This is the highest agricultural pension in Poland. Is there anything to envy?

Data from the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS), quoted by “Fakt”, show that the highest agricultural pension in Poland is PLN 4,772.11 gross. This amount of benefit goes to the farmer who has regularly paid contributions in the KRUS system for over 41 years.

The highest agricultural pension does not impress

Meanwhile, the highest pension paid by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) is nearly PLN 51,500 gross. Such significant differences result primarily from different principles of financing and calculating benefits. KRUS is based on much lower contributions than the general pension system, which translates into lower benefits, even in the case of people with a very long history of work in agriculture.

The daily reminds that in order to receive an agricultural pension from KRUS, the following conditions must be met:

• reaching retirement age – 60 years for women and 65 years for men,

• at least 25 years of paying agricultural contributions,

• running or co-running a farm during the required period.

In the case of persons born after December 31, 1948, the periods of farmers’ social insurance and work on a farm after the age of 16 before 1983 are also important. Exceptionally, military service from before 1999 may be included in the length of service, provided that the person does not receive benefits from ZUS.

The KRUS system guarantees that the agricultural pension will not be lower than the lowest employee pension from ZUS. If the calculated benefit turns out to be lower, it is automatically increased to the minimum level. Benefits are subject to annual indexation, similarly to ZUS. Thanks to this, their value increases with changes in inflation and average wages.

The lowest agricultural pension from KRUS is currently PLN 1,978.49 gross.