Certificate accordingly: Russians have found a new way to cash in matkapital
Russians have found a new way to cash in the maternity capital - to do this, it has been transferred to the funded pension more often, Izvestia has found out. The fact is that last year in Russia introduced the possibility to take away the balance of the certificate up to 10 thousand. And to take advantage of this, citizens who had a little more in their account, transferred the amount exceeding the limit to the pension, and the balance was already cashed in. Thanks to this option, according to the Accounts Chamber, as of October 2024, twice as many parents have replenished their accounts for old age. However, so far there were still few of them - only 8 thousand people out of 1.5 million of those who used the certificate. Whether they will fight this scheme and what else families spend state support - in the material "Izvestia".
Transfer of matkapital to the pension
In 2024, the government allowed Russian citizens to receive the balance of maternity capital up to 10 thousand rubles in the form of a lump-sum payment. This refers to the unused funds of the certificate, which remained after most of it was spent (for example, on a mortgage or education). Experts told Izvestia that enterprising Russians, who had an amount in their account in excess of the amount allowed for withdrawal (i.e. more than 10 thousand), have come up with a way to take this money.
The scheme looks like this: if a person has, for example, 11,000 left in his account, then 1,000 of the matkapital funds are allocated to the funded pension, and the remaining ten are withdrawn, a source in the pension market explained to the editorial board.
This is confirmed by statistics: last year, twice as many citizens allocated matkapital funds to funded pensions, according to the December report of the Accounts Chamber on the execution of the Social Fund budget (Izvestia has familiarized itself with it). Thus, as of October 2024, there were almost 8 thousand such applications, while for the same period of 2023 - only about 4 thousand. However, these figures are small in the system - only in the first nine months of last year, 1.5 million Russians used the certificate.
Citizens born in 1967 and younger who were employed from 2002 to 2013 have the right to a funded pension. During this period, employers paid contributions of 2% or 6% of their salary for their employees. From 2014 to 2025, there is a moratorium on directing contributions to the funded pension, i.e. the employer can no longer allocate part of the funds to a person's funded account. Now all the money goes to current insurance payments.
Now citizens can increase the size of the funded pension at the expense of matkapital. Since last year, single fathers are also allowed to use this option, before that - only mothers.
Russians have indeed started to cash out their matkapital balances more often, transferring amounts in excess of the allowed amount to their pensions, agreed Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov. According to him, such a scheme contributes to the safety of these funds and the receipt of payments. People want to get the money in cash now.
This was also confirmed by Andrei Girinsky, associate professor at the Faculty of Economics of PFUR. He also believes that the right to withdraw Br10 thousand from the account contributed to the popularity of the old-age certificate. The same opinion is shared by Associate Professor of Plekhanov Russian Economic University Ekaterina Golubtsova and Professor of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Yulia Dolzhenkova.
Maternity capital today, in addition to pensions, can be used to improve housing conditions (mortgage), education (for example, kindergarten), adaptation of disabled children. You can also receive it as a monthly payment for any child up to three years old, if the average family income does not exceed two regional subsistence minimums.
Since this program has been in effect (since 2007), citizens have resorted to many illegal schemes to cash in the certificate. For example, they bought a house unfit for habitation with money from the state. On papers the apartment was spent many times more than it actually cost. At the same time, realtors who sold the real estate paid the family a part of what they had spent in cash.
Fictitious sale and purchase agreements were also often drawn up with acquaintances or relatives. It was not uncommon for families to take out loans from a microfinance organization ostensibly to buy housing. After "repayment" of the debt, the matkapital money was transferred in cash to the owners. Sometimes the funds were cashed in through educational institutions. All such methods are illegal, and every year control over them grows.
At the same time, the scheme with the transfer of balances to the pension in order to take the 10 thousand, is legal, because the state itself provides such opportunities. Experts interviewed by "Izvestia" believe that the authorities will not prevent this scheme anyway, as citizens thereby ensure themselves at least a little more income in their old age.
"Izvestia sent a request to the Social Fund and the Accounts Chamber asking them to explain the growth of investments of matkapital funds in the funded pension.
What else do Russians spend the matkapital on?
According to the Accounts Chamber, in the first nine months of last year, only 534 thousand citizens received the matkapital - almost a quarter less than in the same period of 2023. At the same time, 1.5 million people used these funds (-4%).
At the same time, the opportunity to send the certificate to improve housing conditions is becoming less popular. The number of such applications decreased by 10% (to 644 thousand people). Parents are increasingly spending public money on children's education - there are 17% more such applications (356 thousand), according to the auditors' report.
The matkapital is less often allocated to improve housing conditions due to several factors. First, in 2024, many preferential mortgage programs ended, said Vladimir Chernov from Freedom Finance Global. Secondly, banks have tightened the terms of loans, raising the initial payment under the family program to 50.1%, he added.
- At the same time, the indexation of matkapital funds is made on the size of official inflation in the country (9.5% in 2024), and the cost of housing in the primary market has been growing in recent years by an average of 15-30% against the background of the frenzied demand for preferential mortgages. Accordingly, the funds of the certificate were no longer enough even for the initial installment on the loan, because of which many people decided to redirect them to something else, - said the expert.
In 2025, the total amount of the matkapital after indexation in February by 9.5% will grow to 912 thousand, said the head of the Ministry of Labor Anton Kotyakov at a meeting with the President on January 23. In 2024, the amount of the certificate was 631 thousand at the birth of the first child, 834 thousand - at the birth of the second child.
In conditions when housing prices are rising, and the prospects for payment for vocational training of children are not quite clear in connection with the reform of education, the use of matkapitala to ensure a decent old age of parents is very promising, says Julia Dolzhenkova from the Finance University.
At the same time, according to her, many people have the opportunity to pay for their children's education themselves. And taking into account the increase in inflation, the size of payments for old age seems to be insufficient. Therefore, it is logical that people seek to provide themselves with more decent transfers after retirement, so as not to subsequently burden their children, the expert emphasized. At the same time, the profitability of funded pensions is growing due to the increase in the key rate, said Vladimir Chernov.
In general, the number of certificates issuance is decreasing due to the declining birth rate in Russia, the expert added. According to him, the effectiveness of the matkapital program could be improved by a fairer indexation, for example, at the Central Bank rate. Since the middle of 2023, the regulator has consistently increased the key rate, bringing it to 21%.
According to Ekaterina Golubtsova from Plekhanov Russian Economic University, in order to increase the efficiency of maternity capital utilization, it would be advisable to allow large families to purchase vehicles with it, which is especially important for those living in rural areas.
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