OLD AGE, INVALIDITY & DEATH BENEFITS OF THE SPANISH SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM

The Spanish state retirement (jubilacion) pension is paid at 65 for men and women. Contributions are paid by employers and employees, and vary according to your income. Spanish state pensions are the highest in Europe after Swedish pensions. T

he current minimum pension (after 15 years' contributions) is 658,75 EUROS per month for a couple and 528,55 EUROS per month for a single person.

The maximum monthly pensions is 2.337,75 EUROS. Spanish pensions are indexed to take account of rises in the cost of living and increase annually in accordance with the inflation rate of the previous year. Pensioners, like salaried employees, receive 14 payments a year instead of 12, with an extra payment in July and December.

Early or partial retirement is permitted under Spanish law and anyone with sufficient credits can choose to retire early. The widowed partner of a state pensioner is entitled to the full pension payable to his or her spouse, while dependant children are entitled to an additional 20 per cent. When there is no surviving parent, dependent children are also entitled to the widow's pension.

If you move to Spain after working in another EU country (or move to another EU country after working in Spain), your state pension contributions can be "exported" to Spain (or from Spain to another country). Spanish state pensions are payable abroad and most countries pay state pensioners living in Spain the same pension that they would receive in their home country, with annual increases indexed to the cost of living.

Under EU regulations, the total contributions paid into different member states' insurance systems are taken into account when accessing an individual's rights to a state pension (this also applies to invalidity pensions). The number of years' contributions paid in different countries are added together and each country pays the percentage for which it is liable, e.g. if you worked for 20 years in the UK, 5 years in Germany and 15 years in Spain, the UK would pay 50%, Germany 12.5% and Spain 37,5% of your state pension.

Contact your home country's social security administration for more detailed information.

If you retire to Spain before your home country's state retirement age, it is advisable to continue to contribute to the state pension scheme; otherwise your state pension could be reduced.

Various organisations, such as the Fondo Nacional de Asistencia Social (FAS), provides old age pensions for those who do not qualify under other schemes.

As in all western European countries, state pensions are under pressure from governments that can no longer afford to pay them, due to the ever dwindling number of workers who are supporting a growing number of retirees.