How much will someone earn who retires without having contributed for 30 years?

The vast majority of citizens have wondered at some point in their lives what amount of retirement pension they will be entitled to once they retire and change status from worker to retiree.

This question is often repeated because, from the moment a person becomes retired, this pension becomes the main source of income and, at the same time, because the complexity of our pension system (due to the influence of several reforms whose effects overlap) it is sometimes difficult to predict what this amount will be.

The key lies in the contributions accumulated by the worker throughout their professional life. These contributions determine the type of pension to be received and its amount, so that, with some exceptions, it is normal that the longer the contribution, the higher the amount.

For all this, it is common to ask the question “how much pension will I receive” with a label then, that of the days contributed. For example:How much pension do I have left with less than 30 years of contributions??

There are two possible scenarios for the worker: that he reaches the necessary contribution to receive the contributory pension or, on the contrary, that he does not have these obligatory contributions.

The General Social Security Law establishes in its article 205 (you can consult it on this link from the Official State Journal) that one of the conditions for receiving the contributory retirement pension is “to have contributed for a period minimum of fifteen years, of which at least two must be included in the fifteen years immediately preceding the birth of the right.”

Thus, it is necessary to distinguish between people who have contributed for at least 15 years and those who have not reached this contribution, since the pension (and therefore its amount) will vary considerably.

How to retire with less than 15 years of contributions?

In this case, the worker could only recover the non-contributory retirement pensionthis benefit which “guarantees all citizens over 65 years of age and in a state of necessity an economic benefit, free medical-pharmaceutical assistance and additional social services, even if they have not contributed or have contributed insufficiently to have right to a contributory contribution. pension”, according to IMSERSO on its website.

To benefit from this pension, you must meet certain additional conditions:

• Prove an age of at least 65 years.
• Proof of residence in Spain for at least 10 years between the age of 16 and the pension accumulation date. The two years must be immediately preceding the pension application.
• Proof of income less than 7,250.60 euros per year. If you live with several people in the same cohabitation unit, the ceilings for the entire unit are 12,326.02 euros per year for two people (increasing to 30,815.05 euros per year if you live with children or parents), 17,401.44 euros per year for three people (rises to 43,503.60 euros per year with parents or children) and 22,476.86 euros per year for four or more people (rises to 56,192. 15 euros per year if you live with children or parents).

Pension amount with less than 15 years of contributions

IMSERSO makes the amounts of non-contributory retirement pensions available to citizens at this link on its website. These are:

• The pension is, in general, 517.90 euros per month and 7,250.60 euros per year.
• The 25% pension is 129.48 euros per month and 1,812.65 euros per year.
• If two beneficiaries coincide in the same cohabitation unit, the amount for each is 440.22 euros per month and 6,163.01 euros per year.
• If three beneficiaries coincide in the same cohabitation unit, the amount for each is 414.32 euros per month and 5,800.48 euros per year.

How can you retire with 15 years of contributions and less than 30?

These people will be able to receive the contributory retirement pension. In addition to the contribution requirement, others are required:

• Reach the ordinary retirement age: in 2024, people with less than 30 years of contributions will have to wait until age 66 and a half.
• Be up to date with your Social Security payments.
• Access the pension from a Social Security registration or assimilation situation.

Pension amount with less than 30 years of contributions

It is necessary to use the Social Security retirement pension calculation method, which takes into account the number of years of contributions and the contribution bases for which these contributions were paid. There are two steps:

• Calculate the regulatory basewhich is obtained by adding the contribution bases for the 25 years preceding retirement (i.e. a total of 300 bases) and dividing the amount by 350. In this calculation, Social Security applies coefficients to all bases except those of the two recent years to reflect the effect of inflation on them and, in addition, workers can benefit from the integration of gaps to fill periods without contributions with fictitious bases (not valid for self-employed and domestic workers) .
• Calculate the percentage of the regulatory base. This depends on the years of contribution and is calculated with the following references: with 15 years of contribution, 50% is reached, for each of the following 49 months, 0.21% is granted and for each of the following 209 months, 0. 21% is granted. granted 0.19%.

Thus, people with less than 30 years of contributions may be entitled to different percentages of the regulatory base depending on their contribution period:

• 50% of the regulatory base is allocated over 15 years of contributions.
• 52.52% of the regulatory base is allocated over 16 years of contributions.
• 55.04% of the regulatory base is collected with 17 years of contributions.
• 57.56% of the regulatory base is allocated over 18 years of contributions.
• 60.08% of the regulatory base is collected with 19 years of contributions.
• 62.38% of the regulatory base is allocated over 20 years of contributions.
• 64.66% of the regulatory base is collected with 21 years of contributions.
• 66.94% of the regulatory base is collected with 22 years of contributions.
• 69.22% of the regulatory base is collected with 23 years of contributions.
• 71.50% of the regulatory base is allocated over 24 years of contributions.
• 73.78% of the regulatory base is allocated over 25 years of contributions.
• 76.06% of the regulatory base is collected with 26 years of contributions.
• 78.34% of the regulatory base is collected with 27 years of contributions.
• 80.62% of the regulatory base is collected with 28 years of contributions.
• 82.90% of the regulatory base is collected with 29 years of contributions.

At the same time, to these amounts it would be necessary to add, where applicable, those of the supplement to reduce the gender gap in pensions, which grants 33.20 euros per month per son or daughterwith a maximum of four. It should be remembered that this supplement is mainly aimed at women, who are traditionally those affected by interruptions in contributions due to maternity.

Minimum pension amount

To be clear on how the amount of pensions should be calculated, it should also be remembered that there are minimum amounts for retirement pensions which serve as a reference for people who may have lower amounts due to contribution bases weak. In 2024 they are as follows:

• 1,030.30 euros per month (14,466.20 euros per year) for holders with a dependent spouse, 825.20 euros per month (11,552.80 euros per year) for people without a spouse and 783.30 euros per month (10,966.20 euros per year) for people with non-dependents. spouse.
• The minimum amount for people under 65 is 1,030.30 euros per month (14,466.20 euros per year) for holders with a dependent spouse, 772 euros per month (10,808 euros per year) for people without a spouse and 729.70 euros per month (10,215.80 euros annually) for people with a non-dependent spouse.
• The minimum amount for people aged 65 or over suffering from a serious disability is 1,549.90 euros per month (21,698.60 euros per year) for holders with a dependent spouse, 1,237.80 euros per month (17,329.20 euros per year) for people without a spouse and 1,174.90 euros per month. (16,448.60 euros annually) for people with a non-dependent spouse.

Maximum amount of pension

Likewise, laws are also adopted to cap pensions and continue to guarantee the sustainability of the system. The limit for 2024, as set in Royal Decree-Law 8/2023 (you can read it at this link), is “from 3,175.04 euros monthly or 44,450.56 euros annually“.