Are you an expat in France wondering about the French pension system? You may be wondering how the French State Pension for Expats works? There is no easy way to explain it, but if you have worked both in France and abroad, you will be happy to know that your work abroad may be taken into account in the calculation of the French State Pension.
French State Pension for Expats Who Worked in Another European Country
Coordination Agreement in Place
The European Legislation includes a coordination agreement for the state pension as long as the workers are or have been subjected to the social security legislation of at least two countries. This means that the time one has worked abroad should be taken into account when calculating the right to the state pension.
In Europe this concerns, the EU, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
In a nutshell, in case an individual has worked in either one or more European countries, the caisse de retraite de Sécurité sociale française (CNAV), the institution in charge of state pension, will be in contact with the counterpart departments in those other countries to ask for a statement listing the time they worked there. It is important to note that they will only action this upon your request. This statement will allow them to calculate how many trimesters you have worked.
State Pension Payment
Each state pension department both in France and in the other countries mentioned earlier will pay out the pension in function of the contribution done in its own country.
For instance, in the case where a person has worked 20 years in France (so 80 trimesters), 3 years in Germany (12 trimesters) and 17 years in Portugal (68 trimesters), all trimesters will be taken into account. Each country will pay their own state pension in function of the contribution done there.
Please note that in case the work abroad has been done in one of the 28 countries of the EU, in Switzerland or in one of the three EEE countries, the French state pension value will take into account the most advantageous combination between UE + Switerland or UE + EEE.
French State Pension for Expats Who Worked In a Country with an Agreement
Coordination Agreement in Place
The list of countries with a signed agreement with France in place is as follows: Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Benin, Bosnia, Brasil, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Congo, South Korea, Ivory Coast, USA, Gabon, India, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Philippines, Quebec, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay.
In the case of a job (with contribution) in a country with an agreement, the state pension department in France will be able to totalise the contribution period in this country with the French ones to avoid any loss in the amount of the state pension value.
State Pension Payment
Each country will pay the relevant share.
The agreement being bilateral, they can only be applied between the two countries in agreement.
French State Pension for Expats Who Worked In a Country without an Agreement
In the case of a job in a country without an agreement, then this time period will not be taken into account by the French state pension department unless it was before 31/03/1983. In that particular case, each trimester done will be transferred into an equivalent trimester to get the full rate but they won’t count for the insurance duration.
The country where you worked will allocate your pension depending on your contributions there.
If you don’t have enough trimester for your French state pension, the French system also allows you to buy back those credits.
State pension is likely not to be your only pension. During your life, you probably have contributed to many different private pensions and consolidating them would be an easier way to manage them.
Contact Harrison Brook today to see how we can help with your retirement planning in France.
