Cipav Pension: 2026 Contributions, Affiliation and Retirement Age

A letter from the Cipav lands in your mailbox, and the questions start: what does this fund actually do, and does it apply to you? Better to understand the Cipav pension before the first contribution is due.

Cipav pension: the Cipav is the retirement fund for about twenty liberal professions (architects, consulting engineers, psychologists, osteopaths). It manages their basic pension, their complementary pension and disability-death cover. IT consultants and freelancers are, as a rule, no longer part of it.

Are you a consultant or freelancer? Estimate your net pay in 2 minutes from your daily rate with the wage portage salary simulator.

What is the Cipav, exactly?

The Cipav is a private-law pension fund that carries out a public service mission. It runs three schemes: the basic pension, the compulsory complementary pension and disability-death cover. According to its own presentation, it pays a monthly pension to roughly 190,000 retirees.

You don't choose to join. Affiliation follows your APE activity code, at the moment you register your activity with the one-stop shop. No separate filing is needed, and pension contributions run from the first day of activity.

Which professions fall under the liberal professions pension fund?

The scope has shrunk with successive reforms. According to the list the Cipav publishes on its site, it covers mainly:

• architects, interior architects, construction economists, project managers and surveyors;
• consulting engineers;
• osteopaths, psychologists, psychotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, chiropractors and psychomotor therapists;
• ski instructors, mountain guides and tour guides;
• automobile and court experts, artists outside the Maison des artistes, and judicial guardians.

The list is indicative: the APE code decides. To place your activity among regulated and unregulated trades, our guide to the liberal profession status and tax rules helps.

How do I know if I'm with the Cipav?

After registration, the fund sends a postal letter inviting you to create your online account through FranceConnect. No letter? Check your APE code against the list. An appointment with one of the fund's pension experts then settles it in a few minutes.

Cipav or SSI: where do consultants and freelancers stand?

Consultants, trainers and IT freelancers generally fall under the Sécurité sociale des indépendants (SSI), unless they work in a trade that stayed within the Cipav scope, such as consulting engineer. The option to move from the Cipav to the SSI closed on December 31, 2023.

For a freelance IT consultant, it all depends on the declared activity. A freelance developer registered under a programming or IT consulting code is more likely to be with the SSI. A consulting engineer in an engineering firm stays with the Cipav.

The two schemes differ mostly on the complementary pension: the Cipav applies contributions proportional to income, while the SSI offers either a generic rate or a specific rate for liberal professions, which can sharply reduce the rights you build up. Never decide on cost alone. For the basics of the scheme, our guide to social security for the self-employed is a good start.

Cipav contributions in 2026: rates, ceilings and a worked example

In 2026, the Cipav basic pension costs 8.23% of income up to the social security ceiling (€48,060), plus 1.87% on the extended band, or 10.10% in total. On top come 9% for the complementary pension on the same slice of income.

Source: the Cipav 2026 practical sheet, for standard liberal professions, excluding disability-death contributions. To compare with other schemes, see also the social contributions for the self-employed in 2026.

Example: €40,000 of annual income

Take an interior architect with €40,000 of income. She pays €3,292 for the basic pension band 1 (8.23%), €748 for band 2 (1.87%) and €3,600 for the complementary pension (9%). Total: €7,640 a year, disability-death excluded. With a 2026 purchase value of €47.40 per point, her €3,600 buys about 76 points. She also earns 4 quarters, since the fund grants one per €1,803 of income, capped at four a year.

Cipav and micro-entrepreneurs: contributions paid through URSSAF

Micro-entrepreneurs whose activity falls within the scope are affiliated too. Their contributions go through URSSAF and earn pension points, with up to 4 quarters validated a year. All insured members, micro-entrepreneurs included, pay the disability-death contribution.

Cipav pension: retirement age, quarters and points

Since the 2026 social security financing law, the increase in the legal retirement age is suspended until January 1, 2028. The 1964 cohort retires at 62 years and 9 months with 170 quarters, and 172 quarters are required from the 1966 cohort onward. The full rate applies automatically at 67.

Cipav complementary pension: how points are earned

The complementary pension is compulsory and comes on top of the basic pension. Each year your contributions (9% of income up to €48,060, 22% of the slice between €48,060 and €144,180) are converted into points at that year's purchase value. The pension you receive then depends on the value of the point when you retire.

Working while retired with the Cipav: full or partial

Retiring doesn't force you to close your business. With a full-rate pension, or from age 67, the combination is full: pension and earnings add up without a cap, provided you have claimed all your basic and complementary pensions. Without the required quarters, it's partial: your earnings can't exceed €48,060 in 2026, or the pension is reduced by the excess. Only the full combination earns new rights, as a second pension capped at €4,806 a year in total, to be requested in your online account.

What does this change for a consultant or freelancer?

If you're a consultant, the Cipav doesn't normally apply to you, yet the real question stays the same: which status builds which pension? In wage portage, you're an employee. Pension contributions come out of your salary, as in a permanent job, and your rights build up in the general scheme and Agirc-Arrco.

On the numbers, the WEEPO 2026 Barometer (20,000 payslips of portage consultants) gives a median daily rate of €526, a median turnover of €10,260 a month and a median net salary of €4,200 a month. The portage collective agreement (IDCC 3219) also sets a full-time minimum salary of 75% of the monthly social security ceiling for a senior consultant, or €3,003.75, and 85% for an expert, or €3,404.25 (2026 monthly ceiling: €4,005).

Portage has a cost: 3% management fees, capped at €550 per assignment, plus 2% of additional fees (professional liability insurance, occupational health, factoring, financial guarantee and CVAE). In return, you keep an employee's social protection. It isn't the right option for everyone, and a wage portage company like WEEPO should be compared case by case. To size up your own situation, the net salary calculation in portage takes two minutes, and the basics of how wage portage works fit on one page.

Want to compare with an employee pension? The page on retirement in wage portage answers the question from the employee's side.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Cipav, in one sentence?

It's the fund that manages the basic pension, complementary pension and disability-death cover of liberal professions such as consulting engineers, architects and psychologists.

Does an IT consultant pay into the Cipav?

As a rule, no: IT consultants and freelancers fall under the SSI. Still, check your APE code, which remains the deciding factor.

How much do you pay to the Cipav in 2026?

For the basic pension, 8.23% of income up to €48,060 then 1.87% up to €240,300, plus 9% for the complementary pension. Below €5,409 of income, the €540 flat contribution applies.

At what age can you retire with the Cipav?

It depends on your birth year. For the 1964 cohort, it's 62 years and 9 months with 170 quarters, and the full rate is automatic at 67.

Can you leave the Cipav for the SSI?

Not anymore. The option ended on December 31, 2023, and the choice couldn't be reversed.

Key takeaways

• The Cipav manages the basic pension, the complementary pension and disability-death cover of about twenty liberal professions.
• Affiliation depends on the APE code, not on a personal choice.
• In 2026, the basic pension costs 10.10% of income up to €48,060, plus 9% for the complementary pension.
• IT consultants and freelancers generally fall under the SSI, unless their trade stayed in the scope.
• The full rate is automatic at 67, and working while retired remains possible.

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