The arrival of the new year 2027 brings news for all those who are thinking about applying for retirement, especially related to the age and years of contributions with which they will be able to have access to 100% of the regulatory base. But they will also affect issues related to the calculation of your pension. A change that already began to be applied during the previous year and that can bring benefits to those with unstable careers.
For the moment, and despite the fact that the electoral advance has blocked some measures that were planned to be implemented, such as the elimination of pension reduction coefficients for those who have 40 or more years of contributions, the conditions and mechanisms of other systems such as flexible retirement are still maintained. To which all those who, already in a pensioner situation, wish to return to some work activity.
However, there are new changes regarding the formula used to calculate the regulatory base of the retirement pension, as explained by Social Security official Alfonso Muñoz on his YouTube channel. Specifically, and as it began to be carried out in 2026, two different calculation methods can be used and the chosen one always “will be the most beneficial among the previous calculation”according to the ministry.
The two formulas that Social Security will use to calculate the pension
The official explains that the formula used until now only took into account the last 25 years of contributions to make the calculation, “that is, the last 300 months of contributions“. This method will still continue to be used until 2040, but it will coexist with a second formula that began to be implemented progressively from the beginning of 2026 and under which a broader contribution period is taken into account.
In this second formula, “the last 308 months will be taken into account, but of those The 304 highest contribution bases in that period will be selected“. This means that Social Security will choose those months in which a higher contribution has been received, discarding those four that could reduce the average and, therefore, the pension. Likewise, the method selected will be the one with the most beneficial result for the pensioner.
Two examples to understand their differences
To understand the difference between both formulas, the official uses two fairly simple examples. The first case is that of Isabel, a fictitious woman who was working steadily throughout her professional career, but who In the last four months it had lower contribution bases than usual. In this case, the new formula used by Social Security would be beneficial, since your periods of lower contributions would not be taken into account.
On the other hand, in the case of Juan, a fictional man whose contribution bases increased as the years went bythe old formula would be more beneficial for calculating your pension. “Social Security will apply the calculation that is most favorable in each case,” explains the official. Well, until 2040, these two formulas will coexist simultaneously “and this can especially benefit workers who have had unstable contribution careers.”
The minimum number of years of contributions to receive 100% of the pension also changes.
However, this is not the only change that arrives in 2027 and that may have consequences on the amount of pensions. As Alfonso Muñoz explains, since 2013 the retirement age has been delayed and, starting next year, “this transitional period will definitively end and we will have two very clear rules.” In this sense, the first option of the workers is retire at 65although to do so they will have to have accumulated a contribution equal to or greater than 38 years and 6 months.
If you do not reach this minimum contribution period, it will be necessary to wait until you are 67 years old. Likewise, the minimum of years of contributions necessary to receive 100% of the regulatory base in the pension, settling at 37 years. Although there is also the option of requesting early retirement, which will apply what are known as pension reduction coefficients. In this sense, the person will receive a reduced pension depending on the years they advance and the years they have contributed.