How to Purchase a Joint Retirement Annuity?

Joint (surrender) retirement annuity provides to combine retirement savings of the married couple members or close relatives to purchase the retirement annuity.

If one spouse does not have enough pension savings to buy a pension annuity, and the second has a surplus, then a joint pension annuity will allow them both to receive lifetime payments without waiting for an official retirement after reaching retirement age.

The retirement age in Kazakhstan for men comes at 63 years, 61 for women in 2025 (until 2027 – 61 years, from 2031 – 63 years). The one could draw up a retirement annuity before the retirement age. And there is a requirement to accumulate sufficient savings in the UAPF. This amount shall vary depending on the sex and age of the annuitant. 

At the same time, certain categories of citizens with disabilities (depending on the disability group), as well as for employees engaged in harmful working conditions, can conclude a pension annuity contract at a reduced cost.

• The main advantage of a joint pension annuity is the possibility of combining the pension savings of two spouses or close relatives to purchase a joint pension annuity that provides lifetime payments not only to one policyholder, but also to the second policyholder who does not have enough pension savings to conclude a pension annuity contract himself.
• In the event of the death of a husband or wife, or a close relative, the second party to the contract will continue to receive insurance payments on schedule.
• In case of divorce, each of the policyholders will continue to receive insurance payments according to the schedule.
• If one of the spouses (close relatives) is a foreigner or a stateless person who has left for permanent residence outside the Republic of Kazakhstan, then he has the right to receive a redemption amount, and the second insured will continue to receive insurance payments according to the schedule.

According to the Code "On Marriage (Matrimony) and Family", parents, adoptive parents, children, including adopted ones, as well as full and half-siblings, grandparents, grandchildren are considered close relatives.

For example, a married couple, a 55-year-old husband and wife, have accumulated retirement savings of 15 million tenge and 5 million tenge respectively. At the same time, the minimum retirement annuity with a 70% monthly payment calculated based on the subsistence minimum  for the husband is 7.5 million tenge, for the wife is 9.2 million tenge. In the example above, the amount of wife's savings is insufficient to conclude an individual retirement annuity contract.

By cooperating savings and signing a joint surrender annuity contract with an insurance premium of 20 million tenge, each of the spouses will be able to receive lifetime monthly payments of 36 340 tenge with a yearly cost-of-living adjustment of the payments.

When concluding a joint retirement annuity contract individual contract terms and conditions shall be specified for each of the insured with the amount and schedule of individual payments to be paid regardless of the death of one of the insured.

The following is required to be done:

• carefully study the websites of life insurance companies offering this service;
• choose your insurer;
• Analyze the reviews from other customers.

It is required to check the availability of insurance company license issued by the Agency for Financial Market Regulation and Development. This can be done on the Internet resource of the financial regulating agency.

Read the contract terms and conditions carefully.

The contract is concluded in three counterparts: for annuitant, insurance company and UAPF.

It is required to send notification upon signing the retirement annuity contract to the UAPF within 10 calendar days from the date of signing, and it will transfer all the funds to the insurance company. That is, you and your spouse or close relative will receive insurance payment not a pension. And the insurance company will manage the insurance premium by investing in financial instruments.

You are entitled to change the insurance company upon expiration of 2 consecutive years from the contract signing date.

If you have any additional questions on the retirement annuity purchase, you can write to the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for financial market regulation and development through Fingramota Online mobile application.