The State Duma Committee finalized the bill on long-term savings of Russians

The State Duma Committee on the Financial Market submitted for the second reading a revised version of the government bill on long-term savings of the population. In particular, the new version enshrines the right of the government to extend the period of co-financing and clarifies the situations when citizens can withdraw funds ahead of schedule without losing interest and benefits.

According to the original version of the bill, a citizen begins to receive payments from the accumulated funds either after 15 years from the date of signing the contract, or after reaching the age of 60 (for men) and 55 years (for women). However, in a “special life situation”, citizens have the right to withdraw all the money at a time without losing interest income and state co-financing. As clarifies RBCin the new version of the bill, “special life situations” means:

• payment of expensive treatment to the participant (the list of types of expensive treatment is approved by the government),
• loss of the participant’s supporter.

In the basic version of the bill, payment for a child’s higher education was also classified as a special situation. However, as RBC was told in the press service of the Ministry of Finance, following discussions, including with representatives of non-state pension funds (NPFs), it was decided to exclude payment for a child’s higher education and replace it in case of loss of a breadwinner.

The basic conditions of the long-term savings program also assumed that after the accumulation stage, regular payments to the citizen should be made within ten years. In addition, in the first version of the bill, the right of a citizen, by agreement with the NPF, to establish a different payment period was secured. The updated version also secured the right of citizens to agree with NPFs on a lump sum payment in the amount of the balance of funds in the long-term savings account.

The bill on long-term savings provides for state co-financing of citizens’ savings during the first three years of participation in the program. The amount of co-financing is determined in relation to the average monthly income, but not more than 36 thousand rubles. annually. Representatives of the NPF proposed to increase its term to ten years.

The updated draft law states that the period for the implementation of state support for the formation of long-term savings can be extended by decision of the government. As RBC was specified in the Ministry of Finance, the prolongation of the co-financing of long-term savings will depend on a number of conditions, as well as on the active participation of citizens in the long-term savings program.

The draft law on launching a new long-term savings program for citizens was prepared by the Ministry of Finance jointly with the Bank of Russia. On May 25, it was adopted by the State Duma in the first reading. The second reading of the bill is scheduled for June 27.

More about the program – in the material “Kommersant” “Goodwill Pensions”.

Milena Kostereva