Lisbon, Dec. 30, 2024 (Lusa) - The legal age to retire will rise to 66 years and nine months in 2026, according to an order published on Monday, confirming the figures estimated on the basis of average life expectancy data released by Statistics Portugal (INE).
"The normal age of access to the old-age pension of the general social security system in 2026 [...] is 66 years and 9 months," reads the order issued by the Ministry of Work, Solidarity and Social Security and published today in the Diário da República.
These 66 years and nine months correspond to an increase of two months compared to the normal retirement age as of January 2025.
In practice, this means that workers who are not covered by the very long contributory career scheme or by the scheme to make the retirement age more flexible, which applies to those who have completed 40 years of contributions by the age of 60, will be penalised if they choose to retire before the age of 66 years and nine months.
The normal age of access to the old-age pension varies according to the average life expectancy at the age of 65, an indicator published by the INE.
It was on the basis of this data that the normal retirement age was set at 66 years and seven months in 2025 and has now been set at 66 years and nine months for those retiring in 2026.
The law published today also confirms that those who retire early in 2025 will be penalised by the 16.9% sustainability factor, plus a cut of 0.5% for each month of anticipation compared to the normal age of access.
"The sustainability factor to be applied [...] to the statutory amount of old-age pensions under the general social security scheme starting in 2025 is 0.8307," the law states, which results in 16.9%.
That 16.9% compares with the 15.8% cut applied to those taking early retirement in 2024.
The pension system currently in force includes several situations in which the cut due to the sustainability factor is not applied, even if the person accesses the pension before the normal age.
This is the case for people who, at 60, have completed 40 years of contributory work. In this case, they are penalised by 0.5% for each month of anticipation.
On the other hand, those who meet the conditions laid down under the very long contributory career scheme - which includes workers aged 60 or over with 46 or more years of contributions and who started working before age 16 - can retire without penalty.
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