The balance advance comes from your individual pension savings account, this is like making a withdrawal of part of the money you are saving exclusively to finance your retirement.

Therefore, the advance is not a loan granted by the AFP, nor are you being charged interest or commissions for the process, but rather you are using part of your special pension savings to meet a need unrelated to this purpose.

When you request an advance, you receive part of the balance you have in your pension savings account. The portion you do not withdraw from your savings continues to earn interest as you reach retirement age.

When you repay your advance, you have to return the amount you took out, plus the return, because you do not get the benefits or earnings that your savings would have generated if you had not taken it out of the account.

That money must be returned to your savings account before you reach retirement age, and not affect the amount of your pension. Saving in the AFP is exclusively to finance your pension and that of your beneficiaries.

By requesting your money as an advance, you can cover a need, but you must return it to fulfill the purpose for which you originally saved, that is to say, to pay your pension.

When the balance advance was established in 2017, a provision was included so that, in the first years this new benefit was in effect, priority would be given to those closest to reaching the legal retirement age, but this is a temporary measure. At the end of this transitory period, the only requirement will be to have at least 10 years of contributions.

When repaying the money, individuals have total freedom to choose how they pay it back, that is to say , whether they wish to make monthly payments or at another periodicity and in the amounts they wish to make, or by working more years or postponing receiving their old-age pension until a maximum of five years after reaching the legal retirement age.

It is up to you to choose how to repay it or you can even decide not to repay it, opting to delay the enjoyment of your pension for up to 5 years.