The new feature will have a transition rule and will also leave uniformed personnel in a better situation than civilians, who have a minimum age of 65 for men and 62 for women
The spending cut package being prepared by the economic team, under the coordination of (Treasury), should affect the military. The biggest novelty must be the creation of a minimum age of 55 years for retirement of members of the Armed Forces. Today, the system is regulated by 2019, and all you need to do is prove your length of service (at least 35 years). When retiring, soldiers keep their full salary – and always receive a raise when those on active duty are also promoted.
This minimum age is still lower than that required of INSS (National Social Security Institute) contributors: 65 years for men and 62 years for women. In the private sector, the worker (depending on salary) contributes at rates of 7.5% to 14%. Military personnel pay 10.5% to leave active duty with their full salary – something impossible for those on the INSS.
The change should cause some complaints from the military, but everything has been largely negotiated behind the scenes – and it is still necessary to pass a law in Congress.
As there will be a transition rule, it will take a long time for those who are active to feel the change in the system. The fiscal gain – with savings for the federal government – will also be minimal in the short term. But the economic team sees this change as very relevant to advance over other almost untouchable fiefdoms, such as the Judiciary, which currently consumes around 1.5% of GDP.
In addition to military pensions, there are changes that are already being made, including by Poder360which should bring small gains in terms of economy – but will be considered important as they serve as an example for other areas of government.
Below are the 4 main measures that are about to be announced:
- 1) Military pensions – minimum age will be set at 55 years. Today, there is no minimum age, but only length of service, which is 35 years for those who entered after the approval of Law No. 13,954, of 2019;
- 2) “fictional death” – it must end. It occurs today when soldiers are considered unfit for service and are expelled. They are considered dead, but their families maintain the benefits, receiving their salary. THE “fake dead” (fictitious death) emerged with the approval of the , in 1960, which deals with military pensions. A uniformed person who is expelled continues with his pay because during the period in which he was on active duty, part of his salary was collected to pay for the benefit. THE “fictional death” consumes a small amount per year: R$25 million. This amount was disclosed in June 2024, when the Armed Forces responded to a request for access to information;
- 3) contribution to the health plan – the amounts charged to all members of the Armed Forces will be equalized. Today, there are those who pay up to 3.5% of their salary. But this percentage is lower in several cases. Everything would be equalized once the spending cuts were implemented;
- 4) pension transfer – practice will be limited as much as possible. Although this transfer ended in 2001 (by MP 2215), those who had previously contributed continued to maintain the benefit. For soldiers who contributed, in the event of death, the pension goes to the widow. If the widow dies, the daughters receive it. If one daughter dies, the other gets the full share. This is what we want to end now.
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