{"id":7449,"date":"2026-10-29T17:46:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balmontconseil.com\/?p=7449"},"modified":"2026-10-29T17:46:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T16:46:55","slug":"cumul-emploi-retraite-architecte-cipav-2026-combien-reste-t-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balmontconseil.com\/en\/blog\/cumul-emploi-retraite-architecte-cipav-2026-combien-reste-t-il\/","title":{"rendered":"Does a retired architect who continues working in 2026 retain his Cipav pension, and what does he have left of \u20ac40,000 in profit?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In summary\u2026<\/h2>\n

Yes, under certain conditions.<\/b> A self-employed architect who has claimed all their basic and supplementary pensions at the full rate (required insurance period or age 67) retains their pension from the Interprofessional Pension and Old-Age Insurance Fund (Cipav) and combines it with their benefits. without an income ceiling<\/b>. Without the full rate, his earned income is limited to \u20ac48,060<\/b> In 2026, the annual Social Security ceiling will be reached, and the pension will be reduced by the amount exceeding it. In a typical case (pension of \u20ac23,975, \u20ac40,000 profit, single), the activity leaves approximately \u20ac25,500<\/b> once paid \u20ac5,802<\/b> pension contributions and \u20ac8,739<\/b> of additional tax. This figure is before other contributions that Cipav does not detail for a retiree. The contributions are not lost, however: since January 1, 2023, they have opened a second pension, capped at \u20ac2,403 per year and per scheme<\/b> (\u20ac4,806<\/b> (at most). For a pension that takes effect from January 1, 2027, before age 67, the 2026 Social Security financing law reduces the pension: with the expected threshold of \u20ac7,000, the gain in the typical case would fall to approximately \u20ac13,400<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

1. Full or capped accumulation: what Cipav allows in 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A retired architect can continue or resume their freelance activity. The Cipav and the National Old-Age Insurance Fund for Liberal Professions (CNAVPL) distinguish between two situations.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/th>\nTotal cumulative<\/th>\nMaximum accumulation (Cipav refers to partial accumulation)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Terms<\/td>\nHaving liquidated at full rate all<\/b> his personal basic and supplementary pensions, French and foreign: required insurance period for his generation, or 67 years<\/td>\nFailure to accumulate the required number of quarters for a full pension rate will result in a reduced pension payment.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Authorized income<\/td>\nNo income ceiling<\/td>\nEarned income limited to the annual Social Security ceiling (PASS): \u20ac48,060 in 2026<\/b> (\u20ac47,100 in 2025)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In case of exceeding<\/td>\nNot applicable<\/td>\nThe Cipav first reports it; after the deadline, the pension is reduced to the extent of the excess<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New pension rights<\/td>\nYes, a second retirement (section 2)<\/td>\nNone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Two points of clarification. First, at age 67, the capped combined pension and income automatically becomes uncapped. Second, the cap applies only to earned income: the Cipav fact sheet does not calculate it on the sum of the pension and earnings, unlike the capped combined pension and income for salaried employees (service-public.gouv.fr). The CNAVPL refers to "net income from self-employment"; the fact sheet does not specify whether this income is before or after social security contributions, and the typical scenario assumes profit.<\/p>\n

With a profit of \u20ac40,000, the ceiling is not reached, even without the full pension rate: a margin of \u20ac8,060. At \u20ac60,000, the excess would be \u20ac11,940: the pension of \u20ac23,975 would fall to \u20ac12,035, without any new entitlements in return. This is why the verification "are all pensions being paid out at the full rate?" precedes any resumption of payments.<\/p>\n

2. Contributions are due; since 2023 they have opened a second pension.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The CNAVPL states that self-employed professionals with multiple jobs "remain liable for contributions." The amount of these contributions has changed twice.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Period<\/th>\nPublished rule<\/th>\nSource<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
From January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2022<\/td>\nContributions paid in combination do not entitle the holder to any additional pension benefits under any basic or supplementary schemes.<\/td>\nCipav Fact Sheet 2022<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Since January 1, 2023 (full cumulative total)<\/td>\nContributions "open up additional rights": a second basic pension and a second supplementary pension, which must be applied for online (allocation is not automatic). Contributions made before January 1, 2023 "are not affected."\u00ab<\/td>\nCipav Fact Sheets 2024 and 2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maximum cumulative amount, or conditions for the full rate not met<\/td>\n\u00ab"Continuing your activity while combining work and retirement will not generate any new entitlements."\u00bb<\/td>\nCipav Fact Sheet 2024<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The second retirement is limited to 5 % of the PASS by regime<\/b>, i.e. \u20ac2,403 for the base and \u20ac2,403 for the supplementary coverage: \u20ac4,806 per year maximum<\/b> According to form 2026 (form 2024 showed \u20ac2,318.40 per scheme, 5 % of \u20ac46,368). Once this second pension has been requested and granted, subsequent contributions "no longer allow for the accrual of new rights for a third pension." It does not affect the first pension.<\/p>\n

Two points to note regarding the sources. The CNAVPL (National Old-Age Insurance Fund for the Liberal Professions) dates the opening of pension rights to pensions awarded since September 1, 2023, while the Cipav (Interprofessional Pension Fund for Liberal Professions) dates them to contributions paid since January 1, 2023: for a pension awarded before September 2023, the pension fund must confirm. Furthermore, the "Retirement Explained" page states that contributions to the supplementary pension scheme "do not generate any rights"; it provides 2024 rates, and the Cipav has since stated that it has "aligned" the supplementary scheme with the basic scheme: we are using the 2026 information sheet from the pension fund.<\/p>\n

What the pages read do not show:<\/b> The total amount of contributions for a retired architect. The calculation below applies the 2026 contribution schedule for a practicing architect to both pension schemes, as an example. Other contributions (disability and death benefits, health insurance, family allowances, general social contribution, and contribution to the repayment of the social debt) are not specified: CIPAV does not indicate which ones apply to a retiree. The benefit in this typical case is therefore a maximum.<\/p>\n

3. Calculation based on \u20ac40,000 profit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

Typical case<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Situation.<\/b> A 67-year-old self-employed architect, single, with one tax unit, registered in his own name. He has claimed all his pensions at the full rate: his gross annual pension is \u20ac23,975<\/b> (\u20ac12,989 basic pension and \u20ac10,986 supplementary pension), the result of our article on an architect's retirement with a \u20ac70,000 benefit, in 2026 values frozen. He continues to work on a reduced schedule and generates \u20ac40,000 in profit before personal social security contributions.<\/p>\n

Issue.<\/b> He wants to know what remains of these \u20ac40,000, knowing that his pension alone places him in the 11 % bracket and that his activity puts him in the 30 % bracket.<\/p>\n

Strategy.<\/b> It meets the conditions for full accumulation, without a ceiling. Social security base: \u20ac40,000 \u00d7 (1 \u2212 26 %) = \u20ac29,600<\/b>. 2026 retirement contributions (assumption: scale for a practicing architect): basic scheme \u20ac3,138 (8.73 x % of \u20ac29,600 = \u20ac2,584, plus 1.87 x % = \u20ac554) and supplementary scheme \u20ac2,664 (9 x % of \u20ac29,600), i.e. \u20ac5,802<\/b>, 14.5 % of the profit. Mandatory old-age insurance contributions are fully deductible from the profit of liberal professions (BOI-BNC-BASE-40-60-50-20, \u00a7 30): the taxable profit is \u20ac34,198. Taxable pension: \u20ac23,975 \u2212 10 % allowance (\u20ac2,398) = \u20ac21,578. Total taxable income: \u20ac55,776.<\/p>\n

Result.<\/b> The tax goes from \u20ac1,098<\/b> \u00e0 \u20ac9,837<\/b>, That's an additional \u20ac8,739: the first \u20ac8,001 of activity is taxed at 11 %, the remainder at 30 % (2026 tax scale, Law No. 2026-103, Article 4). There remains \u20ac25,459<\/b> on \u20ac40,000 (\u20ac40,000 \u2212 \u20ac5,802 \u2212 \u20ac8,739). The deduction for pension contributions and income tax amounts to 36.4% of the activity, before unquantified contributions. A payment of \u20ac4,710 into a retirement savings plan (the minimum deduction limit for 2026) would reduce the tax by \u20ac1,413, or 30% of the payment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Position (in euros per year)<\/th>\nBoarding only<\/th>\nFull cumulation, current rules<\/th>\nAssumption: pension effective in 2027, before age 67, threshold of \u20ac7,000<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Gross pension paid<\/td>\n23,975<\/td>\n23,975<\/td>\n7,475<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Business profit<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n40,000<\/td>\n40,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pension contributions (basic and supplementary)<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n- 5802<\/td>\n- 5802<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Taxable income (pension after deduction of 10 %, plus net profit after contributions)<\/td>\n21,578<\/td>\n55,776<\/td>\n40,926<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Income tax 2026<\/td>\n1,098<\/td>\n9,837<\/td>\n5,382<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Available after pension contributions and tax<\/b><\/td>\n22,878<\/b><\/td>\n48,337<\/b><\/td>\n36,292<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Profit related to the activity<\/b><\/td>\n<\/td>\n25,459<\/b><\/td>\n13,414<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Hypotheses.<\/b> Single taxpayer, one share, with no other income; 10% tax allowance on the pension (minimum \u20ac454, maximum \u20ac4,439 per household, service-public.gouv.fr). Retirement contributions according to the 2026 scale for a practicing architect; the 9% rate for the supplementary scheme is that of the 2026 Cipav fact sheet for the first bracket, and another published scale shows different rates. Disability-death, health insurance, family allowance, and CSG-CRDS contributions are not included: they would reduce the gain. The right-hand column applies the expected rule for 2027 to the same pension: a reduction of half the amount exceeding the threshold, (\u20ac40,000 \u2212 \u20ac7,000) \u00f7 2 = \u20ac16,500. In this scenario, The \u20ac16,500 pension lost absorbs approximately 47% of the gain.<\/b> : there is \u20ac13,414 left instead of \u20ac25,459.<\/p>\n

4. What contributions yield: a modest second pension<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Calculation assumption: points for the second pension are calculated as during the primary career (the information sheet does not detail the formula). For the basic pension, a contribution of \u20ac3,138 would yield 346.1 points, or \u20ac228 of pension per year of accumulation (\u20ac0.6599 per point). For the supplementary pension, a contribution of \u20ac2,664 purchases 56.2 points at \u20ac47.40, or \u20ac162 of pension (\u20ac2.89 per point). In total, \u20ac391 in additional pension benefits for \u20ac5,802 in contributions<\/b> it takes approximately 15 years of second retirement<\/b> to recover just one year's contributions.<\/p>\n

The \u20ac2,403 ceiling per pension scheme would be reached after approximately 11 years of combining basic and supplementary pension contributions. Returning to work is therefore intended to earn an income, not to supplement one's retirement. The determining factor is the net income from section 3.<\/p>\n

5. What changes for pensions taking effect from 1 January 2027<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Article 102 of Law No. 2025-1403 of December 30, 2025, concerning the financing of Social Security for 2026, modifies the rules for combining employment and retirement benefits from January 1, 2027. According to service-public.gouv.fr, age is now a factor:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Age on the effective date of the pension<\/th>\nEffect on pension<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Before the legal minimum age<\/td>\nEarned income is deducted from the pension from the first euro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Between the legal minimum age and 67 years<\/td>\nUnrestricted accumulation of income below a threshold of gross annual earnings that the decree should set at \u20ac7,000<\/b> ; Beyond that, the pension is reduced by 50 % of the overrun<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From age 67<\/td>\nFull accumulation, without limit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

The implementing decree "has not yet been published," according to the service-public.gouv.fr website dated May 22, 2026, and we haven't seen any since: the \u20ac7,000 threshold remains hypothetical. The CNAVPL (National Old-Age Insurance Fund for the Liberal Professions) confirms that the rules will change on January 1, 2027, for those retiring after that date, without specifying the new procedures for the self-employed. The application to the CIPAV (Interprofessional Pension Fund for Liberal Professions), the role of the early retirement discount, and the rights available before age 67 are confirmed by the fund. An architect retiring before that date, as far as we understand, remains subject to the current rules; the service-public.gouv.fr website does not specify this for the self-employed.<\/p>\n

6. Procedures and arbitration<\/strong><\/h2>\n