In 2026, to receive 100% of the pension or a full pension, it is necessary to have at least 36 years and 6 months of contributions throughout our working life. This raises the following question: What happens if I have more years of contributions? In this case, Social Security will not use these extra contributions to raise the pension above 100% when retirement occurs at the ordinary age.
This is how it is regulated by the Law 27/2011which modified the retirement system and established both the ordinary legal age and the current pension calculation method (taking into account that Royal Decree 2/2023 introduced the dual calculation system this year).
The retirement pension amount It depends mainly on two factors, which are the contribution bases and the total years contributed or worked. The contribution bases serve to determine the regulatory base, on which the corresponding pension percentage is then applied based on the years of contributions.
And on the other hand, contributions serve to determine what percentage of the pension corresponds. At 15 years of age, which is the minimum to access the contributory retirement pension, you are entitled to 50% of the regulatory base and, from there, for each month with more contributions, Social Security will add a small percentage. Thus, for each additional month contributed during the next 49 months, 0.21% is added to the regulatory base. Subsequently, 0.19% is added for each of the following 209 months.
In this way, with 36 years and six months of contributions you will be entitled to 100% of the pension in 2026, but keeping in mind that in 2027 it will change and it will be necessary to have 37 years of contributions. Now, from there, having more years of contributions will not serve to add more percentage to the regulatory base, unless you opt for a delayed retirement, that is, retiring beyond the ordinary age.
Therefore, those who have been contributing for 40 years or more and decide to retire at the ordinary age will not see that percentage increased for the mere fact of having contributed beyond the period required to reach 100%. Of course, these extra contributions can serve to improve the ordinary retirement age and retire at 65 years of age.
Practical example
To understand it, we are going to give this example, in which Manuel is a worker who has 36 years and six months of contributions and decides to retire at the ordinary retirement age in 2026. When he retires, he will collect 100% of his regulatory base, since he meets the necessary contributions to collect the full pension.
Now, let’s imagine that Manuel has 40 or 50 years of contributions and decides to retire at his ordinary age. In this case, you will continue to charge 100%, because additional contributions do not serve to exceed that maximum percentage. Where you can notice a difference is in the access age, since in 2026 those who have 38 years and three months of contributions will be able to retire at age 65, while those who do not reach that period will have to wait until they are 66 years and 10 months.
Exceptions to collect more than 100% of the pension
Social Security regulations only allow this limit to be exceeded when the retirement age is delayed. In this case, for each full year of contributions after reaching the ordinary age, add an additional percentage of 4% for each full year of contributions after that age or a third mixed option of both.
Another exception is when the supplement is collected to reduce the gender gap, or better known as the child supplement in the pension. In this case it is not about exceeding 100% of the regulatory base, but rather an economic amount that is added to the recognized pension.