I’ll try to keep these questions as simple as possible.
I’m a micro-entrepreneur here in France. I’ve recently looked at how my pension contributions are going.
It seems that there are years where I’ve not qualified for all 4 trimesters. I’m guessing this is because I didn’t earn enough money. It’s true that I don’t earn much at all but it’s not my fault that I’m a talentless loser
I’ve tried to find an answer on the governement website but I confused myself even more
So if anyone does know the answer to these question or offer some advice, I’ll be really grateful.
Question 1. Does anyone know the minimum amount one has to earn per trimester in order for it qualify as a contribution?
Question 2. Is there away to top it up like the scheme the UK have to fill in the gaps.
As for voluntary contributions your options are limited and depend how long you’ve been in france as there are fixed reasons for buying extra trimestres, like education. Might be better off talking to a french pension professional to find out if there are other options
You can replace trimesters where you didn’t qualify. My client applied to CARSAT to replace trimesters from 1994 and 1996… the cost was an eye watering €3479 per quarter!!!
Depending on the type of work you do you can join supplementary pension regimes like CIPAV to boost your pension.
Or if you have worked in the UK you can make voluntary contributions to increase your UK state pension at retirement. Video below.
I have just started to receive my french pension and they topped it up with raising two children in France. Its not a fortune but has increased by waiting a year by over €120/month and I never worked full time either. I suggest you speak to a conseilleur and discuss with them or go to your local office like I did and get all the facts from the horse’s mouth so to speak.
You can say its complex, the number of papers I have had to keep sending in compared to the UK state pension claims has been very punishing often asking for same thing several times over but worth it to see the end of the process confirmed online and email to say payment due shortly.
In the same vein as someone else’s answer, you can generally “racheter des trimestres”, but it tends to be excruciatingly expensive for the little you get in return, i.e. it is generally considered to be a bad investment. There may be situations in which it is worthwhile, and for that reason alone, you should probably seek out advice from a pensions specialist used to dealing with self-employed people.
There are also private complementary pension schemes to which you can contribute over the years up to the point at which you intend to retire. The value of these can also be quite variable, so again, worth talking to a specialist. I originally had one through my bank, but I took it out in the days when I was earning very little just after starting out as an independent, and as a result will be worth a pittance when I retire. I recently replaced that one with a seemingly/hopefully more effective scheme, but the cost difference was significant, albeit nowadays I can afford it, and at least part of the contributions I make are considered a tax deductible expenditure under the Loi Madelin.
This is really helpful. Thanks a lot. I will fill in some gaps I’ve got in my UK pension.
I’ve also read that despite the missed trimsters, a full pension is paid at 67. Would you know if that’s for anyone who has paid into the system or only for French citizens?
It’s hard to know what to do. Getting the balance right is hard because we simply do not know if we’ll be around to even take a pension! Ha! Not being morbid, just realising that I need to consider my options.
Once you have paid a minimum number of trimestres then you are guaranteed the basic pension at 67. Which is currently: .” le montant du minimum contributif est fixé à 8 209,62 € brut par an, ce qui revient à 684,14 € brut par mois.Oct 24, 2023”.
I think you must have misread basic for maximum! You need to have the full number of trimestres to get the full whack, or keep on working.
Carsat sent me all the details of my french contributions over the years and I knew it was not anywhere near the full total of trimestres you must have worked and paid in but they worked it out, came back withtheir figures and hey presto I should receive it back dated next month. It does not matter as to your nationality, only the fact that you legally paid into the french pension systems and kept your pay slips as proof (bulletin de salaire). Same with Argirc-Arcco, lots of paperwork, took a few weeks but all sorted and waiting for payment next month. Again you only reap what you have sown in payments over the years.
