I started working before age 20

To retire early on the basis of a long career, you will need to meet several eligibility requirements.

• To retire before age 60: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 16; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.
• To retire at age 60 or later: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 20; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.
• You will also need to have accrued a given number of quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters” under all pension schemes combined.

Quarters taken into account (quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters”)

• All quarters of contributions under all of the basic schemes to which you have belonged

Log into your career account to check your current number of quarters

• Periods abroad can be taken into account depending on the applicable international agreement.

Read “I have current or past employment abroad”

• Equivalent periods (“equivalent” quarters) also count toward your length of insurance:

• All quarters on maternity or adoption leave
• All quarters credited to your account through your arduous work account (“compte prévention pénibilité)
• Up to 4 quarters of national service
• Up to 4 quarters of unemployment without benefits prior to 1980 or on unemployment benefits after that date.
• Up to 4 quarters on medical and industrial accident benefits if you were temporarily unfit for work
• Up to 2 quarters  on a disability pension

How to apply

If you believe you are eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, please contact your retirement pension scheme(s) for more information. You may need to fill out a declaration of circumstances as it applies to early retirement.

You will need to meet two requirements at the same time to be eligible for the “long career” program.

Requirement No. 1: Age when you started working

• To retire before age 60: you will need to have begun working before age 16 or 17,

• You can retire at age 60 if you began working before age 20,

Requirement No. 2: Period of contributions

Depending on your birth year, you will need to have accrued a given number of quarters of contributions. To check how many quarters of contributions you need, please see the information for your birth year on the table of retirement requirements.

Once you have claimed your early retirement pension from the basic scheme, you will be eligible for an Ircantec supplementary pension.

To retire early on the basis of a long career, you will need to meet several eligibility requirements.

• To retire before age 60: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 16; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.
• To retire at age 60 or later: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 20; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.
• You will also need to have accrued a given number of quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters” under all pension schemes combined.

Quarters taken into account (quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters”)

• All quarters of contributions under all of the basic schemes to which you have belonged

Log into your career account to check your current number of quarters

• Periods abroad can be taken into account depending on the applicable international agreement.

Read “I have current or past employment abroad”

Equivalent periods (“equivalent” quarters) also count toward your length of insurance :

• All quarters on maternity or adoption leave
• All quarters credited to your account through your arduous work account (“compte prévention pénibilité)
• Up to 4 quarters of national service
• Up to 4 quarters of unemployment without benefits prior to 1980 or on unemployment benefits after that date.
• Up to 4 quarters on medical and industrial accident benefits if you were temporarily unfit for work
• Up to 2 quarters  on a disability pension

How to apply

If you believe you are eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, please contact your retirement pension scheme(s) for more information. You may need to fill out a declaration of circumstances (“attestation de situation”) as it applies to early retirement.

To retire early on the basis of a long career, you will need to meet several eligibility requirements.

• To retire before age 60: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 16; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.
• To retire at age 60 or later: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 20; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.
• You will also need to have accrued a given number of quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters” under all pension schemes combined.

Quarters taken into account (quarters of insurance and “equivalent quarters”)

• All quarters of insurance under all of the basic schemes to which you have belonged

Log into your career account to check your current number of quarters

• Periods abroad can be taken into account depending on the applicable international agreement.

Read “I have current or past employment abroad”

• Equivalent periods (“equivalent” quarters) also count toward your length of insurance:

How to apply

If you believe you are eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, please contact your retirement pension scheme(s) for more information. You may need to fill out a declaration of circumstances (“attestation de situation”) as it applies to early retirement.

To be eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, you will need to meet several requirements.

• To retire before age 60: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 16; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.

• To retire at age 60 or later: you will need to have accrued at least 5 quarters under all pension schemes combined before the end of the calendar year you turned 20; however, you will only need 4 quarters if you were born during the last quarter of the year or if you accrued those 4 quarter as a self-employed agricultural worker.

• You will also need to have accrued a given number of quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters” under all pension schemes combined.

Quarters taken into account (quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters”)

• All quarters of contributions under all of the basic schemes to which you have belonged

Log into your career account to check your current number of quarters.

• Periods abroad can be taken into account depending on the applicable international agreement.

Read I have current or past employment abroad

• Equivalent periods (“equivalent” quarters) also count toward your length of insurance :

  • All quarters on maternity or adoption leave;

  • All quarters credited to your account through your arduous work account;

  • Up to 4 quarters of national service;

  • Up to 4 quarters of unemployment without benefits prior to 1980 or on unemployment benefits after that date;

  • Up to 4 quarters on medical and industrial accident benefits if you were temporarily unfit for work;

  • Up to 2 quarters  on a disability pension.

Dans le régime complémentaire RCO, en fonction de votre année de naissance la possibilité de départ anticipé est ouverte depuis le 1er janvier 2024 :

• si vous avez commencé à travailler avant 20 ans, la retraite RCO est liquidée à partir de 62 ans et avant le premier âge légal de départ à la retraite, avec un coefficient d’anticipation* définitif de 15% ;
• si vous avez commencé à travailler avant 21 ans, la retraite RCO est liquidée à partir de 63 ans et avant le premier âge légal de départ à la retraite avec un coefficient d’anticipation* définitif de 15%.

Vous devez toutefois vous assurer que vous pouvez déjà bénéficier de la retraite anticipée pour carrière longue au titre du régime de base RBL, condition préalable pour être éligible au dispositif «carrière longue» RCO.

* Liquidation d’un avantage, avant l’âge normal de départ en retraite avec ou sans minoration (abattement) des droits.

The regulations that apply to early retirement on the basis of a long career will change on January 1st, 2017.

Before January 1st, 2017, the following three requirements apply in order to be eligible for early retirement :

• You must have begun working before age 17 [1],
• You must have a combined length of insurance under CRPCEN plus, where applicable, under one or more other compulsory schemes, that is at least equal to the length required for CRPCEN’s maximum pension rate the year of your 60th birthday, plus 8 additional quarters,
• And have a minimum length of contributions, comprised of quarters of contributions and “equivalent quarters.”

As from January 1st, 2017, you will need to meet the following 2 eligibility requirements :

• You will need to have begun working before age 20 [2],
• And to have accrued a length of contributions under the CRPCEN scheme, combined, where applicable, with one or more other compulsory schemes, that is at least equal to the length of contributions required for the maximum CRPCEN pension rate the year you turn 60.

The following count as quarters of contributions :

• Quarters for which you paid contributions;
• “Equivalent” quarters.

The following count as “equivalent quarters :

• Up to 4 quarters of national service,
• Up to 4 quarters on medical and industrial accident benefits,
• All quarters on maternity leave,
• Up to 4 quarters on unemployment benefits,
• Up to 2 quarters on a disability pension.

[1] You meet this requirement if you had accrued a length of insurance of at least 5 quarters on December 31st of the year you turned 16 or 17, or at least 4 quarters in length of insurance the year you turned 16 or 17 if your birthday falls during the last quarter of the year.

[2] You meet this requirement if you had accrued a length of insurance of at least 5 quarters on December 31st of the year you turned 16, 17, or 20, or at least 4 quarters in length of insurance the year you turned 16, 17, or 20 if your birthday falls during the last quarter of the year.

How to apply

If you believe you are eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, please contact your retirement pension scheme(s) for more information. You may need to fill out a declaration of circumstances (“attestation de situation”) as it applies to early retirement.

The current regulations that apply to RATP workers’ early retirement on the basis of a long career will change as from January 1, 2017. From that date, the rules will be the same as those of the State public workers’ scheme (lien externe vers la fiche pratique du SRE).

To be eligible for early retirement, you will need to meet the following 3 requirements :

• Be at least 56 or 58 years old if you began working before age 16 (pop up explication), or be at least 59 years old if you began working before age 17*,
• Have accrued a length of insurance that is at least equal to that required for the maximum percentage plus 8 additional quarters,
• And have accrued a length of contributions (not including any periods purchased for years of school enrolment, and up to a maximum of 4 quarters per year) that is determined based on your age.

*You will be treated as having begun your career before age 16 or 17 if you had accrued:

• either a minimum of 5 quarters of insurance by the end of the year you turned 16 or 17 respectively,
• or a minimum of 4 quarters of insurance by the end of the year you turned 16 or 17 respectively, if your birthday falls during the 4th quarter of the year.

Your length of insurance includes :

• Length of insurance under the RATP scheme,
• Length of insurance under another compulsory basic retirement pension scheme,
• Equivalent periods credited to your account by these schemes

Your length of contributions refers to :

• All periods during which you paid contributions into a French retirement pension scheme (compulsory basic pension schemes, schemes that have been incorporated into the general scheme, and special schemes that have been phased out),
• Periods that are treated as if you paid contributions.

Important information :

• Your total quarters (quarters of contributions and/or equivalent quarters) cannot exceed 4 per calendar year.
• Quarters purchased for periods of enrolment in higher education do not count toward an early retirement entitlement for members with a long career or a severe disability.

How to apply

If you believe you are eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, please contact your retirement pension scheme(s) for more information. You may need to fill out a declaration of circumstances (“attestation de situation”) as it applies to early retirement.

If you began working before age 16 or 17, you will be eligible to claim your retirement pension before age 60 if you meet all of the following three requirements :

• Be at least 56 or 58 years old if you began working before age 16*, or be at least 59 years old if you began working before age 17*
• Have accrued a length of insurance that is at least equal to that required for the maximum percentage plus 8 additional quarters,
• And have accrued a length of contributions (not including any periods purchased for years of school enrolment, and up to a maximum of 4 quarters per year) that is determined based on your age.

*You will be treated as having begun your career before age 16 or 17 if you had accrued:

• either a minimum of 5 quarters of insurance by the end of the year you turned 16 or 17 respectively,
• or a minimum of 4 quarters of insurance by the end of the year you turned 16 or 17 respectively, if your birthday falls during the 4th quarter of the year.

The following do not count toward your length of insurance :

• Length of service increases (for active and hazardous duties)
• Periods purchased on the basis of school enrolment.

If you claim your retirement pension on or after January 1st, 2017, the requirements will be different.

If you began working before age 16, 17, or 20, you will be able to claim your retirement pension before age 62 if you meet all of the following three requirements :

• The age at which you claim your pension,
• The age at which you began working,
• The required length of contributions.

Important information :

No more than 4 quarters of contributions (or equivalent quarters) can be counted for each calendar year under all of the basic retirement schemes combined.

How to apply

If you believe you are eligible for early retirement on the basis of a long career, please contact your retirement pension scheme(s) for more information. You may need to fill out a declaration of circumstances (“attestation de situation”) as it applies to early retirement.

The long-career early retirement program for Opéra national de Paris person only applies to job categories with a retirement age of 60 or later.

If your retirement has an effective date of January 1st, 2017, or later, the requirements for early retirement on the basis of a long career have been changed.

For more information on these new requirements for early retirement, please contact the Opéra national de Paris personnel’s retirement fund.

The information below applies if you began working at a very young age prior to your employment with a religious organization. When this work is combined with your religious organization employment, you may qualify as having a long career.

In this case, if you meet the other requirements, you will be eligible for a retirement pension from the religious organizations’ scheme before you reach statutory retirement age.

There are strict requirements regarding when you began working, your length of insurance, and your period of contributions: these must all be met for you to be eligible for an early retirement pension.

In particular, you must have accrued 5 quarters by the end of the calendar year you turned 16, 17, or 20.

We recommend that you review your circumstances with Cavimac’s Careers department (“Service Carrière) before you apply for an early retirement pension.