Retirement

The age of access to retirement pensions depends on the age of the interested party and the contributions accumulated during his/her working life.

The retirement ages and contribution periods will be applied gradually until 2027.

The minimum age may only be lowered or brought forward for workers who are affiliated or have a situation assimilated to inscription, in certain special cases.

Firstly, the scheme to which the interested party is affiliated when the causal event occurred or the last one in which this circumstance was produced will award the pension, so long as the following requirements are met. If the right is not applicable, the same formula will be used in the above schemes.

If the requirements necessary are not demonstrated in any of them, the scheme in which the interested party can show the most number of contributions will take priority, by adding up all the interested party's contributions.

If the worker cannot prove the age requirement in the scheme in which they show the most number of contributions, the pension for the scheme will be granted so long as they meet the age requirement in one of the other schemes taken into consideration for adding up the contribution periods, as well as the rest of the requirements necessary for this (5 years or 1/4 of the contributions in the scheme allowing early retirement).

Workers who are "members of a mutual society" will be able to retire from the age of 60 providing they meet the necessary requirements.

Self-employed workers who are "not members of a mutual society" will be able to retire two years earlier, at most, than the age that legally applies to them, providing they meet the rest of the requirements.

The periods during which the individual has worked (as a worker employed by another person included in the General Regime, and in the special regimes of  Sea Workers  and Coal Mining), in which the worker provides evidence of a disability  equal to or greater than 65%, are multiplied by the corresponding reduction coefficient:

• A coefficient of 0.25 in cases where the worker provides evidence of a degree of   disability equal to or greater than 65%.
  
• A coefficient of 0.50 in cases where the worker provides evidence of a degree of disability equal to or greater than 65% and provides evidence of the need for the assistance of another person in order to carry out essential everyday tasks.

The result in days is added to the real age of the worker and a fictitious age is obtained which will be taken into account for the purpose of the retirement pension.
 

Partial retirement  can be applied for by workers employed by other people on a full-time basis, who are part of any Social Security employee scheme. It cannot be applied for by staff with statutory relationships or civil servants, directors or managers considered as workers employed by other people, commercial representatives or artists.

With regard to self-employed workers, article 318 of the Consolidated Text  of the LGSS rules that partial retirement will be available for self-employed workers included in the Special Schemes for Seafarers  and for Self-Employed Workers , according to the terms and conditions established in the regulations. Since this law has not been legally implemented, these workers cannot currently take advantage of this type of retirement.

If they access the pension from a situation similar to that of affiliation without the obligation to make contributions (for example they are involuntarily unemployed and have been uninterruptedly seeking employment since their unemployment benefits terminated), they must have made 2 years' worth of contributions   within the 15 year period prior to the date on which the obligation to make contributions ended (termination of unemployment benefit).

If the worker is a member of a  "mutual society they can retire from the age of  60 provided they meet the necessary  requirements.

If the worker  " is not a member of a mutual society and  they freely choose to leave their last job, they may retire at an age less than two years from the  applicable statutory age, provided they meet the rest of the necessary requirements.

Yes, in certain circumstances with specific regulations, such as certain artists and bull-fighitng professionals.

Nor will the reduction coefficients be applied in cases where, due to the application of bonuses for arduous work or disability, the beneficiary reaches the statutory fictitious number of years.

It is not necessary to wait until the statutory retirement age. Workers who opt for partial retirement can request an ordinary  or early retirement pension, in any of its forms, provided they meet all the requirements for this.

Yes. In this case it will not be necessary for a relief contract to be signed simultaneously.

The general rule is that the pension is incompatible with being employed or self-employed and being registered with the social security system. However, there are a number of exceptions:

• Partial retirement allows the worker, in agreement with their employer, to reduce their working hours by between 25% and 50% and to receive the retirement pension in inverse proportion to the reduction in working hours. If the worker has not reached regulatory retirement age, their company must arrange a relief contract with another worker.
• Active retirementmakes it possible to combine the retirement pension with full-time or part-time employment or self-employment, provided that retirement has taken place at least one year after reaching the ordinary retirement age (without any bonuses or early retirement age reductions that may be applicable) and, in addition, a percentage may be applied to the base rate of 100% when the person concerned has a full career of contributions. During active retirement, 50% of the pension is paid. However, if the activity is carried out on a self-employed basis and proof is provided that at least one employee is employed, the amount of the pension compatible with work will reach 100%. .
• Flexible retirement allows a person who is already a pensioner to start a part-time job with a reduction in working hours of between 25% and 50% of the normal working hours, and to combine this with the pension they were receiving, reduced in proportion to the percentage of working hours worked part-time.
• The retirement pension is also compatible with self-employment if the total annual income does not exceed the amount of the annual minimum professional wage.
• The contributory retirement pension can also be combined with the development of an activity of artistic creation for which income is received from the ownership of intellectual property rights.

• Primary care practitioners, family doctors and paediatricians, assigned to the National Health System with statutory or civil servant appointments, may, until 28 December 2025, continue to perform their functions during the extension of their active service and, simultaneously, access retirement, receiving 75% of the amount of the pension for this concept, provided that they meet the requirements established by law.

• In the same way, until 28 December 2025, primary care practitioners assigned to the national health system with statutory or civil servant appointments who have been granted a contributory retirement pension will be able to make their activity compatible with 75% of their retirement pension when they return to active service, provided that the causal event giving rise to their pension took place on or after 1 January 2022, or they had availed themselves of the compatibility of their retirement pension with their appointment as statutory or civil servant health professionals under Royal Decree-Law 8/2021 of 4 May, provided that they meet the other requirements established by law.  

Furthermore, the employer's retirement pension is compatible with merely maintaining ownership of the business or commercial establishment, so long as they do not carry out any work.

For personalised information, it is advisable to go to any of the Social Security Assistance and Information Centres (CAISS).

The general rule is that receiving a pension is incompatible with undertaking work either for another person or as a self-employed person or with activities carried out for the Public Administrations.

There are some exceptions to this incompatibility: the retirement pension is compatible with undertaking: 

• Part-time work under the terms established for flexible retirement. The total sum of the retirement pension will be reduced by an amount inversely proportional to the reduction applicable to the working day.
• Self employed work, the total annual income from which does not exceed the annual Minimum Professional Wage (SMI).
• Any work for another person or as a self-employed person carried out by the pensioner, provided they started to draw the pension at the statutory age (without bonuses and not early) and the percentage applicable to the respective base rate for the purposes of determining the sum of the pension reaches 100%. As a general rule, the sum of the pension will be equivalent to 50% of the amount of the pension.

In any case, the pensioner should let the managing body know that they are going to start work.

• Until 28 December 2025, primary care practitioners assigned to the national health system with statutory or civil servant appointments have the possibility of making their activity compatible with 75% of their retirement pension, when they return to active service, provided that the causal event giving rise to their pension took place on or after 1 January 2022, or they had taken advantage of the compatibility of their retirement pension with their appointment as statutory or civil servant health professionals under Royal Decree-Law 8/2021 of 4 May, provided that they meet the other requirements established in the law.

If the worker enters into a part-time work contract, within the legal reduction limits set forth for "flexible retirement", his retirement pension will be reduced inversely proportionate to the reduction applied to the working hours. If he works less than 50% or over 75% of his working hours, his pension will be suspended.

In certain circumstances, as from 17/03/2013, it is possible for workers to reconcile their retirement pension (once it is down to 50% of its full amount) with a full-time or part-time job, with no constraint on the number of working hours.

They can be entitled to two pensions, as long as they meet the individual requirements of each scheme. If they are not affiliated or assimilated to any of the schemes when retiring, the contributions shown in each of them must have overlapped for at least 15 years.

In the event that a pension is not granted in one of the schemes, the certified contribution bases in the latter may be added to the contribution bases in the scheme in which pension eligibility exists, only to determine the regulatory base, as long as the sum of the bases does not exceed the maximum contribution limit in force at any given time.

The retirement pension is compatible with owning a business and the functions attached to ownership, as a result of which it is necessary to delimit the functions attached to ownership in accordance with commercial regulations on employer activity.

In principle, the business owner can perform any relevant or necessary function for achieving their objectives, even if they normally use the help of other people, either because they cannot or do not want to act personally, since the ownership of a business or company does not require the employer to carry out a business activity directly and personally. All that is necessary is that it is carried out in their name, i.e. so that legal relationships with third parties generated are imputed to them as well as all the rights and obligations produced, with the owner assuming the business's risk and expense.

Everything related to the management, administration and normal running of the business must be deemed an incompatible activity with the RETA retirement pension for both the individual employer and the de facto employer of a trading company, as this will give rise to affiliation in the Social Security system possibly resulting in, by way of example, the signing of contracts in general, general wages agreements, the company's representation at and outside of trials, the signing of guarantees...

The percentage applicable to the base pension in order to calculate the pension award varies depending on the number of years the individual has been making Social Security contributions. A scale is applied that begins with 50% at 15 years, increasing from the sixteenth year by 0.19% for each additional contribution month between months 1 and 248, and by 0.18% for those who pass month 248, with the percentage applicable to the base pension never exceeding 100%, except in cases where the individual accesses their pension at a later age than is applicable to them.

These percentages will be applied gradually until 2027.

The percentage established at the time the retirement pension is awarded will not alter when the beneficiary reaches the statutory  retirement age. However, if on reaching the aforementioned age, the amount of the pension is less than the minimum established for said pension , they will be guaranteed the minimum, provided they meet all the requirements.

In order to prove the minimum contribution period (short-fall) required for accessing a benefit, generally only the contributions actually made or those assimilated by extra payments (the so-called contribution-days) will be calculated.

The allowance time granted to the worker according to their age on 1 January 1967 is not used to prove the minimum contribution period required, and will only be taken into consideration to determine the pension percentage.

The pension amount will be the result of applying the work day reduction percentage to the amount of the pension due to them on the date of the causal event, according to the number of years contributions are made.

To determine the percentage applicable to the base pension of the partial retirement pension, when the worker applies for it prior to reaching the age of 65, the reduction coefficients will not be applied based on age.

The contributions made for activities carried out during the partial suspension of receipt of the retirement pension will result in an improved pension once employment is terminated.

To this end, once the termination of activity has been communicated to the competent management entity, payment of the full sum of the retirement pension will resume. once said sum has been recalculated in accordance with the following rules:

• In order to recalculate the base pension, the new contributions are factored in and the regulations in effect at the time the activity terminated are applied. If the result is a base pension that is lower than the previous one, the previously calculated amount is upheld, albeit applying the pension resulting from the revision carried out from the date the base pension was determined to the date the employment terminated.
  
• This will also result in modification  of the percentage applicable to the base pension, based on the new accredited contribution period,  and will result in the reduction or, where applicable, removal of any reduction coefficient that may have been applied, if it results in the right to an early retirement pension depending on whether or not the individual is a member of a mutual benefit society