Are contributory and non-contributory pensions compatible? Yes, but only if your own income does not reach 8,803.20 euros per year

There are people who are collecting a non-contributory pension and later have the possibility of accessing a contributory pension (for example, they collect a non-contributory retirement pension and suddenly have the right to collect a widow’s pension). Social Security allows them to be made compatible as long as certain limits are respected.

Article 364 of the General Social Security Law establishes that non-contributory pensions are compatible with other income or income of the beneficiary, which also includes contributory pensions, as long as they do not exceed 35% of the annual amount of the non-contributory pension. If this limit is exceeded, the remainder will be subtracted from the non-contributory pension.

This is so, since the amount of non-contributory pensions is not fixed and depends on the pensioner’s income, as explained in the guide to non-contributory pensions.

How much is a non-contributory pension collected if you already have another pension?

The full amount of the non-contributory pension in 2026 is 8,803.20 euros per year, which is collected in 14 payments of 628.80 euros, as stated in article 21 of Royal Decree 241/2026. In order to collect the pension, it is necessary that one’s own income falls below this amount. Thus, anything that does not exceed 35% (which in this case would be 3,081.12 euros per year) will not cut the pension.

In the case of exceeding this amount, the amount will be reduced as income increases without falling below the minimum of 25% (2,200.80 euros per year, 157.20 per pay), which is the minimum that can be charged, as stated on the Imserso website. If you exceed the income limit, you would be left without the right to continue collecting the non-contributory pension (8,803.20 euros per year).

This is how it looks for a person who lives alone, with no more income than that other pension and without a minimum supplement:

In this way, with a pension of between 3,081.12 and 8,803.20 euros per year, the total remains at 11,884.32 euros, since each euro that exceeds 35% is one euro less that is taken away from the non-contributory pension.

Is the non-contributory pension compatible with a Spanish contributory pension?

When the contributory pension does not reach the minimum amount, Social Security complements it with the minimum supplement as long as the pensioner resides in Spain and does not exceed an income limit (article 59 of the LGSS). Thus, in the case of a retiree over 65 years of age who lives alone, the minimum pension is 936.20 euros per month in 2026, according to the Social Security table.

This means that the minimum pensions for retirement, permanent disability or widowhood have a minimum amount that starts at 9,580.20 euros per year, therefore, and given that the income limit for non-contributory pensions is 8,803.20 euros, it is not possible to make them compatible.

Now, the non-contributory benefit can be added to the contributory benefit of another country, as long as it does not give the right for said benefit to be complemented in Spain, or to any income such as that of a rental. That is to say, both are counted, because article 363 includes capital income and income “of a benefit nature.”

Does the spouse’s pension count?

Yes. In the case of living with the spouse or with blood relatives up to the second degree, the income limit will grow and will be 14,965.44 euros per year for two people. This is how the limits for 2026 would be:

If there are parents or children of the applicant among the cohabitants, these limits are multiplied by 2.5.

In the case of de facto couples, they will be left out, since article 363 of the LGSS only groups married people and relatives in the same economic unit.

Exceeding the income limit is one of the reasons why the non-contributory pension is lost and beneficiaries are obliged to report whether they exceed it or if they plan to exceed it. Omitting it may lead to the return of undue charges, as happened to a retiree from Madrid who had to return 9,664.11 euros because her husband’s income totaled 15,333.08 euros in 2022, with a limit of 10,029.32 euros. A widow from the Canary Islands had to return 18,123.24 euros for collecting widowhood and non-contributory retirement benefits for more than four years at the same time.

In these situations, the law explains that there is a 30-day period to communicate any change in one’s own or household income, as well as to present an annual income statement in the first quarter of the year (which is not the same as the Income Tax return).