The legal retirement age will increase to 66 years and nine months in 2026, according to an ordinance published this Monday, confirming the estimated values based on average life expectancy data released by INE.
“The normal age for accessing the old-age pension under the general social security regime in 2026 […] is 66 years and 9 months”, reads the ordinance of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security published this Monday in Diário da República and taking effect on January 1st.
These 66 years and nine months correspond to an increase of two months in relation to the normal age for accessing retirement from January 2025.
In practice, this means that workers who are not covered by the regime for very long contributory careers nor by the flexible retirement age regime applicable to those who complete 40 years of deductions at the age of 60 will face a penalty if they choose to retire. before the age of 66 years and nine months.
The normal age for accessing the old-age pension varies according to the average life expectancy at 65 years of age, an indicator published by the National Statistics Institute ().
It was based on these 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 diploma released this Monday also confirms that anyone who retires early in 2025 will face a penalty, through the sustainability factor, of 16.9%, in addition to a cut of 0.5% for each month of early retirement. against the normal access age.
“The sustainability factor to apply […] The statutory value of old-age pensions from the general social security regime starting in 2025 is 0.8307”, says the diploma, a value that results in the aforementioned 16.9%.
That 16.9% compares to the 15.8% cut applied to those who retired early in 2024.
The pension system currently in force, however, includes several situations in which the pension factor cut is not applied, even if the person accesses retirement before the normal age.
In this case, people who, while they are 60 years old, have completed 40 years of their contributory career, and in this situation they are subject to a penalty of 0.5% for each month in advance.
Those who meet the conditions stipulated under the very long contributory careers regime – which includes workers aged 60 or over and have 46 or more years of deductions and started working before the age of 16 – can retire without any penalty.
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