Discover how many years you need to contribute to your retirement pension

Would you like to know how many years you have to work to receive a full pension? The legislation has been changing in recent years, so it is normal for people who are considering their future retirement to have questions and concerns.

We know retiring from work is a very important chapter and understanding how many years of work you need for a pension is essential. Imagine a retirement without financial worries, where every year worked contributes to a more comfortable life. The secret to an uncomplicated retirement lies in saving, optimising your financial planning to ensure a rewarding and care-free retirement. To do this, you first need to be clear about how many years of contributions you need for a pension.

Calculate how many years you have to work to draw your pension

There are two determining factors in drawing a 100% pension. To qualify, you must have reached the legal retirement age or have paid the minimum contributions required by law.

In order to retire and draw any pension, you need to have paid at least 15 years into the Social Security system, two of which must be the two years leading up to the date on which you claim your pension. In other words, you will be entitled to retire as soon as you meet these requirements, but you will only get 50% of the pension.

You have two options to receive 100% of your retirement pension: you can either reach normal retirement age, which will be 66 years and eight months in 2025, or you can claim it at the age of 65 if you have at least 38 years and three months of contributions.

These amounts have been increasing year after year since the pension reform that was approved in 2011 came into force in 2013. The ordinary retirement age in Spain will increase by two months every year until it becomes fixed in 2027.

Until then, it will increase gradually and, at the same time, the number of years of contributions required for a pension benefit will also increase. Thus, to benefit from 100% of your state pension, you will have to reach the age of 67 (or 65 if by then you have made 38 years and six months of contributions or more).

What is the minimum amount of contributions required to claim a retirement benefit?

Now that we have seen how old you have to be to retire, as well as the number of years you have to contribute to claim a 100% pension, let’s look at the minimum number of years you have to have contributed to qualify for any retirement benefit. 

To be able to claim a retirement benefit, you need to prove that you have made at least 15 years of contributions to the Social Security system. Once you reach this minimum number of years of contributions, you can claim 50% of your pension benefit.

This percentage increases by 0.19% for each additional month of contributions during months 1 and 248, and by 0.18% for the months exceeding month 248. In no case can the percentage of the regulatory base be higher than 100%, except when the pension is paid at an age higher than the normal age.

The retirement table by year of birth

With the implementation of the reform in 2013, both the retirement age and the number of years of contribution have gradually increased. Between 2013 and 2018, the retirement age increased by only one month each year. However, since 2018, this has accelerated to an increase of 2 months for each year elapsed, reaching 67 years in 2027.

As mentioned above, the legal retirement age is currently 66 years and six months, but it will gradually increase to 67 in 2027. In 2026, the new system for calculating the pension will start to be implemented gradually. Let’s take a look at the retirement table by year of birth:

The challenge posed by the baby boomer generation

The mass retirement of baby boomers in Spain, representing around 30% of the population, poses significant challenges for the pension system and the economy in general. The CaixaBank Research study highlights the importance of saving for this generation and those to come, as they are expected to live longer in retirement than previous generations. The phenomenon, which will be felt over the next 20 years, will affect the current pay-as-you-go system, where active workers fund pensions.