Social Security confirms the most profitable months to retire early and lose less money on your pension.

Early retirement is an attractive option for workers who have accumulated years of contributions and are in a secure enough position to retire early despite suffering pension cuts. However, doing so at a particularly opportune time can make the difference between a large benefit and one that simply guarantees a certain level of income.

In Spain, voluntary early retirement (which results exclusively from the worker's decision and includes advances of up to two years with respect to the ordinary retirement age) is permitted for citizens who have at least 35 years of contributions, two of which must be within the last 15. All workers who meet this requirement may retire early, but will accept pension cuts.

This is the downside of this decision that favors the worker: since they will stop contributing prematurely, the system will compensate for this absence with pension cuts. These cuts are implemented by applying reduction coefficients to the pension once it's calculated using the Social Security calculation method .

Pension reduction coefficients are not the same for all workers , as they depend both on the individual's contributions and the length of retirement advance. The higher the contributions and the shorter the advance, the lower the coefficients. Similarly, the lower the contributions and the longer the advance, the higher the coefficients.

The "Escrivá pension reform" sought to reform early retirement to discourage retirements both many and few months early , while improving the conditions for those taking mid-term retirements. This has resulted in pensions that have been favored when they have been taken in very specific months .

The new reduction coefficients were approved in Law 21/2021, of December 28 ( available at this link ), which amended the General Social Security Law. Both reflect the new coefficients and, following the changes, the best months for early retirement compared to before the reform.

In this case, the early retirements that have benefited most from the "Escrivá reform" have been those 16, 19, and 13 months earlier than the retirement age. These pensions have gone from cuts of 12%, 14%, and 10% to 7.33%, 9.78%, and 5.33%, respectively.

Applying for voluntary early retirement effective during those months can be crucial to achieving affordable pension reductions and avoiding having to wait longer to retire early.

In this case, early retirements 16 months early are also the most favored after the reform's approval, as they go from an 11.3% to a 7% pension cut. Next are those 13 and 19 months early, which see improved coefficients and reduced cuts: they go from 9.4% and 13.1% to 5.6% and 9.33%.

Once again, pensions paid 16 months early are the most affected, with cuts from 10.5% to 6.67%. Those paid 13 and 19 months early are next, dropping from 8.8% to 5.33% and from 12.3% to 8.89%.

For these types of workers, retirements 16 months early are also the best option, given that the reform has reduced pensions from 9.8% to 6.33%. Following these again are those applying 13 and 19 months early, as they leave behind cuts of 8.01% and 11.4% to 5.07% and 8.4%.