Retirement of a public official: what is a discount?

Verified 01 September 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)

The haircut is a reduction that is applied to the amount of your retirement pension when you retire without entitlement to a retirement full rate.

You're a public servant

To understand what a full-rate pension is, as a public servant, when you retire, you are entitled to:

  • To a retirement pension from the SRE: titleContent if you are a State official, or on behalf of the CNRACL: titleContent if you are a territorial or hospital official (said basic pension)
  • And a pension of the RAFP: titleContent (said supplementary pension).

Your SRE or NACL basic retirement pension is granted at a full rate mainly in one of the following 2 cases:

  • You retire with a sufficient number of quarters pension insurance (it varies according to your year of birth)
  • You're going to a fixed age which entitles you automatically a full rate pension, no matter how many quarters you have of pension insurance

FYI  

If you have worked under other status than civil servant (contract agent, employee, self-employed, etc.) and have consequently contributed to several pension funds, this is your total insurance duration, all schemes combined, which is taken into account in determining whether or not you are entitled to full-rate retirement pensions.

The conditions for a basic full-rate pension vary depending on whether you are a category civil servant sedentary or active :

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

You're a sedentary class civil servant

Tableau - Sedentary category official - Conditions for full rate retirement

You were born:

You can retire from:

Number of quarters required to have the full rate

Auto Full Rate Age

In 1956

62 yrs

166 (41 years 6 months)

66 years 6 months

In 1957

62 yrs

166 (41 years 6 months)

66 years 9 months

Between 1er January 1958 and December 31, 1960

62 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

67 yrs

Between 1er January 1961 and August 31, 1961

62 yrs

168 (42 years)

67 yrs

Between 1er September 1961 and December 31, 1961

62 years and 3 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

67 yrs

1962

62 years and 6 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

67 yrs

1963

62 years and 9 months

170 (42 years 6 months)

67 yrs

1964

63 yrs

171 (42 years 9 months)

67 yrs

1965

63 years and 3 months

172 (43 years)

67 yrs

1966

63 years and 6 months

172 (43 years)

67 yrs

1967

63 years and 9 months

172 (43 years)

67 yrs

From 1er january 1968

64 yrs

172 (43 years)

67 yrs

You are an active category civil servant

The conditions for granting a basic full rate pension vary according to your job in the active category.

General case
Tableau - Active category official - Conditions for granting a full rate pension

You were born:

You can retire from:

Number of quarters required to have the full rate

Auto Full Rate Age

In 1961

57 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

61 years 6 months

In 1962

57 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

61 years 9 months

In 1963

57 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

62 yrs

Between 1 January 1964 and 31 August 1966

57 yrs

168 (42 years)

62 yrs

Between 1er September 1966 and December 31, 1967

57 years and 3 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

62 yrs

In 1968

57 years and 9 months

170 (42 years 6 months)

62 yrs

In 1969

58 yrs

171 (42 years 9 months)

62 yrs

In 1970

58 years and 3 months

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

In 1971

58 years and 6 months

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

In 1972

58 years and 9 months

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

From 1er january 1973

59 yrs

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

Reminder

To be eligible for a pension as an active category civil servant, you must have completed at least 17 years in one or more active category jobs.

Identifier of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Prefecture of Police of Paris, sewer
Tableau - Official in the super-active "unhealthy" category - Conditions for granting a full rate pension

You were born:

You can retire from:

Number of quarters required to have the full rate

Auto Full Rate Age

In 1966

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

61 years 6 months

In 1967

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

61 years 9 months

In 1968

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

62 yrs

Between 1 January 1969 and 31 August 1971

52 yrs

168 (42 years)

62 yrs

Between 1er September 1971 and December 31, 1972

52 years and 3 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

62 yrs

In 1973

52 years and 9 months

170 (42 years 6 months)

62 yrs

In 1974

53 yrs

171 (42 years 9 months)

62 yrs

In 1975

53 years and 3 months

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

In 1976

53 years and 6 months

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

In 1977

53 years and 9 months

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

From 1er january 1978

54 yrs

172 (43 years)

62 yrs

Reminder

To be eligible for a pension as a civil servant in the super-active ‘unhealthy’ category, you must meet the following conditions:

  • Have completed at least 12 years in one or more jobs in the super-active category, half of them consecutively
  • Have completed 32 years of effective service

Prison supervisor, active National Police personnel
Tableau - Superactive category national police - prison administration - Conditions for full-rate retirement

You were born:

You can retire from:

Number of quarters required to have the full rate

Auto Full Rate Age

In 1966

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

56 years 6 months

In 1967

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

56 years 9 months

In 1968

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

57 yrs

Between 1 January 1969 and 31 August 1971

52 yrs

168 (42 years)

57 yrs

Between 1er September 1971 and December 31, 1972

52 years and 3 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

57 yrs

In 1973

52 years and 9 months

170 (42 years 6 months)

57 yrs

In 1974

53 yrs

171 (42 years 9 months)

57 yrs

In 1975

53 years and 3 months

172 (43 years)

57 yrs

In 1976

53 years and 6 months

172 (43 years)

57 yrs

In 1977

53 years and 9 months

172 (43 years)

57 yrs

From 1er january 1978

54 yrs

172 (43 years)

57 yrs

Reminder

To be eligible for a pension as a super-active - National Police - Prison Service civil servant, you must have completed at least 27 years (including possibly the length of compulsory military service) in one or more super-active category jobs.

Air traffic controller
Tableau - Active category civil servant - air traffic controllers - Conditions for granting a full rate pension

You were born:

You can retire from:

Number of quarters required to have the full rate

Auto Full Rate Age

In 1966

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

58 years 6 months

In 1967

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

58 years 9 months

In 1968

52 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

59 yrs

Between 1 January 1969 and 31 August 1971

52 yrs

168 (42 years)

59 yrs

Between 1er September 1971 and December 31, 1972

52 years and 3 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

59 yrs

In 1973

52 years and 9 months

170 (42 years 6 months)

59 yrs

In 1974

53 yrs

171 (42 years 9 months)

59 yrs

In 1975

53 years and 3 months

172 (43 years)

59 yrs

In 1976

53 years and 6 months

172 (43 years)

59 yrs

In 1977

53 years and 9 months

172 (43 years)

59 yrs

From 1er january 1978

54 yrs

172 (43 years)

59 yrs

Reminder

To be eligible for a pension as an active category civil servant, you must have completed at least 17 years in one or more active category jobs.

If you retire before the age of the automatic full rate without having the required number of pension insurance quartersNo, you didn't pitch the right to a full pension. In this case, the amount of your retirement pension is reduced depending on how many quarters you are missing. This reduction is the discount.

If you retire at the age of the automatic full rate, you have right to a full pension, no matter how many quarters you have pension insurance. No haircut is not applied to the amount of your pension.

FYI  

The amount of your supplementary pension of the RAFP may also be reduced or increased depending on your age of departure.

The number of missing quarters retained by the SRE: titleContent or the CNRACL: titleContent is the smaller of the following 2 numbers:

  • Number of quarters missing between your retirement age and the automatic full rate cancelation age
  • Number of quarters missing between your number of quarters at retirement date and the number of quarters required to qualify for a full rate pension

The number of quarters obtained is rounded up.

The maximum number of missing quarters taken into account is limited to 20.

Example :

You are a sedentary civil servant, born on the 1ster July 1962. You can retire from age 62 and 6 months. To be eligible for a full rate pension, you must either have 169 quarters or wait for your 67th birthday (at 1er July 2029).

If you decide to leave on 1er july 2025, at age 63, with only 161 quarters

  • You will be missing 16 quarters between your retirement age and 67 (number of quarters between 67 and 63)
  • You will miss 8 quarters between your number of quarters at retirement date and the number of quarters required to qualify for a full rate pension (169 - 161)

That's the best number, eight quarters.

The amount of your pension is reduced by 1.25% by missing quarter.

Example :

Let's go back to the previous example: you were born on the 1er July 1962. You decide to retire at age 63 on 1er July 2025 by having only 161 quarters instead of the 169 required to qualify for a full rate pension. The number of missing quarters used is 8.

Your pension is reduced by the following percentage: (8 x 1.25%) = 10%

Your pension is equal to: Last gross index salary held at least 6 months on the date of your retirement x 75% x 161 / 169

And that amount is reduced by 10%.

You can find out how many quarters of pension insurance you have by consulting your career record in your pension account, available on the official pension info website.

Your career statement summarizes, in a chronological manner, all your different professional periods.

You can print and download your career record.

You can also perform a simulation the amount of your pension at different ages, full or not, based on the data known to your pension funds.

My Retirement Account

From the age of 55 onwards, you can report to your pension funds the anomalies in your career statement and ask for their correction: missing jobs, inconsistencies, etc.

Your pension funds are directly informed.

You can then follow their treatment on your pension account:

Retirement Info - Correcting my career

You're contractual

To understand what a full rate pension is, as a public service contractor, when you retire you are entitled to:

  • To a retirement pension from the Social Security Pension Insurance (referred to as basic pension)
  • And a state pensionIrcantec: titleContent (said supplementary pension).

Your basic retirement pension from Pension Insurance is granted to you at a full rate mainly in one of the following 2 cases:

  • You're retiring before age 67 by having a sufficient number of quarters pension insurance (this number varies according to your date of birth)
  • You're retiring at age 67, regardless of how many quarters of pension insurance you have

FYI  

If you have worked under other statuses than a contract public official (employee, self-employed, etc.) and have consequently contributed to several pension funds, this is your total insurance duration, all schemes combined, which is taken into account in determining whether or not you are entitled to full-rate retirement pensions.

If you retire before age 67, you are entitled to a full rate pension if you meet the following conditions:

Tableau - Number of insurance quarters required to qualify for a full rate pension

You were born:

You can retire from:

Number of quarters required to have the full rate

In 1956 or 1957

62 yrs

166 (41 years 6 months)

Between 1er January 1958 and December 31, 1960

62 yrs

167 (41 years 9 months)

Between 1er January 1961 and August 31, 1961

62 yrs

168 (42 years)

Between 1er September 1961 and December 31, 1961

62 years and 3 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

1962

62 years and 6 months

169 (42 years 3 months)

1963

62 years and 9 months

170 (42 years 6 months)

1964

63 yrs

171 (42 years 9 months)

1965

63 years and 3 months

172 (43 years)

1966

63 years and 6 months

172 (43 years)

1967

63 years and 9 months

172 (43 years)

From 1er january 1968

64 yrs

172 (43 years)

If you retire before age 67 without having the required number of quarters, you are not entitled to a full rate pension.

In this case, the amount of your retirement pension is reduced according to the number of quarters you are missing.

This reduction is the discount.

If you retire at age 67, you are entitled to a full pension rate, regardless of the number of quarters of pension insurance.

Your pension is calculated based on the number of quarters you have, whatever it is.

If you have fewer quarters than you need to qualify for a full-rate pension before age 67, no discount is applied to you.

The amount of your supplementary pension of the Ircantec may also be reduced or increased depending on your age of departure.

The number of missing quarters retained by Pension Insurance is smaller of the following 2 numbers:

  • Number of missing quarters between your retirement age and 67 years of age
  • Number of quarters missing between your number of quarters at retirement date and the number of quarters required to qualify for a full rate pension

The number of quarters obtained is rounded up.

The maximum number of missing quarters taken into account is limited to 20.

Example :

You were born on the 1ster July 1962. You can retire from age 62 and 6 months. To be eligible for a full rate pension, you must either have 169 quarters or wait for your 67th birthday (at 1er July 2029).

If you decide to leave on 1er july 2025, at age 63, with only 161 quarters

  • You will be missing 16 quarters between your retirement age and 67 (number of quarters between 67 and 63)
  • You will miss 8 quarters between your number of quarters at retirement date and the number of quarters required to qualify for a full rate pension (169 - 161)

That's the best number, eight quarters.

The amount of your basic retirement pension from Pension Insurance depends in particular on the average of your gross wages over your best 25 years.

When you are entitled to a full rate pension, your retirement pension is calculated on the basis of 50%  of this average annual gross salary.

However, if you retire before age 67 without having the required number of pension insurance quarters, this rate of 50% is reduced by 0.625 per missing quarter.

So, if you retire before age 67 without having the required number of pension insurance quarters, the rate that is applied to your average annual gross salary, called a discount, is as follows:

Tableau - Retirement rate based on the number of quarters missing

Number of missing quarters

Retirement rate

1

49.375%

2

48.750%

3

48.125%

4

47.500%

5

46.875%

6

46.250%

7

45.625%

8

45,000%

9

44.375%

10

43.750%

11

43.125%

12

42.500%

13

41.875%

14

41.250%

15

40.625%

16

40,000%

17

39.375%

18

38.750%

19

38.125%

20+

37.500%

Example :

Let's go back to the previous example: you were born on the 1er July 1962. You decide to retire at age 63 on 1er July 2025 by having only 161 quarters instead of the 169 required to qualify for a full rate pension. The number of missing quarters used is 8.

Your pension will be equal to: Average gross annual salary x 45% x 161 / 169

You can find out how many quarters of pension insurance you have by consulting your career record in your pension account, available on the official pension info website.

Your career statement summarizes, in a chronological manner, all your different professional periods.

You can print and download your career record.

You can also perform a simulation the amount of your pension at different ages, full or not, based on the data known to your pension funds.

My Retirement Account

From the age of 55 onwards, you can report to your pension funds the anomalies in your career statement and ask for their correction: missing jobs, inconsistencies, etc.

Your pension funds are directly informed.

You can then follow their treatment on your pension account:

Retirement Info - Correcting my career