SSS 18-month advance pension or monthly pension: how the choice works

When you first file for your SSS retirement pension, you can take your first 18 monthly pensions as one lump sum, discounted at a rate SSS sets (RA 11199 Sec. 12-B(a)). SSS does not publish the rate, so we cannot show what you would receive. After the 18 months, the monthly pension starts again from the 19th month and continues for life (implementing rules, Rule 21 Sec. 3).

Not the same as the under-120 lump sum

SSS uses “lump sum” for two different things:

• The 18-month advance: an option for members who qualify for a monthly pension, with 120 or more contributions. It is part of the pension, paid early.
• The lump sum for fewer than 120 contributions: a one-time payment instead of a pension, for a member of 60 or over who has stopped working. RA 11199 Sec. 12-B(b) describes it as “the total contributions paid by him and on his behalf”; SSS’s retirement page describes it as “the total contributions paid, including interest earned”. Members in this position can also keep paying until they reach 120.

The second is covered in how many contributions you need.

What you trade

From the implementing rules (Rule 21 Sec. 3) and SSS circulars:

• What is in the advance: the first 18 monthly pensions and the PHP 1,000 benefit allowance for those months, paid at once.
• The discount: “a preferential rate of interest” determined by SSS. The rate is not published, so you receive less than 18 full months of pension, by an amount SSS works out.
• Not in the advance: the 13th month pension and the dependants’ pension. They are paid separately.
• The 13th month still comes. SSS Circular 2022-030: “The date of crediting of the 13th month pension of pensioners who availed of the advance 18-month pension for their initial benefit shall be on the 4th day of December.”
• Increases during the 18 months are discounted too (Rule 21 Sec. 3). SSS Circular 2026-002 says pensioners with “advance pension releases” may be paid the 2025 to 2027 increases as a differential.
• Your MPF balance, if you have one, is paid at the same time as the advance (SSS Circular 2023-006).
• The pension loan: a retiree who took the advance must be receiving the monthly pension for at least one month before applying (2026 Citizen’s Charter).

What is still unclear: SSS does not publish the discount rate, and it has not published a rule on whether the choice can be changed after filing. Its retirement benefit page, as of 20 October 2026, says only that “the option should be exercised upon filing of the initial retirement claim”.

The SSS pension calculator shows your monthly pension, so you can see what 18 of them add up to before the discount.

When and how you choose

You choose only once, when you file your first retirement claim (SSS retirement page; Rule 21 Sec. 3). The claim is filed online through My.SSS, after you enrol a disbursement account or a UMID card enrolled as an ATM card. The steps are in SSS retirement requirements and filing.

The 2026 SSS Citizen’s Charter gives 17 working days to process a retirement claim filed over the counter. SSS gives no figure for online claims. How the monthly amount is worked out is in the SSS pension guide.

Back to the SSS guide for OFWs.