RETIREMENT AGE. The postponement from 62 to 64 as the legal retirement age is one of the most commented points of the government’s pension reform project. The latter ensures it is essential to ensure the sustainability of the pension system. And you, at what age can you claim to retire? And at full rate? Here are the answers.
[Mis à jour le 23 janvier 2023 à 12h20] This is one of the most commented points of the pension reform project and undoubtedly one of those most highlighted by opponents during the demonstrations of January 19: the postponement of the legal retirement age after two years of retirement, i.e. from 62 to 64 years old. To return to this point “would be to renounce the return to balance of the system and therefore lack responsibility for future generations”, assured the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt Monday January 23 during a press conference held after the presentation of the project. in the Council of Ministers. The government is therefore sticking to its position on this point, which has become one of the symbols of its reform.
Sometimes considered unfair, especially for some who will have to work longer than expected, even having started working early, the pension reform must now pass before the National Assembly in early February. But then, what are the real changes with the current system? The project, unveiled on January 10, 2023, clearly provides for this two-year postponement of the age from which a person can claim to claim their pension rights, at full or partial rate with a discount.
The legal retirement age was set at 62 during the 2010 Woerth reform, where it was 60 previously. If the 65-year-old track had been mentioned, it was ultimately that of the 64-year-olds who was retained subject to an acceleration of the Touraine reform timetable dating from 2014. This timetable provided for an extension of the contribution period to 43 years (172 quarters) from the generation born in 1973. The government project plans to introduce this extension to 43 years from the 1965 generation. According to the executive, this acceleration would make it possible to balance the pension system and compensate for the year difference (64 instead of 65) in retirement compared to Emmanuel Macron’s initial project.
It will be possible to retire from the age of 64 (excluding special terms such as long careers or hardship criteria) if the government reform comes into force. But many working people will then not have the required 172 quarters of contribution, in particular those who started their professional life later because of their studies or a choppy career. In this case, they will be able to claim their pension rights but a discount will be applied to their retirement pension (1.25% discount per missing quarter, within a limit of 20 quarters). It is the difference between retirement at the legal retirement age and retirement at the full rate, which allows you to benefit from your entire retirement pension.
The current system of the pension scheme allows retirement with 167 quarters of contributions, i.e. at age 62 (excluding early retirement). The pension reform project will gradually change this legal age. Leaving at 62 will still be possible for people born in 1960. This legal starting age will be the same for people born between January and August 1961 who can also leave at 62 but with 168 quarters to have validated. Everything changes from 1er September 1961 according to the government’s reform project which plans from this date to add 3 terms per year. Assets born between 1er September 1961 and December 31, 1961 will therefore be the first to have to work an additional quarter (3 months) to assert their pension rights, being able to retire from the age of 62 years and 3 months.
The legal retirement age will be gradually raised to 64 years. Three months per year will be added from 1er September 2023, to reach 63 years and 3 months in 2027 and 64 years from 2030. discount if he has contributed the required quarters (172 quarters from 2027). The government’s initial project, which provided for a departure at 65, seems to have been ruled out in favor of a legal retirement age of 64, in return for an acceleration of the Touraine reform with a contribution period increased to 43 annuities (172 quarters) from 2027 against 2035 initially.
If the 2023 pension reform project succeeds as it stands, i.e. according to the conditions presented by the government on January 10, 2023, your legal retirement age, the age from which you can claim your pension rights will be determined by your year of birth as well as the number of quarters contributed during your professional career. Here is the calendar to remember to calculate your legal retirement age from your year of birth:
Please note that the legal retirement age must be associated with a sufficient number of contributions to assert your rights to a full pension. Otherwise, a person who has reached the legal age according to his year of birth will be able to assert his rights but a discount will be applied to him, reducing de facto the amount of his retirement pension. To obtain a full pension, 43 annual contributions, i.e. 172 quarters, will be required for people born from 1965. Let us take the example of a person born in 1968. If the reform provides for a legal retirement age of 64, a person born in 1968 but having started working at the age of 22 will not be able to benefit from a retirement at pension at the full rate only at the age of 65 (22 years + 43 years of contribution). If she decides to exercise her rights from the age of 64, as the reform would allow her to do, a discount will be applied to her, reducing the amount of her retirement pension. This is the difference between legal retirement age and full pension.
No, the pension reform project presented by the government on January 10, 2023 does not provide for any modification of the discount and premium rules. As a reminder, this system makes it possible to retire at the legal retirement age (soon 64), even without having contributed all of the required quarters. In this case, a discount is set up and comes to puncture the retirement pension, to reduce the amount. The pension reform will not change the age limit from which no discount is applied: this age “cancellation of the discount” remains fixed at 67 years.
However, the legal retirement age should be taken with a grain of salt. Many working people today do not claim their retirement rights from the legal age and work a few months (years?) more to obtain a better retirement pension. Thus, if the legal retirement age is now 62 years before the reform presented by the government, the real retirement age of the French is 62 years and 9 months according to the 2021 statistics of the National Old Age Insurance Fund (CNAV), a calculation which takes into account early departures. If we exclude these early departures, the effective retirement age is 63.1 years according to these same 2021 figures from the CNAV, an age which continues to increase since it has gained 6 months in 8 years. (62.5 years in 2013).