In Portugal, reaching the legal retirement age does not by itself guarantee access to the old-age pension from the general Social Security scheme. A minimum contribution period must be met, so those who never contributed or did not meet the required number of years may be excluded from this benefit.
For these people, there is an alternative called social old-age pension. This benefit is granted to those who have reached the normal retirement age, currently set at 66 years and nine months, and who are not covered by a social protection scheme or have not met the respective contribution period. The means-testing requirement also applies, limiting gross monthly income to 214.85 euros for a single person and to 322.28 euros for a couple.
The social old-age pension has a monthly value of 263 euros, to which the Extraordinary Solidarity Supplement may be added. This supplement is granted automatically and corresponds to 22.83 euros monthly for beneficiaries under 70 years of age and 45.67 euros monthly for those aged 70 or over.
The application must be submitted to Social Security, either in person or through the Direct Social Security online platform, with documents such as identification, tax return and proof of IBAN. This pension can be combined with benefits such as the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly or the Social Integration Income, but cannot be combined with another old-age pension, disability pension or Social Inclusion Benefit.
