The annual adjustment of pension funds is perhaps the most closely watched issue for retired seniors. In March, the government work report will clarify the pension adjustment plan for retired elders. In May and June, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance will formulate and issue a national pension adjustment notice. Generally, the implementation of pension adjustments takes place in July, and by the end of July, it is essentially all completed.

The pension adjustment notice for 2024 was announced on June 17th, with an overall adjustment level of 3%, and there were not many changes in other content. The formulation and release of pension adjustment plans by various provinces were very swift, quickly announced between June 25th and 28th. After the pension adjustments were in place by the end of July, some elderly individuals still expressed that the increase in their pension for this year was less than 3%. What is going on?

How exactly are pensions adjusted?

Since 2016, pension adjustments have mainly been divided into three parts: fixed amount adjustments, linkage adjustments, and preferential adjustments.

① Fixed amount adjustments reflect the principle of fair adjustment, where all participants in the pension adjustment within each province receive an increase in the basic pension amount by the same amount.

Due to the different overall pension levels in each province and the different emphases on historical adjustment factors, the fixed amount adjustment standards also vary greatly from province to province.

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In 2024, the fixed amount adjustment standards in most provinces were around 30 yuan. The highest fixed amount adjustment standard was in Shanghai, which remained the same as last year at 61 yuan. The lowest fixed amount adjustment standard was in Heilongjiang Province, with a standard of 25 yuan.

In fact, one of the important reasons why retired individuals with higher pension levels have a lower increase in their pension is the fixed amount adjustment. For example, in Shandong Province, the fixed amount adjustment standard is 32.6 yuan. For a pension of 1,000 yuan, the increase is 3.26%, for a pension of 3,260 yuan, the increase is 1%, and for a pension of 10,000 yuan, the increase is only 0.326%.Hook adjustment is divided into two types: one based on the number of years of contribution and the other based on the level of pension.

The adjustment based on the number of years of contribution is essentially similar to a fixed amount adjustment and is also unrelated to the level of pension. Since the minimum number of years of contribution is currently 15 years, the part within 15 years is also considered a fixed amount adjustment.

In most provinces, the adjustment of the number of years of contribution is the same as in Shanghai, which is an increase of about one yuan in the basic pension for each additional year of contribution. Some provinces have the same increase standard, while others have a higher increase standard for longer contribution periods. Beijing increases the pension by 2.4 yuan for each additional year of contribution, with an additional 0.2 yuan per month; Zhejiang Province increases the pension by 2.2 yuan for each additional year of contribution for those with more than 30 years of contribution, with less than one year rounded up to one year.

If the increase in the pension due to the adjustment based on the number of years of contribution is 40 yuan, it would also result in a fixed amount adjustment. A pension of 3000 yuan would increase by 1.33%, while a pension of 8000 yuan would only increase by 0.5%.

The adjustment based on the level of pension ensures that everyone increases by the same proportion, although the proportion varies by province, with most concentrated around 1%. The highest linkage ratio is in the Tibet Autonomous Region at 1.81%. The lowest is in Beijing, with only 0.2%. However, Beijing also has a special adjustment based on the level of pension, which is an increase of 30 yuan for pensions below 6813 yuan and an increase of 15 yuan for pensions above 6813 yuan.

Tilt adjustment mainly includes adjustments for the elderly and for remote and arduous areas.

The tilt adjustment for the elderly is an additional increase for those over 70 years old, and currently, only Beijing and Zhejiang Province also provide additional increases for those who are 65 years old and above.

The tilt adjustment for remote and arduous areas is determined by the provinces themselves, in conjunction with the national classification of areas from category 1 to 6.

However, specifically, the tilt adjustment is also a special type of fixed amount adjustment. Under different pension levels, the higher the pension level, the lower the increase ratio.So, based on the analysis of the above pension adjustment content, when people have similar contribution years, it is indeed more likely that those with higher pension levels will have an increase of no more than 3%. #Pension# #PensionIncrease#​​