The legal age of access to the old age pension in Portugal will increase and the cuts applied to early pensions will get worse. These changes result from the new estimation of official life hope officially disclosed, which is the basis for calculating the age of the reform and the penalty factors associated with early reforms.
What is known is that the increase in life expectancy will have a direct impact not only on the legal age of reform, but also on the sustainability factor that applies to pensioners who decide to anticipate the departure of the labor market.
According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the average life expectancy at age 65 reached 20.02 years in the period between 2022 and 2024, which represents more 0.30 years for men and another 0.24 years for women compared to the previous period. According to the same source, this growth determines that, by 2026, the legal age of the reform will be set in 66 years and nine months, the highest value ever.
It writes SIC Notícias that this update is based on the formula provided for in the law, which automatically connects the age of reform to the evolution of average life expectancy. Adds the publication that this same rule has already made the value in recent years be adjusted (up or down) depending on the registered oscillations.
Impact on early pensions
It refers to the same source that the sustainability factor will also be aggravated. For pensions started this year, the cut will be 16.9%, a direct result of increased life expectancy. This value may change depending on the demographic evolution of the coming years.
In addition to this cut, other penalties applied to those who reform before the legal age are in force, namely a 0.5% reduction for each month of advance. According to Jornal de Negócios, these penalties accumulate, and may result in a substantial decrease in the pension value.
Exceptions provided for by law
It adds the publication that there is, however, an exception for workers with over 40 years of discounts. In these cases the so-called “personal reform age” applies, which allows you to discount four months to the legal age for each year of contributions beyond 40.
According to SIC Notícias, this rule allows, for example, that a person with 44 years of discounts can be renovated 16 months before without any penalty of the sustainability factor. It refers to the same source that other exceptions are planned for workers covered by professional regimes considered rapidly.
Demographic trend conditions the system
Explains the radio station that increasing life expectancy, even though it is a positive indicator at social level, implies constant adjustments in the rules of access to the pension, in order to ensure the financial sustainability of the system. According to the same source, the aging of the population and the reduction of the birth rate should maintain this trend in the coming years.
According to INE, the government should continue to apply the current formula, renewing annually the values of the age of the reform and the sustainability factor based on officially disclosed demographic data.
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