A Look at Retiring in Argentina

If you have been living and working in Argentina and are hoping to retire there but are worried as to how you will provide for your self during your retirement years you should not worry. The Argentine social security system covers retirement and pensions among other things and as a worker in Argentina you are required to make contributions to the social security system of Argentina. That means if you have been working in Argentina then you will have a retirement program that you are entitled to from the state.

Currently there are two different retirement programs in Argentina. There is the Regimen Previsional Publico, or RPP, and the Regimen de Capitalizacion, or RCI. The RCI is run by private funds and is supervised by the state while the RPP is a fund that is actually managed by the state. Upon starting working in Argentina you have up to 90 days to choose which of the two programs you want to enroll in. If you have not made you election within 90 days you are assigned to the RCI fund and cannot make any changes to the RPP fund.

The RPP system has five different programs parts to it. There is the basic retirement program, the disability retirement program, the pensions for deceased members program, the pensions for diseased retirees program and the retirement for advanced age program.

The basic retirement program requires men to be age 65 and women to be age 60. There is also a requirement of having been enrolled in the RPP for at least 30 years. The disability program requires you to be classified as at least 66 percent physically or mentally disabled. You also cannot be of retirement age. The pensions for deceased members program gives right to the pension in the event of death to the widow and children under age 18 that are not getting other benefits. Disabled children do not have an age limit if they were being cared for by the deceased member. The pensions for diseased retirees program is for members that are unable to work due to debilitating disease. The retirement for advanced age program is for members that are at least age 70 that have been a member of the RPP for at least 10 years, with five of those in the last eight years.

The RCI system has three different program parts to it. There is common retirement, disability retirement and pensions for the deceased. Under pensions for the deceased, when a retiree dies the benefits go to the widow or children under age 18 that are not getting other benefits or disabled kids of any age. Under the disability retirement program members that are 66 percent mentally or physically disabled get benefits if under retirement age. And under the common retirement program there are three categories: renta vitalica provisional, retiro programado and retiro fraccionado. Renta vitalica provisional is when a member purchases an annuity and this company will pay out benefits monthly. Retiro programado is when the member withdraws a fixed monthly amount from past total contribution that was previously agreed on. This is basically a savings account managed by the Retirement and Pensions office. Retiro fraccionado is for members that get less than 50 percent of the max payout from the state run prestacion basic universal, or PBU. Members that meet this are entitled to 50 percent of their PBU until the deposit is used up.