insured income and other criteria.
Survivor’s and Orphan’s Pensions.
Survivor’s and orphan’s pensions are granted to the spouse and children of a deceased person who was covered by State social pension insurance as well as other persons equivalent to them, where the deceased person had been granted the right, as established by law, to receive the State social insurance Disability Pension or old-age pension, or received one of these pensions.
Early retirement Pensions.
The early retirement pension is awarded to a person who, on the day of application for early retirement pension, meets certain conditions, namely: a period of less than 5 years is left until the age of official retirement is reached; has made contributions to the State social pension insurance for at least 30 years; has been registered as unemployed at a local labour exchange office of the Lithuanian Labour Exchange over the past 12 months prior to the application for early retirement pension; and other conditions. The early retirement pension is calculated in the same manner as the State social insurance old-age pension and is reduced by 0.4 per cent for every full month left before a person reaches retirement age.
Applications for the pension should be made at the local office of the State Social Insurance Fund Board ‘Sodra’.
