Requesting early retirement may seem like a simple decision, but the month in which you apply can influence the final amount you will receive. The difference may not be immediate, but it translates into more euros in the account every month, especially for those approaching the legal pension age. As a general rule, each month you wait reduces the early penalty by 0.5%, because the months count from the date of the application (or the deferred date you indicate) until your personal age or the legal age in force.
According to the rules in force, anyone who retires before the normal access age enters the early retirement regime, subject to cuts. These cuts result from two distinct mechanisms: the advance reduction factor (0.5% per month) and, in some cases, the sustainability factor (in 2025, –16.93%).
Attention: the sustainability factor does not apply to all early retirements (for example, flexibility regime with 40 years of discounts at age 60 and very long careers).
Why the month can make a difference
In 2025, the sustainability factor corresponds to a reduction equivalent to 16.93% in the value of the pension when applicable, and the reduction factor cuts 0.5% for each month in advance. In practice, anyone who retires six months earlier loses around 3% (just due to the reduction factor); if it is also subject to the sustainability factor, this additional penalty is added.
The legal retirement age is another critical point: in 2025 it is 66 years and 7 months and in 2026 it rises to 66 years and 9 months. Therefore, passing the year can increase the months of anticipation and, therefore, the total penalty.
It is often said that “January is better” because of annual pension increases. This is not the case for new pensions: the annual update (indexation) applies on January 1st only to pensions already being paid before that date. New pensions started during the year do not receive this update immediately; will be updated the following January.
In 2025, there was also an update of the remuneration revaluation coefficients (for pension calculation) with effect from January 1st, which led to the recalculation of pensions started since January and retroactive payments: but this is revaluation for calculation, not an “increase” for asking in January.
The most advantageous month to order
There is no “magic month” that is the same for everyone. Rule of thumb: each month you wait reduces 0.5% of the advance cut; and closing the pension before January 1st can avoid new rules the following year (for example, the age increase in 2026). If you are on a regime without a sustainability factor (e.g. very long careers), the gain from postponing is mainly 0.5%/month; if it has a sustainability factor, it fully applies in 2025 when the pension starts in that year.
Furthermore, your career remunerations are revalued annually for calculation purposes (art. 27), and in 2025 this update was published in March, with effect from January 1st (which generated retroactive payments for pensions started since January).
Simulate before deciding
Before making a decision, simulate your situation in , including scenarios with orders in different months and years. The official simulator allows you to see the real impact of penalties and helps to avoid surprises.
Each month of postponement in the reform reduces the advance cut by 0.5%, according to the Diário da República. In 2025, the sustainability factor applied to early retirements will be –16.93%, and in 2026 the legal age for accessing the pension will rise to 66 years and 9 months.
The same official newspaper also clarifies that January is not automatically the best month to request a pension, as the annual update only applies to pensions that are already being paid; The new reforms do benefit from the revaluation of remunerations published with effect from January 1st.
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