Understand
Retirement age in Luxembourg: 57, 60, 65 years
In Luxembourg, the age at which you can draw your old-age pension depends not only on your age, but also on the length of your career (the "qualifying period", or stage). Three key ages open up this right: 65, 60 and 57, each with its own conditions. Here is a clear overview, cross-border workers included; it remains indicative, and only the CNAP's calculation is authoritative.
Overview: three doors to the pension
The Luxembourg old-age pension can be opened through one of three "doors": age 65, 60 or 57. Each door has its own qualifying period (stage), that is, a minimum insurance period expressed in months. The earlier you want to leave, the longer the required period: 120 months (10 years) at 65, but 480 months (40 years) at both 60 and 57. What also changes from one door to the next are the types of periods that count (compulsory, continued, voluntary, or purchased insurance, and complementary periods) and whether or not you can add up careers in other EU countries. Understanding these three doors is the foundation before any estimate of the amount.
65 years: the standard pension
This is the most accessible door. At 65, you only need to show a qualifying period of 120 months, i.e. 10 years of insurance, to open the right to the old-age pension (art. 183 CSS). This period can be made up of compulsory, continued, voluntary or purchased insurance periods, as well as complementary periods. An important point for cross-border workers and international careers: European aggregation is allowed at this age. Periods completed in other EU States can be added together to reach the 120 months (Reg. (EC) 883/2004), provided you have at least 12 months of insurance in Luxembourg for a Luxembourg pension to be due.
60 years: the early pension
Leaving at 60 is possible, but the conditions are markedly stricter: you need a qualifying period of 480 months, i.e. 40 years (art. 184 CSS). This total can combine compulsory, continued, voluntary and purchased insurance and complementary periods, but at least 120 months must come from periods other than complementary ones. Note: the law of 19 December 2025 (Mémorial A-2025-606) provides for a gradual increase of this qualifying period, from 480 to 488 months by 2030, in staggered steps between 2026 and 2030. The length requirement for leaving at 60 will therefore tighten slightly year after year.
57 years: the earliest departure
The age of 57 corresponds to the earliest departure provided for by law, reserved for very long careers. The required qualifying period remains 480 months, i.e. 40 years, but with an additional requirement: these 480 months must come solely from compulsory insurance periods (art. 184 CSS). In practice, continued, voluntary, purchased or complementary periods are not taken into account to reach this threshold at 57. This door therefore mainly concerns people who have worked and paid contributions without interruption from the very start of their working life. It is the most restrictive of the three.
Working beyond 65 years
There is no obligation to claim your pension as soon as the right is open. If you keep working beyond 65, the step-by-step increase of the proportional increment rate can continue (art. 214 CSS). This rate indeed rises in steps when the sum of your contribution years and your age exceeds a certain threshold set by the legal scale: extending your activity can therefore raise the rate used to calculate your pension, and lead to a slightly higher final amount. This advantage (sometimes called a bonus) nonetheless remains capped by the scale. Deferring your departure can thus be a lever for optimisation, to be weighed against your personal situation.
Official sources: guichet.public.lu (old-age pension and early pension), articles 183, 184 and 214 CSS via secu.lu, and the law of 19 December 2025 (Mémorial A-2025-606) for the increase of the qualifying period at 60. This information is indicative: only the CNAP's calculation at the time of your application is authoritative.