Minimum living income with a pension in the household in 2026
Independent, non-governmental site
Enter the pensions your household draws today and last year’s income: the tool applies the legal cap and shows the IMV that would remain.
Minimum income next to the pension
€354 a month
pension plus minimum income: €954
| Guaranteed income | €954 |
| Current pensions | − €600 |
| 2025 income per month | €0 |
With a pension already awarded, the minimum income never exceeds the gap between the guaranteed income and the pension, even if there was no income the year before.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Rules read in the BOE and on the Social Security site on 1 November 2026
A pension and the minimum living income can coexist under one roof, but the pension weighs twice. First, as income for the previous year, just like a wage. Second, through article 13.6 of Law 19/2021: if someone in the household is drawing a pension now, the IMV cannot exceed the guaranteed income minus that pension, even if there was no income the year before. The rule avoids paying the full IMV to a household that has just started receiving a pension not yet visible in tax data. For the sum, the pension is taken monthly including the extra payments: the yearly pension divided by twelve. An example: a couple with no income in 2025 where one partner starts receiving a €700 monthly pension has a guaranteed income of €953.68, so their IMV is €254, not the full figure. If the pension already covers the guaranteed income, there is no IMV. The cap covers Social Security pensions, contributory or not, for retirement, incapacity, widowhood or orphanhood, and the unemployment assistance for over-52s; as previous-year income, any pension counts, private ones too.
The two ways a pension counts
Article 20 of Law 19/2021 includes pensions in the previous year’s countable income, whatever their origin. Article 13.6 adds a cap: regardless of last year’s income, the IMV of a household where someone draws a Social Security pension, or the over-52 unemployment assistance, may not exceed the gap between the guaranteed income and that pension. In practice, whichever rule gives the lower IMV applies.
In the summary’s example the couple had zero income in 2025, so the general rule would give the full IMV, €953.68. With the €700 monthly pension, the cap brings it to €253.68. If they had also earned €4,000 in 2025, the general rule would give €620 and the cap €254: the lower one, €254, is paid.
| Monthly pension (with extras) | IMV for a couple | IMV for a couple with a child |
|---|---|---|
| €300 | €654 | €874 |
| €500 | €454 | €674 |
| €700 | €254 | €474 |
| €900 | €54 | €274 |
| €1,100 | €0 | €74 |
IMV with your household’s pension
Minimum income next to the pension
€354 a month
| Guaranteed income | €954 |
| Current pensions | − €600 |
| 2025 income per month | €0 |
Non-contributory pension and the IMV
The most common case is the non-contributory pension, which in 2026 is €8,803.20 a year under Royal Decree-law 3/2026, €733.60 a month spread over twelve. A single person on the full pension gets no IMV, because the pension equals their guaranteed income. With a 65% disability the guaranteed income rises to €894.99 and a small gap opens; for a couple or with children the margin grows. The pages on the non-contributory pension and the IMV with a disability explain it.
If the pension is awarded while you are already on the IMV, report it within 30 days. Otherwise the INSS will spot it at the review and claim back the overpayment; the overpayment page shows how much.
Remember that the pension is always compared in twelfths, never as a single payment. And if the pension is later raised by the yearly uprating, the IMV is adjusted the other way at the next review, so the household total stays close to the guaranteed income. A pension increase is never a loss for the household, only a shift between the two benefits.