The State Public Employment Service (SEPE) grants the subsidy for those over 52 years of age even if a pension plan is rescued, as long as the eligible income does not exceed 75% of the Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI). How is this translated? Well, even if you take out all your savings from the bank, it does not mean that the aid for this group will be lost, which has an amount in 2026 of 480 euros per month.
Now, it must be taken into account that the SEPE does not count all the rescued money as income, but only the profits, capital gains or returns generated by the pension plan. This was explained by Fernando Maján, advisor to the SEPE Benefits Subdirectorate, in the program Madrid Works of Telemadrid, where he clarified that these amounts may affect the requirement of lack of income.
This idea is also reinforced by the Supreme Court’s own jurisprudence, which makes it very clear that rescuing a pension plan does not always mean that new income is being obtained, since the worker is actually recovering savings that he already had as part of his assets without necessarily assuming a new source of income, so that it is well understood. Therefore, the important thing is to know clearly what part of the money withdrawn corresponds to profits and not to the accumulated capital.
The SEPE only takes into account the earnings of the pension plan to calculate the income limit
Article 275 of the General Law of Social Security (which can be consulted at this BOE) says that the requirement of lack of income is met when the beneficiary’s income “does not exceed 75 percent of the minimum interprofessional salary, excluding the proportional part of two extraordinary payments.” In 2026, this limit is set at 915.75 euros per month.
In this sense, SEPE itself collects in your annual income tax return that, when a pension plan is redeemed in a single payment, the return obtained must be declared, divided by twelve months, and not necessarily the entire amount withdrawn.
This same interpretation appears in a ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, dated December 18, 2025 (recourse 3177/2023), collected by the legal portal Laboral Social. The court explains that with the rescue “one asset element (the pension plan) is replaced by another (the money obtained by the rescue of the aforementioned plan).”
Therefore, the ruling makes it clear that the total amount of the rescue should not be imputed as income, but rather the profit, capital gains or returns generated. Furthermore, it establishes that business contributions to a pension plan do not constitute, by themselves, effective income when the worker has not yet had access to that money.
This doctrine had already been applied by the Supreme Court in its ruling of February 3, 2016, analyzed by Legal Consultant of ‘LA LEY’, in a case in which a woman rescued 16,125 euros from her pension plan while receiving the subsidy.
What happens if the income limit is exceeded when rescuing the pension plan
The beneficiary must communicate the rescue to the SEPE so that it can verify whether it continues to meet the economic requirements. According to Fernando Maján, the profits obtained are prorated among the twelve months of the year to determine their impact on the income limit.
If 75% of the SMI is exceeded, the subsidy can be temporarily suspended, while, if it is not exceeded, the worker may continue collecting it. In any case, the calculation must take into account the other eligible income that you may receive.
The SEPE denies the subsidy for those over 52 years of age to a widow for a rent that she no longer received and adds the interest on the money from giving a flat to her son, but the court gives it to her
If I have money in the bank, can I collect the subsidy for those over 52? Yes, but the SEPE adds 3.25% of savings as income even if they do not give interest
It is worth remembering that, as explained by the SEPE on its official website, the subsidy for those over 52 years of age has an amount “equal to 80% of the public multiple-effect income indicator (IPREM)”. In addition, it can be collected until reaching the ordinary retirement age, as long as the requirements are maintained, and contributions for the future pension are 125% of the current minimum contribution base.