Your CPF (Personal Training Account) remains usable until your retirement, and at the latest until age 67. Once you retire, the account is closed and any unused rights are lost: they are neither converted into cash refunds nor credited quarters.
The CPF (Personal Training Account) funds certified training courses, VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience), and skills assessments. A skills assessment before retirement helps decide what to do next: continue working, adjust your end of career, or prepare for retirement.
It is possible to’using your CPF before retirement As long as you are not officially retired: afterwards, the account is closed and any unused benefits are lost. Many people only find out about this too late, when they receive their retirement notification.
In this article, we review the deadline, what happens to the account upon departure, and the training courses that the CPF (Personal Training Account) funds. We then explain why a skills assessment is a useful way to spend your remaining training credits: it helps prepare you for what comes next.
Can you use your CPF (Personal Training Account) just before retirement?
Yes, until your official retirement date, and at the latest until 67 years old.
The Public Service clarifies: the CPF can be used up to age 67, or until the full retirement if he arrives before (Public Service fact sheet on the CPFAs long as you are employed, self-employed or a job seeker and have not yet claimed your pension, your rights remain available on My Training Account.
Our advice: register and start your training before your retirement date, without waiting until the last few weeks.. At Aktasens, an assessment funded by the CPF (Personal Training Account) requires a 20-business-day waiting period between registration and start. Places sometimes fill up quickly at certain times, and start times may be longer.
To find out how much you have, here's a reminder of how the account is credited:
- An active person (full-time employee or self-employed) receives €500 per year, up to a limit of €5,000.
- Un salarié sans qualification, un travailleur handicapé ou une personne dans certaines autres situations reçoit 800 € par an, dans la limite de 8 000 €.
After a long career, many people have reached this ceiling without ever touching it.
To check your balance, log in to My Training Account With FranceConnect or your social security number: the available amount is displayed in euros in your space.
If you had DIF hours (the individual right to training, before 2015), they should have been transferred to the account before June 30, 2021. Otherwise, they were lost.
What happens to the CPF (Personal Training Account) in retirement?
Once you retire, the account is closed and your rights can no longer finance training.
It is not possible to get a refund of the balance, nor to transfer your rights to a relative. Only the rights registered on your Citizen engagement account (CEC) remain usable if you are a volunteer. At age 67, the CPF is no longer funded or usable, even if you are still working.
The important date is the date of your pension liquidation., The one from which your pension is paid. If you plan to retire at the full rate in six months, now is the time to check your balance and decide what to do with it.
The issue of combining work and retirement is the subject of conflicting information online. The official government policy is simple: once retirement is complete, only the rights accrued under the Personal Training Account (CEC) remain available. If your situation is unique, Mon Compte Formation (My Training Account) provides further explanation on its dedicated page. Why can't a retiree use their CPF?.
What training courses can I finance with my CPF (Personal Training Account) before retirement?
The CPF finances specific actions, listed on Mon Compte Formation, and not just any training course.
Eligible training programs include certified training (diploma, professional qualification, certification listed in the specific directory), VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience), skills assessments, certain driver's licenses, and certain business creation training programs. For courses presented as "retirement preparation," please check on [website/platform name]. My Training Account that the training is included before relying on it.
The pre-retirement plans we most often see among the people we support:
- create a business or micro-enterprise to carry out an activity at one's own pace after leaving
- to train for a personal care profession, such as kinesiology, provided that the chosen training is eligible for CPF funding.
- to train in artificial intelligence, to remain comfortable in one's current position or in a future activity
- learning a language, or having your experience validated through a VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience)
Before choosing, ask yourself this question: Does this training serve a specific purpose, or is it simply a way to spend your CPF balance?
Training chosen hastily to avoid losing one's rights rarely proves useful after retirement.
Skills assessment has a special place in this list: it does not train you for a job, it helps you choose which training to pursue, or to decide whether to pursue one and to prepare for the end of your career serenely.
A skills assessment, to prepare for what comes next
The skills assessment can be financed by the CPF, and it serves precisely to build what comes next.
Since February 26, 2026, the CPF finances an assessment up to 1 600 €. A contribution of €150 remains your responsibility, unless you are a job seeker or your employer contributes to your CPF.
A condition to be verified : not having had a balance sheet financed by public funds during the last 5 years. Details of the solutions are available on our page for finance your skills assessment.
Before retirement, the assessment helps you take stock of what you know how to do and what you like to do. It also helps you choose between continuing as you are today, planning your end of career or preparing for an activity for retirement: volunteering, self-employment, passing on your know-how.
The assessment takes place in three phases over approximately three months..
- The preliminary phase analyzes your request.
- The investigation phase explores your interests, motivations, skills and values, with field research involving people who are engaged in the activity that attracts you.
- The conclusion phase provides you with a written summary and an action plan.
- A follow-up interview takes place 6 months later
Sandrine, 62, was afraid of losing her pension rights. She thought a skills assessment would help her approach retirement with more peace of mind. Today, she works part-time as a self-employed wealth manager and is involved in her community as a municipal councilor.
Anonymized route
Si vous avez entre 50 et 60 ans, nous expliquons dans un autre article à quoi sert de faire un bilan de compétences à 55 ans. Et si c’est surtout le changement de rythme qui vous inquiète, lisez notre article pour preparing for retirement psychologically.
Choosing Yourself: Our Assessment for People Approaching Retirement
For this step, we propose Choosing Yourself : 10 sessions and 18 hours of support over approximately 3 months, for €2,350.
Let's be clear: the CPF (Personal Training Account) covers up to €1,600, so you'll need to finance approximately €750 yourself. This additional funding can come from your employer, your OPCO (Skills Operator), or your own funds. We'll discuss the best option with you during our initial consultation.
The package includes one module of your choice : Confidence (emotional intelligence with EQ-i 2.0), New impetus (neurofeedback), Emergence (four coaching sessions after the assessment), Performance (neuroscience with OMIND Impulse), or Reconnection (Human Design and Gene Keys).
The assessment can be done in person or remotely. Full details are available on the [website/page name] page. our skills assessment Choosing Yourself.
Your questions
By financing training or a skills assessment before your departure date. Log in to your Mon Compte Formation account, choose an eligible course, and register, taking into account the start date. A skills assessment is the most direct option if you want to prepare for what comes next (see the section on skills assessments above).
No. Any unused rights at the time of departure are lost. They are neither refundable nor transferable to a relative.
No. The CPF is only used to finance training courses, a VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience) or a skills assessment. It has no effect on the calculation of your pension.
Up to age 67, or until your retirement if it occurs earlier. Beyond that, only the rights of the Citizen Engagement Account remain usable, for volunteers and those involved in voluntary work.
Yes. In phased retirement, you have not yet taken your full retirement: your CPF remains available, for example for an assessment that helps you organize these last years of work and the future.
