INSS Facultativo

Optional INSS (segurado facultativo): contribute without working

The Brazilian "segurado facultativo" covers anyone over 16 without paid activity who decides to contribute to INSS anyway. Think students, homemakers, people between jobs, citizens living abroad, scholarship holders. There are three plans to pick from. The regular one charges 20% on a base anywhere between the minimum wage and the ceiling (R$ 7,786.02 in 2024) and unlocks full benefits, retirement by contribution time included. The simplified plan is 11% on the minimum wage (R$ 1,412 in 2024 → R$ 155.32), but it only grants retirement by age. And the low-income plan sits at 5% on the minimum wage (R$ 70.60), reserved for homemakers in CadÚnico-registered families that earn up to 2 minimum wages. The math is short: INSS = base · rate. So the minimum wage at 11% comes to R$ 155.32, and at 5% it drops to R$ 70.60.

Brazilian context

Payment goes through a GPS slip — code 1406 for the regular plan, 1473 for simplified, 1929 for low-income — and falls due on the 15th of the month after. People reach for it in a handful of situations: previdência planning, a gap between jobs, a parent who stepped away from work to raise kids, or someone living overseas who wants to keep INSS coverage running for sick pay, maternity leave and eventual retirement.

FAQ

Who qualifies for the 5% low-income plan? Homemakers whose family is registered in CadÚnico, earns up to 2 minimum wages a month, and who hold no other paid activity. You have to re-verify it every year.

Can I upgrade from 11% to 20% later? You can. Pay the 9% complement, with Selic interest, on whichever months you want to convert, and you get retirement by contribution time back for those months.

I started a job. Can I keep contributing as facultativo? No. The moment you have a paid activity, you switch to contribuinte individual or empregado. The facultativo plan is meant only for people without income of their own.