TRUE OR FALSE. Retirement: Do the Last 25 Years Really Matter?

How is the old age pension calculated? We often hear that the latter is calculated from the last 25 years of your career, but this is not what the general social security scheme provides. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the amount of the pension depends on “your period of insurance and the average annual income of 25 best years of your career”.

Your last 25 years of career are therefore not taken into account, but the 25 years in which your income was the highest. The confusion comes from the fact that in most cases your salary increases as you go, and the last 25 years are often the best 25. Note that if you have worked less than 25 years, all years in which you worked. The calculation of the average annual salary is therefore equal to the “average of your gross salaries during these years of employment”.

To be completely precise, the Ministry of the Interior details the precise formula for calculating pensions on its website, which corresponds to “Average annual income x Pension rate x (Your period of pension insurance in the general scheme – limited to period of insurance to obtain a full rate pension/period of insurance to obtain a full rate pension).

It should be noted that this method of calculation does not change with the new pension reform, for which Élisabeth Borne assumed responsibility for her government on Thursday through article 49.3 of the Constitution.