Who says retirement does not necessarily imply definitive cessation of all professional activity. Faced with the increase in the cost of living and the drop in income caused by the end of their career, many retirees decide to continue working, in addition to their retirement pension. However, it remains important to be attentive to the supervision of this practice so as not to risk a bad surprise. Here are all the conditions to be met for a harmonious combination of employment and retirement.
The current context is pushing more and more retirees to pursue a professional activity, once they have retired. Following the loss of part of their income and the low level of pensions, it is sometimes essential to supplement their monthly income. Indeed, it is quite possible, if desired and necessary, to return to work once retired, but it is essential to fully understand the associated regulations.
Depending on your situation, the accumulation of your pension can be full or capped. To be able to start, you must first have obtained all your basic and supplementary pensions from French and foreign schemes and international organisations. Without this, it will not be possible to claim combined retirement employment. You can benefit from full accumulation from the age of obtaining full pension or as soon as you have the necessary insurance period.
When you return to work, you can look for a new employer immediately after your retirement. On the contrary, if you wish to continue your work with your former employer, you will have to wait six months between the date of your retirement and the restarting of your activity. If you advance this deadline, the payment of your pension will be suspended.
If you cannot obtain full accumulation, it is possible to combine your retirement pension and your new income according to an established scale. Therefore, your total monthly income, retirement pension and salary included, must not exceed the monthly average of your income for the last three calendar months of activity. This threshold is also estimated at 1.6 times the minimum wage.
In the event that, for a partial employment-retirement combination, you exceed this threshold, significant consequences may occur. Indeed, if the sum of your gross monthly salary subject to CSG and the gross amounts of your pensions is higher than this limit, your basic retirement pension will be reduced by the amount of the excess. Clearly, if you exceed this threshold by 200 euros, 200 euros will be withdrawn from your pension.
Recently, a retiree had the unpleasant surprise of receiving a slate from the Tax Department claiming more than 22,000 euros after a partial employment-retirement combination that was poorly implemented. As Laurent Rabbé, lawyer at the Paris bar, explains to BFM TV, “it’s triple or quadruple punishment […] you will find yourself having to pay very large sums with very modest incomes”. Hence the importance of being well informed about this type of accumulation.
