The legislation of the Russian Federation does not determine the size of the minimum pension. This indicator is set independently by the regional authorities and depends on the living wage of citizens. If the pension falls below the limit, the state will help with money.
How are pension savings formed?
The most common in Russia is an old-age pension, which is granted upon reaching a legal age. Its size is completely dependent on the length of service, therefore it is also called "labor".
In Russia, the following age qualification for retirement on general grounds:
- for women - 55 years;
- for men - 60 years.
In addition, there are many benefits that allow you to get this status earlier than the deadline. However, there are categories of citizens who may begin to receive social pensions later. They will be discussed below.
Statistics do not keep records on the maximum pension, as many factors influence it. But the minimum amount of an old-age pension is a relatively constant amount and can vary depending on decisions of the Russian authorities. At least once a year, official data on its size are published.
Pension components
A labor pension consists of two components - insurance and funded.
The amount of the insurance part is deducted by the employer in excess of wages to the Pension Fund of Russia. The transferred money serves as a kind of insurance for the workers; they are used by the state to pay current retirees. The size of the part is determined by law as a percentage of the money earned. This is a kind of solidarity of generations.
The cumulative part has its own characteristics. Firstly, it is accrued only to those workers who were born later than 1967. Secondly, it is transferred not to the general “boiler”, but to the individual savings account of a citizen in various non-state pension funds. These organizations promise to accrue interest on the amounts received. After retirement, even if the citizen is assigned the minimum amount of the old-age allowance, everything accumulated must be added to it.
Social pension
In addition to labor, the country has a social pension.
It is paid to those persons who have not worked out the length of service required to receive a retirement pension, and it is less than five years.
The purpose of a social pension is to financially support citizens who do not have sources of guaranteed income. The size of the minimum pension here for each category of recipients is different.
There are three types of social pensions in Russia.
1. In old age, she has the right to receive:
- women at the age of 55 and men at the age of 60;
- citizens included in the group of small northern peoples (age as a retirement pension).
2. For disability, she is entitled to receive:
- disabled people of any group, if they do not have seniority;
- disabled children.
3. Upon loss of a breadwinner, she is entitled to receive:
- children under the age of majority;
- full-time students under 23 years old.
It should be borne in mind that if a disabled person or a deceased breadwinner has any work experience, you can take advantage of the usual labor pension. It is necessary to compare what the minimum pension and the maximum will be in both cases, and only after the analysis make a choice.
When are retirement pensions indexed?
The size of the pension is an unstable indicator.The state periodically increases it due to the following factors:
- indexation of the components of the pension;
- the pensioner is 80 years old;
- a pensioner acquires dependents;
- the pensioner continues to work and thereby increases the insurance part.
The indexation mentioned in the first paragraph is carried out by the Government of the Russian Federation in connection with inflationary processes. Thus, the state is trying to prevent the impoverishment of the most unprotected category of citizens. Accordingly, the size of the minimum pension is also increasing.
Social is also indexed, but this has been done for several years in a row two months later - on April 1 of the current year. Annual growth is usually at least 5 percent.
Living wage
Three types of this indicator are established in Russian legislation: for children, for the able-bodied population, and for pensioners.
The minimum amount of an old-age pension, of course, is tied to the cost of living for this category of citizens. Incidentally, it has the smallest size in all territorial entities. Further upwards are minors, and the maximum is fixed for the able-bodied population.
The size of the living wage is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. For example, in the fourth quarter of last year, it amounted to 6,785 for pensioners, 7,899 for children, and 8,885 rubles for able-bodied citizens. However, local authorities have been given the right to establish pension lows in both large and smaller sizes.
How is the minimum labor pension calculated?
The minimum old-age pension is determined in accordance with the subsistence minimum of pensioners. This indicator very much depends on the region of Russia in which a particular citizen lives. The authorities of each republic, territory or region of the Russian Federation established their framework, focusing on the average indicator described in the previous section.
This was done not only for social support of the working part of the population (below the established level, employers are not entitled to pay wages), but also for pensioners. If it turns out that the pension is less than the cost of living, then the difference will be paid from the federal budget until the indicators are equalized.
In order to make the minimum pension equal to the subsistence minimum, a social supplement is made out only at the request of the pensioner. However, keep in mind that working pensioner the right to such a kind of compensation is not. 
How much do the indicators vary by region?
Depending on the region of residence, the minimum pension in Russia varies very widely. So, its lowest level was recorded in the Stavropol Territory - 5323 rubles. And the highest - in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District - 13 540 rubles.
In most regions, it does not go beyond 5700-6700 rubles. Only the capital stands out in the middle lane: minimum size pensions in Moscow cannot be less than 8528 rubles. However, this value is due to the level of wages and consumer prices in the metropolis. 
How does the state help pensioners?
The vast majority of older people do not engage in active labor and therefore do not have additional income. They have only a minimum pension. However, the state provided for them many benefits and privileges, such as:
- In the field of taxation. Pensioners do not pay property tax, personal income tax is not levied from pension payments, they can receive a property deduction for the purchase of real estate and so on.
- In the field of healthcare. All pensioners enjoy the right to free medical care, they receive medical insurance policies free of charge. In addition, citizens with a minimum old-age pension can purchase medicines at a 50 percent discount.
- In the housing sector. The authorities of most regions set for pensioners who receive the minimum amount of a retirement pension, compensation for paying utility bills and some other benefits.
- In the field of public transport. In many regions, pensioners are exempted from having to pay for public transport.
What is the average pension?
If we compare the national average, we can see that the minimum pension is very different from the average, which is currently 13,900 rubles.
The current pension is about 40 percent of the average wage, and it has been kept at this level for a long time. Based on the data presented, it can be concluded that Russia among the republics of the former USSR is one of the leaders in quality pension provision citizens. The minimum pension is higher only in the Baltic states, however, there are very high costs for housing and utilities, so the net income of older people is still higher in our country.
In favor of Russian pensions, it should be said that their average value due to indexation until 2015 kept ahead of inflation, and only now, due to geopolitical processes, began to lag behind. Only social benefits can be kept within the permissible fluctuations.
