Retirement: what is the best month to leave?

When retirement arrives, there are many upheavals and it is normal to be lost in the face of important issues to be resolved. The question of the ideal time to retire therefore arises quickly and must be resolved effectively. Major benefits can thus be calculated according to the period in which you decide to take time off. Optimization of your income is possible, as is maximum validation of your quarters.

For your retirement, everything must be meticulously orchestrated. It is therefore essential to calculate the date of your departure to liquidate your rights at the appropriate time. Stopping your professional activities in the middle of the year does not appear to be the best way to promote your post-retirement. By postponing your departure to the end of the year or by waiting until the beginning of the following year, you can obtain advantages over the duration of insurance expressed in quarters. The amount of your average annual salary, as well as the tax rate applied to your retirement indemnity will also be impacted.

When choosing your retirement date, however, you must meet a few conditions. Do not forget that this departure day must be fixed on the 1st day of a month. This day cannot be earlier than the date of submission of your retirement application. It is not possible for you to request your retirement before the age of 62, except in the exceptional case of early retirement. Remember to notify your departure date, at the risk that it is automatically based on the 1st day of the month following the date of receipt of your request.

The choice of a departure at the beginning of the year is, first of all, interesting for tax reasons. In this perspective, if your severance pay and your paid holidays include your first retirement declaration, you will pay less income tax. In the case of the general scheme, the calculation of your retirement pension will also be correlated with the date of departure chosen.

Under the general scheme, the year of the point of retirement is thus excluded from the calculation of your retirement pension. As the Retirement Insurance confirms to TF1, a departure on December 1, 2023 generates salaries from January to November of the same year which will not be taken into account for the calculation of your pension. A retirement in January therefore has more advantages than one chosen in December.

If you have not completed the required contribution period in order to obtain a full pension, you can absolutely delay your retirement by a few months. In this way, you will be able to validate one or two additional terms. For example, a quarter of retirement can be validated with a gross salary at least equal to 150 times the hourly minimum wage.

In order to validate four quarters, you must therefore contribute a gross remuneration equivalent to 6090 euros. During your last year of activity, the count ends on the last day of the calendar quarter preceding your retirement date.