Voluntary retirement insurance market remains modest compared to the demand for old-age savings. Experts believe this could also become a long-term welfare tool, helping businesses retain talent.
The information was presented at the seminar “Voluntary Retirement Strategy, Tax Optimization, and Elevating Enterprises” on September 17.
Speaking at the seminar, Ms. Ly Thu Thuy, Head of Life Insurance Division, Insurance Supervision and Management Department (Ministry of Finance), said that Vietnam’s pension system currently consists of three pillars.
The first is compulsory and voluntary social insurance managed by the State, ensuring basic income for workers. According to the Vietnam Social Security report, by 2025, the State budget guarantees about VND15 trillion (nearly $577 million) to pay social pension allowances for around 2.5 million people.
The second is supplementary retirement insurance under Decree 85/2026/ND-CP. By the end of 2025, the market had four licensed insurers operating seven pension funds, with 28,538 participants. Contributions in 2025 reached about VND720 billion ($27.7 million), bringing total net assets of these funds to about VND2.21 trillion ($85 million).
The third is voluntary retirement insurance products offered by commercial insurers. After nearly 10 years of implementation since 2016, by 2025, annual premium revenue reached about VND733 billion (over $28 million) with around 51,000 individual participants. The total assets of voluntary retirement insurance funds amounted to about VND731 billion ($28 million).
Ms. Thuy assessed that investment performance of voluntary retirement funds has remained relatively stable. In earlier years, returns ranged from 7% to 8% per year. During 2024–2025, long-term investment instruments such as bank deposits and government bonds saw declining interest rates, leading fund returns to adjust to around 5.6% per year. Nevertheless, this level is still equal to or higher than bank deposit and government bond yields.
However, the market scale remains modest, as the VND733 billion (over $28 million) revenue in 2025 accounted for less than 1% of total life insurance premium revenue. Currently, only 6 out of 22 life insurers provide this product.
Ms. Thuy believes the potential for voluntary retirement insurance remains large as incomes rise and the trend of saving for old age becomes more common. Developing supplementary retirement alongside compulsory social insurance helps people proactively prepare financially, reduce income volatility after leaving the workforce, and ease the burden on families.
From the business perspective, Mr. Dao Quoc Bao, Deputy General Director of Corporate Clients at Sun Life Vietnam, noted that the pension gap is becoming a pressing challenge for Vietnam.
According to Vietnam Social Security data, there are about 14.4 million people of retirement age, but only about 5.1 million, or 38%, receive monthly pensions or social insurance allowances. This means most elderly people still rely on personal savings, family support, or continued work to sustain their lives.
Mr. Bao observed that amid rising living costs causing many to delay long-term savings plans, a multi-tier pension system—including voluntary retirement insurance—will play an important role in supplementing retirement income while also mobilizing medium- and long-term capital for the economy.
According to aggregated market data, total assets under management of pension programs currently exceed VND10.2 trillion (nearly $391.5 million), with nearly 80,000 participants. Of this, retirement insurance contributes over VND8.1 trillion (over $311 million) in managed assets. At present, six life insurers are offering voluntary retirement insurance.
Still, when comparing nearly 80,000 participants with the size of the national workforce and 14.4 million people of retirement age, the growth potential of the market remains significant.
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