The retirement age in Spain is set at 66 years and four months in general and at 65 years for those who have contributed more than 37 years and 3 months to Social Security. However, current legislation also allows you to retire early.
Among the existing options, it is possible to advance retirement until age 62. Of course, this type of withdrawal is not available to everyone.
Which workers can retire at 62 years of age
In Spain, retirement can be brought forward up to two years voluntarily and up to four if retirement is forced. This means that to retire at age 62, that retirement must be involuntary.
With voluntary early retirement it is only possible to retire at 64 years and four months in 2023.
And what is the difference between the two types of early retirement? Basically the second is not voluntary. The worker is, to a greater or lesser extent, forced to retire early.
Specifically, for a retirement to be considered forced, the company has to fire the worker or go bankrupt, for example. If the employee leaves work, he will not be able to benefit from this type of early retirement unless the conditions of employment change excessively and represent a detriment to his dignity.
In this case, it is possible to retire up to four years before the legal age, at 62 years and four months in 2023. The mandatory retirement will be at 63 years.
What pension do you have if you retire at 62?
Advancing the retirement age to 62 has its consequences on the public pension you will receive. The amount is always lower than when you retire at the ordinary age.
Social Security applies a series of reducing coefficients to those who stop working early. These reductions vary depending on whether the retirement is voluntary or forced. What does not change is the basic operation. The sooner you advance your retirement, the greater the reducing coefficients will be, just as the longer you have contributed, the lower.
How much will your pension be reduced if you retire at age 62? The percentage that Social Security will subtract in this case is between 30% and 24% of the pension that would correspond.
The specific coefficients according to the years contributed are the following:
30% reduction coefficient for retirement with less than 38 years and 6 months of contributions. Reducing coefficient of 28% for early retirement with less than 41 years and 6 months (and longer than in the previous point). 26% for early retirement with less than 44 years and 6 months (and longer than in the previous point). Reducing coefficient of 24% for early retirement with more than 44 years and 6 months.
In the best of cases, the early pension can never be greater than reducing the maximum pension by 0.5% for each quarter that retirement is brought forward.
In any case, the resulting pension may not be less than the minimum contributory pension. Currently this pension is 9,695 euros for a person with a non-dependent spouse and 12,682.60 euros for a person without a spouse.
