If the basic Social Security system constitutes the first level of your future pension, the supplementary pension is the first. second essential pillar. Whether for employees, business leaders or liberal professions, this system operates according to a logic distinct from the general system whose calculation is based on the best 25 years of salaries. Note that each has its own complementary: Agirc-Arrco for private sector employeesthe RCI for the self-employed, the CAVEC for accountants or even the CARPIMKO for self-employed paramedical professions.
The complementary is based on a points system : “ The higher the employee’s remuneration, the more he or she pays social security contributions and therefore accumulates points. », explains Gaëtan Cochard, development director at Kereis Expertises. Each crate has its own purchase price of the pointwhich we call the acquisition cost (or reference salary). To acquire a point, you must contribute a specific amount set each year by the social partners. For example, at Agirc-Arrco, the cost of acquiring a point is 20.1877 euros.
The service value of the point
To know the amount of your precious points capital in cold, hard euros, the calculation is actually quite simple. Simply apply the following formula: number of points multiplied by the service value of the point (the price at which the fund “buys back” your point at the time of your retirement to pay it to you in the form of a pension). “ For the year 2026, at Agirc-Arrco, this value currently stands at 1.4386 euros », Specifies the expert. Concretely, if you have accumulated 5,000 Agirc-Arrco points during your professional life, your gross supplementary pension will amount to 7,193 euros gross per year. »
The only variable being theevolution of this service valueindexed each year by fund managers to cope with inflation, and it is identical for all policyholders who liquidate their rights at the same period. “ By comparing the purchase cost of the point and its service value, we obtain the rate of return of the fund, around 7% for Agirc-Arrcohe calculates. This means that a retiree must receive their supplementary pension for 14 years to recover all of the compulsory contributions paid during their career. “.
Buy points
Legally, it is possible to artificially increase one’s stock in the event of professional breaks or long studies, ” a maximum of 140 points per incomplete year or study, within the strict limit of 3 years, i.e. 420 points in total », reveals Gaëtan Cochard. At what price? This depends on a coefficient linked to age: the later you make your request, the more expensive the point is (with an annual increase of 3% to 4%). “ But buying points when you are 20 or 30 years old is not a good calculation since you do not yet know your retirement needs and, above all, the calculation rules will change probably », he adds.
For example, at the average age of retirement accounts, namely 58 years, repurchasing the 420 point ceiling represents an investment ofaround 17,000 euros. Knowing that these 420 additional points will bring in 604 euros more gross per year, the calculation calls for caution. “ Without tax optimization, you would have to live 28 years after retirement age to make the operation profitablehe notes. In fact, the question arises seriously for very high salaries for which the complementary represents approximately two thirds of the pensionand rarely more than a third for the basic diet “.
What strategy?
Before considering a points redemption, first check the basic regime since Agirc-Arrco is structurally aligned with it: “ As soon as you obtain your full rate under the general scheme, by totaling the required number of quarters, 172 quarters, your supplementary pension is automatically triggered at full rate.advises Gaëtan Cochard. In the majority of cases, the most profitable strategy is to redeem quarters to the basic plan to erase the general discount, rather than purchasing additional points whose return on investment is much more distant and uncertain “.
