Voluntary early retirement

Workers included in any of the Social Security system schemes that meet the following requirements may access this type of early retirement:

• Being no more than two years younger than the age requirement applicable in each case, without these conditions resulting in the application of age reductions that workers in certain occupational sectors may enjoy as a result of performing particularly distressing, toxic, dangerous or unhealthy work, or as regards persons with a degree of disability between 45% and 65%.
• Being registered or in a situation equivalent to registration.
• They are able to demonstrate that they have made contributions for at least:
  • 35 years, without taking into account, for these purposes, the proportional amount of the extra payments or the payment of years and days of contributions for contributions prior to 01-01-1967. To this end, only the period of compulsory military service or the replacement social service will be counted, with a maximum limit of one year.
  • At least two years of the contribution period must have been within the 15 years immediately prior to earning the entitlement or at the moment when the contribution obligation terminated, if the early retirement pension is applied while affiliated or assimilated to inscription without the requirement to pay contributions.
  • In the case of workers included in the special System for employed agricultural workers, for the purposes of accrediting the minimum period of effective contributions (35 years), at least 6 of the last 10 years of contributions must correspond to periods of effective work in this special system. To this end, periods during which contributory unemployment benefits were received under this special system will also be counted.
  • For workers on part-time contracts, in order to accredit the minimum 35-year contribution period,  effective 04-08-2013, the rulesestablished in Royal Decree-law 11/2013, of 2 August will apply.
• Once proof that the general and specific requirements have been met is submitted, the receivable pension amount must be greater than the minimum pension amount that corresponded to the interested party given his/her family situation when turning 65. Otherwise, it will not be possible for him/her to access this type of early retirement.
  

The pension amount is established by applying the general corresponding percentage based on the number of contribution years and the corresponding reduction coefficient to the base pension.

The resulting amount will be subject to reduction,  applying the following coefficients, depending on the accredited contribution period for each quarter or fraction of a quarter that, at the time of the causal event, were left prior to the worker reaching the legal retirement age applicable in each instance:

1. Coefficient of 2% per quarter when the accredited contribution period is less than 38 years and 6 months. 
2. Coefficient of 1.875% per quarter when the accredited contribution is equal to or greater than 38 years and 6 months and less than 41 years and 6 months.
3. Coefficient of 1.750% per quarter when the accredited contribution is equal to or greater than 41 years and 6 months and less than 44 years and 6 months.
4. Coefficient of 1.625% per quarter when the accredited contribution period is equal to or greater than 44 years and 6 months.

With the sole purpose of establishing said legal retirement age, the age that the worker would have reached in the event that he/she would have continued making contributions during the period between the causal event and reaching the legal retirement applicable in each instance will be considered.

To calculate contribution periods, only complete periods will be considered, fractions of periods will not be considered as equal thereto.

Amount limits:

Having applied the aforementioned reduction coefficients, the resulting pension amount may not exceed the amount resulting from reducing the maximum pension limit by 0.50% for each quarter or fraction of a quarter taken early.

The coefficient of 0.50% mentioned in the above section shall not apply in the following cases:

1. For retirement taken under the provisions of  section 1, point 2 of transitory provision four of the General Social Security Act.
2. For early retirement, as regards occupational groups or activities involving particularly distressing, toxic, dangerous or unhealthy work, or as regards persons with disabilities.