Early retirement for long career of the employee

Verified 01 September 2026 - Public Service / (Prime Minister)

If you started working young, you can retire before the minimum starting age normal (set between 62 and 64 depending on your year of birth) if you have a certain amount of insurance (all plans combined). We present you the conditions to be fulfilled to benefit from this early retirement.

Find in pictures the essential information to know about early retirement for a long career:

Vidéo - How to retire early for a long career?
Credits : Retirement insurance

Early retirement for a long career may affect you if you started working before the age of 16, 18, 20 or 21.

Your early departure age will be calculated according to your age of start of activity.

To retire before the legal retirement age, you must justify 5 quarters at the very beginning of your activity (or 4 if you were born between the 1er October and December 31) and have contributed a number of quarters to all plans combined.

At the beginning of a career, any type of activity, including military service, can be taken into account. Departure conditions vary depending on your year of birth and your age of departure.

To find out if you can benefit from early retirement for a long career, use our online service: « Obtain my retirement age » available in your personal area on lassuranceretraite.fr.

Which quarters are included in the contributory period? These are the periods for which you have contributed to a French pension plan. Periods contributed abroad may be withheld if an international agreement applies.

Certain periods of contributions paid by the State are also taken into account (vocational training course, apprenticeship).

The following may also be taken into account as contributory quarters:

  • periods covered by maternity insurance
  • insurance premium quarters allocated under the prevention professional account
  • periods of receipt of a disability pension up to a maximum of 2 quarters.

And up to 4 quarters for each of the following categories:

  • periods of benefit under the old-age insurance for stay-at-home parents and the old-age insurance for carers
  • periods of national service
  • periods of compensated unemployment
  • periods compensated for sickness and accidents at work for temporary incapacity.

What are the steps to follow? First of all, check your career statement on our website lassuranceretraite.fr to verify that all elements of your professional life appear. If you notice an error or omission, from 55 years old, you can request an update.

Once your career statement is up to date and if you meet the conditions, you can download your certificate of early retirement for a long career using the online service « Obtain my retirement age », available on your personal area.

Depending on your retirement date, you will receive either a provisional or a final certificate of departure.

5 months before the starting point of your retirement, you can use the online service « Request my retirement » to send us your request.

To learn more about retirement for a long career, visit lassuranceretraite.fr.

To qualify for early retirement for a long career, you must meet the following conditions:

  • Have started working before age 16, 18, 20 or 21
  • And have one determined number of quarters of pension insurance contributors (all plans combined) a number of which are under 16, 18, 20 or 21 years of age.

You can find the insurance duration conditions to be met according to your personal situation using a simulator:

Know the conditions for early retirement for a long career

The contributory insurance period includes all periods of professional activity during which you have contributed to the Pension Insurance and, possibly, to one or more other compulsory pension schemes.

Certain periods are considered to be contributory periods:

  • National service within 4 quarters
  • Unemployment periods up to a maximum of 4 quarters
  • Periods of sickness and accident at work during which you received daily allowances, up to a maximum of 4 quarters
  • Maternity and adoption periods during which you received daily allowances
  • Periods during which you received a disability pension, up to a maximum of 2 quarters
  • Insurance term increase quarters allocated under the prevention business account
  • Quarters obtained through old-age insurance for stay-at-home parents and old-age insurance for carers up to 4 quarters.

The quarters of increased child insurance duration that can be granted by the various compulsory basic pension schemes are also taken into account in the insurance duration paid in up to 2 quarters.

Before any request, make sure you meet the necessary insurance conditions to qualify for early retirement for a long career by logging into your retirement account on the Retirement Info website using the service My career / View my career).

Info Retirement - My retirement account

If you don't have internet, you can also contact your pension fund.

Who shall I contact

If you meet the requirements, you can, from your retirement account, make a single request pension plan valid with all your pension plans using the service My steps / Apply for my retirement.

Please note

Don't stop working until you get confirmation of your situation with all your pension plans basic and complementary.

Your early retirement for a long career is calculated under the same conditions any pension granted to an employee.

You can get a simulation of the amount of your retirement pension using the service My Retirement Estimate / Estimate the amount of my retirement :

Info Retirement - My retirement account

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region

  • Pension insurance - 39 60

    To inform you about your situation, ask a question about your file, access personal information (file tracking, latest payments, etc.).

    By phone

    39,60 (or 09 71 10 39 60 from a mobile, a box or the foreigner)

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