General Pension Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | General Pension Act |
| Abbreviation: | APG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Republic of Austria |
| Legal matter: | social insurance |
| Reference: | BGBl. I No. 142/2004 |
| Date of law: | December 15, 2004 |
| Effective date: | January 1, 2005 |
| Last change: | BGBl. I No. 100/2018 |
| Legal text: | General Pension Act |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version ! | |
The General Pension Act (APG) governs since 1 January 2005, the pension system for all in Austria in the pension insurance insured persons who are born on or after January 1, 1955th
history
Until December 31, 2004, there were various pension regulations for different social groups such as workers, employees, self-employed, farmers or workers in miners' businesses. These old regulations continue to apply to all insured persons who were born before January 1, 1955. The old provisions also partially apply to all those born later who acquired insurance periods before January 1, 2005.
As part of the pension harmonization , the General Pension Act was passed.
Eligibility requirements
Seizure age
The age at which an old- age pension is due was uniformly set at 65 for women and men. Transitional provisions apply to women born up to June 1, 1968.
In addition to the old-age pension, the option of a corridor pension was created for insured persons with a long insurance period. The onset age for this type of pension is 62 years.
Minimum insurance period
The minimum insurance period, formerly known as the “waiting period”, is 180 months of insurance for an old-age pension , of which at least 84 must be acquired due to gainful employment.
For the corridor pension the minimum insurance period is 450 insurance months.
For the minimum insurance period, only insurance months according to the APG apply - i.e. only insurance months acquired from 2005. Insured persons who have already acquired insurance periods before January 1, 2005, can also meet the eligibility requirements if they qualify for the waiting period according to the old regulations valid until 2004, fulfill.
calculation
Previous models
According to the old provisions, an assessment base was initially established which was calculated from the average income (up to the maximum contribution base) in a certain assessment period. A certain percentage of the assessment base was due as a pension. The percentage was dependent on the number of months of insurance.
Pension account
In contrast to the previous models, the pension is calculated differently according to the General Pension Act. A pension account is set up for each insured person. At the end of a calendar year, an annual credit is calculated on the pension account (1.78% of the sum of the contribution bases in this year - in other words, 1.78% of the annual earnings, to put it simply - but only up to the current maximum contribution base (as of 2015: 5,425.00 per month) Euro)).
The total of all annual credits (these are revalued accordingly in order to compensate for the inflation rate) then results in a total credit. The total credit at the start of retirement corresponds to an annual pension - i.e. a monthly pension is obtained by dividing the total credit by 14.
Example pension calculation according to the APG
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Anyone insured under the APG can request a current statement of their pension account (account balance) from their pension insurance provider at any time. Credits that have already been determined are guaranteed and cannot be reduced by future changes in the law. This is intended to achieve a certain degree of legal certainty in pension provision.
Parallel calculation (until December 31, 2013)
The so-called parallel calculation is used for all insured persons who were born on or after January 1, 1955 and who have acquired insurance periods under the old and new law (i.e. before 2005 and from 2005) (exceptions for a small proportion under the old or new law).
First of all, a fictitious pension amount is calculated according to the old law (ASVG, GSVG, FSVG, BSVG) - as if all insurance months (including those from 2005) had been acquired under the old law (as if the APG had not existed at all).
A fictitious pension amount is then calculated according to the APG - as if all months of insurance (including those before 2005) had been acquired under the new law (as if the APG had always applied).
Now it is determined what percentage of the insurance months were acquired under the old law (i.e. before 2005) and what percentage under the APG (i.e. from 2005).
The percentage of the old months is used for the old pension and the percentage of APG months for the APG pension. Both pro-rata benefits are added and result in the pension according to the parallel calculation.
| Example of parallel calculation | |
|---|---|
| Assumption of fictitious old pension (legal situation before 2005) | € 1,600 |
| Assumption of fictitious APG pension (according to the example above) | € 1,424.00 |
| Assumption proportion of insurance months | according to old law 40% - according to APG 60% |
| results in proportional old pension | € 1,600 x 40% = € 640 |
| results in a pro rata APG pension | € 1,424 x 60% = € 854.40 |
| results in a monthly gross pension | € 640, - + € 854.40 = 1,494.40 |
New pension account (from January 1, 2014)
With the introduction of the new pension account from January 1, 2014, the pensions for all persons born from January 1, 1955 will be calculated exclusively on the basis of a single pension account system.
Initial account credit
People born on or after January 1, 1955 and who have acquired at least one month of insurance by December 31, 2004, receive an initial account credit: The months of insurance acquired up to the end of 2013 are merged and transferred to the new pension account as an initial credit.
From January 1, 2014, there will be no other pension calculation, only the calculation with the new pension account applies.
Web links and sources
Individual evidence
- ↑ Variable values for 2015 ( Memento from January 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
