Luxembourg - Old-age pensions and benefits

This chapter provides information about everything you need to know to claim old-age pensions and benefits.

If you have worked and paid social security contributions in another country of the European Union, the corresponding periods may be taken into account to determine your right to old-age pensions and benefits in Luxembourg.

In what situation can I claim?

If you carry out a professional occupation (employed or self-employed) or if you receive a replacement income (sickness cash benefits, maternity allowance, occupational accident or unemployment benefits), you are covered by the general pension insurance scheme.

What conditions do I need to meet?

Your access to the various types of old-age pensions and benefits is subject to a condition of age and insurance periods.

Generally speaking, we can distinguish the following insurance periods:

compulsory insurance;
continuous voluntary insurance;
optional insurance;
retroactive purchase;
additional periods.

These different periods are automatically listed in your insurance records with the Centre Commun de la Sécurité Sociale (CCSS). Additional periods are listed upon request from the insured party. Periods carried out in another State will not appear in this file, and you should disclose whether you have worked in another country at the time of submitting your claim.

Conditions for allocating old-age pension

The old-age pension is awarded from the age of 65, on the condition that 120 months of compulsory insurance, continuous insurance, optional insurance or retroactive purchase periods have been fulfilled.

If you benefit from an old-age pension, your performance of a professional activity has no effect on the pension benefit.

Conditions for allocating early old-age pension

Early old-age pension may be provided:

at the age of 57, if you can justify a period of 480 months of compulsory insurance;
at the age of 60 if you can justify 480 months of compulsory insurance, continuous insurance, optional insurance, retroactive purchase periods and additional periods, of which at least 120 months are from compulsory insurance, continuous insurance, optional insurance and retroactive purchase periods.

A financial condition is added to the allocation of early old-age pension:

In principle you are allowed to carry out a professional activity while being beneficiary of an early old-age pension, but this activity may affect the granting, maintenance and calculation of your pension.
A distinction is made between salaried and unsalaried activity.

For further information on this topic, please refer to the appropriate chapter of the CNAP information brochure.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

You can request retirement if you have reached the age limit for working or if you have paid social security contributions for a sufficient length of time in order to take advantage of your pension rights.

The old-age pension is made up of:

flat-rate amounts granted based on the insurance period (within a limit of 40 years);
proportional amounts granted based on professional taxable income received throughout your working life.

The gross annual amount of the pension is calculated on an index of 100 of the cost of living in relation to the base year of 1984. Therefore, the amount obtained is adapted to the average of this index and the applicable revaluation factor, divided by 12 in order to obtain the monthly amount.

Further information on the calculation of retirement pension amounts is available on the CNAP website.

If you do not fulfil the conditions for obtaining a pension at the age of 65, even allowing for time spent working in another country, the social security contributions paid on your behalf will be refunded upon request.

Pension claims should be sent to CNAP, if possible several months before you reach the required age.

Jargon busters

National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance pension - CNAP): Institutions for all persons covered by the pension insurance scheme for the private sector.
An early old-age pension should not be confused with early retirement benefit: the first pension statement and the second unemployment statement.
Optional insurance and retroactive purchase: voluntary insurances enabling people who interrupted their professional activity for family reasons (including to raise a child) to complete their insurance records.
Additional periods: periods not covered by contributions and which have less value, including periods of study and professional training.

Forms you may need to fill in

The forms relating to pension claims can be downloaded from the CNAP website.

Know your rights

The links below provide a legal definition of your rights. They are not European Commission websites and they do not represent the views of the Commission:

Commission publications and websites: