The guaranteed pension in 2026 has caused many doubts among future and current pensioners, especially due to the different amounts stated in the same announcement of the Federal Institute MIO PIO. At first glance, it seems as if the regulations cancel each other out, but in reality they are different legal institutes that are applied depending on the date of exercise of rights and the status of the insured.
In the announcement recently published by the PIO/MIO, it is stated that for beneficiaries with 40 or more years of pensionable service, the pension cannot be lower than 95 percent of the average, that is, 687.77 KM. This amount refers to the lowest old-age pension by seniority category and represents the basic legal minimum for those beneficiaries who exercise the right to the lowest pension. This threshold has existed for years and does not determine the actual amount of the pension, but only the limit below which it cannot fall.
At the same time, the same document also mentions the guaranteed pension, which after an advance adjustment of 11.2 percent was increased from 715.21 KM to 795.31 KM. This amount belongs to beneficiaries who have exercised their right to a pension by January 1, 2026, and the earlier legal framework applies to them. For these pensioners, regardless of whether they have 40 or more years of service, the protective minimum is 795.31 KM and it has priority over the lower amounts of the lowest pension by categories of service.
The third amount, 841.98 KM, which is also called the guaranteed pension, causes the most doubts. It is a new institute introduced by the amendments to the Law on MIO PIO, and it applies exclusively to insured persons who exercise their right to a pension from January 1, 2026 and have 40 or more years of insurance experience. If the pension for such an insured person, calculated on the basis of length of service and salary, is determined to be a smaller amount, the Institute is obliged to increase it to 841.98 KM. That amount represents the average independent pension from December 2024, adjusted for all associated increases.
Therefore, the amount of KM 687.77 cannot in practice be applied to an insured person with 40 or more years of service who retires after January 1, 2026. In that case, the higher institute guaranteed pension of 841.98 KM is always applied. The amount of KM 687.77 remains relevant only as a general minimum for the lowest old-age pension in seniority categories, when neither the old nor the new guaranteed pension is applied.
It is important to emphasize that the method of pension calculation has not changed. The pension is still calculated according to the years of service and the amount of wages during the working life. All the stated amounts represent minimum legal thresholds, and not a predetermined amount of pension.
It is also important to distinguish between insurance length of service and pension length of service, because the right to a new guaranteed pension of 841.98 KM is linked exclusively to 40 or more years of insurance length of service.
The guaranteed pension in 2026, although complex in interpretation, actually introduces clearer protection for those who have spent their entire working life in insurance, but due to earlier low wages, their calculated pension remained below average, writes RTV Slon.
