One of the main requirements to access a contributory pension is to have contributed a minimum of 15 years through the applicant's work history. However, one of the assumptions that may happen is that the future pensioner has not reached this contribution period. To the point that they can fit very few years- or even months - to get this consideration by the time your retirement rolls around. If this were the case, you would not have lost everything since it could generate those years or months that you have left to quote through different strategies that we are going to expose you in this article.
In any case, if you don't have 15 years of listing The pension denominated as contributory cannot be collected. Rather, you could only access the non-contributory pension provided that you meet a series of requirements, among which the following stand out: there must be at least two years of contributions within the 15 years prior to the time of generating this personal income. As well as having reached 65 years of age, and that from the year 2027 it will rise to 67 years and progressively.
If all these requirements are met, you will be in a position to access the minimum contributory pension. Where from this year they have grown to be above 700 euros, although taking into account a series of caveats such as those mentioned below:
- Retirement pension of a holder aged 65 or over
- In modality with a dependent spouse, 810,60 euros. Without spouse, 656,90 euros. With a non-dependent spouse 623,40 euros.
- Retirement pension of a holder under 65 years of age
- In modality with a dependent spouse, 759,90 euros. Without spouse, 614,50 euros. With a non-dependent spouse 580,90 euros.
Not reaching the listed years
In any case, and in the assumption that the worker has not reached the quota of 15 years worked and contributed, he must use a series of formulas to fill in those few years that remain to comply with the current requirements of the contributory pension. It will be the only solution to reach this stage of life with a more or less decent pension. Where in some cases, there will be no other remedy than extend working life until achieving the objectives of these people. Because if not, they would be forced to demand for social assistance that does not exceed 400 euros each month.
For this reason it is very important to plan this important stage of life and in this sense nothing better than to ask for the employment history before the administrative authorities. It will be reflected all the movements and all the years that you have worked and even in the smallest detail. This is a document that is very easy to get and free of charge. In a few days you will be able to have it at hand to know what the real state of your work life is to focus more realistically on the moment of retirement.
Minimum pension: high as self-employed
If you have a few years or months left to be eligible for a contributory pension, one of the solutions you have for fill this job gap is to register as a self-employed worker and for the time you need until you reach 15 years of age. You will have to pay a fee every month for the contribution base that you want, although you should know that the higher this is, the greater the amount of your next pension. This action can be carried out for as long as you want, from just one year and up to an unlimited maximum depending on your real needs for retirement.
On the other hand, at this time you can benefit from the flat rate for freelancers and that will mean paying an amount of 50 euros to be registered as a self-employed worker. In this sense, as of January 1, 2018, the time of the reduced fee of 50 euros for the new self-employed was extended to twelve months, instead of six so far. The extension of the reduced fee for the self-employed who undertake or re-undertake a planned activity on their own account was carried out through a modification in the wording of the LETA article.
No discharge in the last two years
On the contrary, it is also necessary that you take into account from now on that to benefit from this flat rate you do not have to have been registered as a self-employed worker in the last two years (three in case you have previously enjoyed a bonus). The Law on urgent reforms of self-employment shortened the term from five to two years for new self-employed, with the exception of the self-employed collaborator who maintains the original requirement of five years.
Regarding its amount, it should be noted that it increases progressively and over the months. The amount of the flat rate varies throughout the first months of activity, in which you will find three sections of reduction on the minimum contribution base and which are the following that we expose you below:
- First 12 months: $50 in case of quoting for bases higher than the established minimum (932 euros).
- Months 12 to 18: 50% reduction during the second semester, which would remain at 139,43 euros per month.
- Months 18 to 24: would increase until reaching the 195,24 per month.
Special agreement with the SS
The other alternative to reach the minimum years in retirement is to establish an agreement with Social Security. This is what is called a special agreement and it is an agreement voluntarily subscribed by the worker himself and for whom he decides to pay the missing Social Security contributions. It is indicated when you have been discharged and you want to restart this relationship so that you can be counted towards retirement. That is, so that you can contribute again on your own and that covers permanent disability, death and survival benefits, derived from common illness and non-work accident, retirement and social services.
However, its main drawback is that these fees will be more demanding than through the flat rate for self-employed workers. From this perspective, it should be the last resort to which you have to go to collect your contributory pension in the coming months. not in vain, it will mean a greater economic effort through the payment of their monthly installments. What is the fee to pay? In this sense, you can choose between several options, although of course you can select the minimum current contribution base, as happens with the freelancers' fees. Where, a coefficient of 0,94 will be applied to the contribution base. On the other hand, it should be mentioned that the duration of this special agreement will be suspended during the worker's periods of activity.
In condition to access the pension
With these two proposals you will not have any kind of problems to reach your contributory pension. Whose amount, and after the last revision of this year, is quantified around 700 euros every month. In any case, they will depend on the characteristics of the applicants.
For holders with 65 years:
With dependent spouse: 10.988,60 euros per year.
Without spouse (one-person economic unit): 8.905,40 euros per year.
With non-dependent spouse: 8.449 euros per year.
For holders under 65:
With dependent spouse: 10.229,80 euros per year.
Without spouse (one-person economic unit): 8.330 euros per year.
With non-dependent spouse: 7.872,20 euros per year.
Compensatory corrector
In any case, with 15 or 16 years of contributions, you will only collect the 50% of the contribution base and if this has been very low, the pension may be a little lower than 500 euros. However, in these cases a compensatory corrector is used so that your contributory pension is the minimum established. In any case, you must comply with a series of requirements and one of the most important is that you do not have an annual income of more than 7.000 euros approximately. Because in case of breach of this point, the pension would be withdrawn automatically and until you correct the problem satisfactorily.
On the other hand, you cannot forget that this pension will be for your life. With the increases, if any, of the reviews that are carried out every year. Without at any time you can vary or modify its amount. It is an amount that can no longer be altered and that is why it is so important that you plan your retirement with some anticipation. You can even contract a financial product to increase your purchasing power during this stage of your life. As for example, pension plans or investment funds.
In some cases, with interesting tax advantages so that you pay less money every year. In order for your pension to be higher. In this sense, you can choose between several options, although of course you can select the minimum current contribution base, as happens with the freelancers' fees. Where, a coefficient of 0,94 will be applied to the contribution base.