Early contributory pension at 64, new requirements and limits in 2024

With the 2024 Budget Law, the requirements for access to the contributory early pension option are revised, reserved for those who have no contributions paid by 31 December 1995.
In 2023 the right to access the contributory early pension is acquired at age of 64 and with 20 years of contributions, provided however that they have accrued an allowance equal to at least 2.8 times the value of the social allowance.
A flexibility measure inherited from the Fornero reform, according to which only those who have managed to secure a satisfactory allowance can retire 3 years earlier than the retirement age of the old-age pension.
In 2024 this measure will be maintained but with some new features: depending on the case, in fact, accessing the contributory early pension at 64 becomes simpler or more complicated, as the maneuver revises the calculation rules for the economic requirement.
In this regard, here is an update on how the contributory early pension changes as a result of the 2024 Budget law, as well as on what the requirements will be to meet to retire at 64 as early as next year.
Early retirement contributory option Who are the pure contributors Requirements Economic requirement How much do you need to earn to retire at 64 How much you are entitled to Who are the pure contributors Those who fall entirely within the contributory system can use this option.
To understand, just take the date of 1 January 1996 as a reference: this is where the so-called Dini Law decided in favor of a transition from the salary system to the contributory one.
Today, those who have contributions credited in both periods fall into the so-called mixed system: one part with the salary and the other with the contributory.
Only those who have an insurance seniority after 1 January 1996, however, are entirely included in the contributory system and therefore can access both the contributory option of the old-age pension and the early pension.
Those who take advantage of the calculation of the Separate Management with which the allowance is calculated entirely with the contributory even for the part of the contributions paid before 1 January 1996 are also considered pure contributors, and therefore can access the early pension in question.
Requirements There are various flexibility measures that allow you to retire at the age of 64.
The most important is undoubtedly the one to which this guide is dedicated, namely the early retirement contribution option.
As mentioned, the contributory early pension includes both an age requirement and a contribution requirement.
In detail, this can be requested by those who: have reached 64 years of age.
This requirement is adjusted every two years to the change – if positive – in life expectancy.
In 2023, although the adjustment was planned, the age requirement remains unchanged as life expectancies have collapsed due to Covid, and this will also be the case for the two-year period 2025-2026; have a contributory seniority of 20 years.
In this regard, it is important to specify that in the 20 years of contributions only actual ones are considered, therefore paid by the employer or by the worker himself (if self-employed).
Therefore, the notional contributions recognized by the INPS for periods of suspension or reduction of working activity have no value for the pension.
Economic requirement But that's not all: to join the contributory early pension there is an economic requirement to be met.
As anticipated, until 2023 it is necessary that the amount of the first pension installment – therefore calculated with a contributory system – is greater than 2.8 times the monthly amount of the social allowance.
Considering that this year the social allowance has an amount of 503.27 euros, to retire you need to reach a monthly amount of at least 1,409.15 euros gross.
In 2024 the calculation rules change: for everyone the economic requirement rises to 3 times the value of the social allowance; for women with 1 child it remains 2.8 times the value of the social allowance; for women with at least 2 children it drops to 2.6 times the value of the social allowance.
In fact, it generally becomes more complicated to access an early pension at 64 as an increasingly higher allowance is required, also because it must be considered that in January the value of the social allowance will grow further due to the revaluation.
According to estimates it should reach around 535 euros: which means that to access it you will need to have achieved a monthly allowance of at least 1,605 euros.
For women with 1 child, however, the amount to be reached would be 1,498 euros, while in the case of at least 2 children it drops to 1,391 euros.
All figures must be considered gross: it is important to underline that these are only estimated amounts, as the definitive value of the social allowance will only be known after Istat formalizes the revaluation rate.
How much do you need to earn to retire at 64 In this regard, it is important to remember how the social security allowance is calculated for pensions that fall within the contributory system.
In detail, the applicant's contribution amount must be multiplied by the transformation coefficient, which varies depending on the age of the worker and the date on which he retires.
The transformation coefficients for calculating the pension have been updated for 2023 (and remain valid for 2024 as well) and given the decline in life expectancy detected by Istat they have become more advantageous for the worker.
For those who stop working at 64, the contribution amount is transformed into a pension by applying a coefficient of 5.18%.
It turns out that to reach an annual pension of 20,865 euros, which should be the minimum required for access to the pension for men and women without children (therefore 3 times the minimum payment), it will be necessary to have accrued a contribution amount close to 402,800 euros.
Considering how the contribution amount accumulates, it turns out that in 20 years of work one can arrive at such a figure with an average annual salary of around 61,030 euros gross, around 2,800 euros (or a little more) net per month.
How much you are entitled to With the 2024 Budget Law, a further limitation is introduced for the contributory early pension: it is established, in fact, that between the ages of 64 and 67 the amount of the allowance cannot in any case exceed 5 times the minimum payment.
The estimated amount for 2024 is approximately 569 euros: which means that the maximum amount that can be received is 2,845 euros.
read also Pension at 64 years of age and 20 years of contributions: how much you have to earn to go there