Bulgarians have paid nearly 20 million leva to buy insufficient social security experience for pension in the first nine months of last year. The data are from the National Social Security Institute (NSI), cited by PARITENI.
A total of 2,320 people have paid social security contributions to cover their missing experience, with the amount they paid amounting to 19,964,615 leva. On average, each of them lacked about 23 months of social security experience.
Compared to previous years, the number of people who "buy social security" is decreasing. For the same period in 2024, 2,427 people did this for just over 16.2 million leva, and in 2023 - 3,013 people, who paid nearly 19 million leva.
By law, people who have reached retirement age but do not have sufficient experience have the right to purchase the missing months. The contribution for each month is calculated as 19.8% of the minimum insurance income for the self-insured.
From April 1, 2025, the amount for one month of missing experience is 213.25 leva and will remain unchanged until the adoption of a new state budget. This means that about 2,500 leva is due for one year of insurance experience, and for the maximum allowable five years - 12,794 leva.
The legislation allows the purchase of up to five years of insurance experience, provided that the person has already reached the required retirement age, but does not have the required experience.
The contributions for the purchase of experience are paid to the NRA account in any bank branch, with the payment order indicating the specific period that will be considered as insurance experience. For this purpose, a declaration form No. 8 is also submitted to the territorial directorate of the NRA.