Those who retire in 2025 will receive lower pensions

The decline in inflation expected this year will also negatively impact the pensions of those set to retire. Habertürk columnist Ahmet Kıvanç wrote that those who retire in 2025 will receive lower monthly payments. Those who submit their retirement applications by December 31, 2024, will retire with a pension approximately 30 percent higher than those who apply after January 1, 2025.

In his article, Kıvanç stated, "I received numerous messages regarding my piece on how those who submit their retirement applications in 2025 will receive lower pension payments compared to those who submitted them in 2024," and provided the following information:

"Since it is illogical for the date of a retirement application to create a 30–35 percent difference in the amount of the pension, everyone is rightfully confused. It is not an acceptable difference. However, unfortunately, the emergence of such a difference stems from the law."

However, in periods when inflation is rising or falling rapidly, the date of the retirement application significantly affects the monthly pension amount. As is known, a rapid decline in inflation is expected this year.

SSK and BAĞ-KUR retiree pensions were increased by 49.25 percent in January and 24.73 percent in July. The annual increase reached 86.16 percent. Those who submit their retirement application by December 31, 2024, will benefit from the January and July raises. Those who submit their application after January 1, 2025, will not be able to benefit from the 2024 January and July salary increases.

The Central Bank projects inflation for 2024 at 38 percent. In the survey conducted by the Central Bank with market participants, inflation for 2024 was estimated at 43.52 percent. In the Medium-Term Program, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for 2024 was projected at 4 percent. According to inflation forecasts, the pensions of those who submit their applications on January 1, 2025, will be increased by a rate ranging between 39.2 percent and 44.72 percent instead of 86.16 percent for the year 2024.

To better understand the difference between the two, let's take the example of a salary that was 16,612 TL in January 2024, to which the raise applied to SSK and BAĞ-Kur pensions in January has not yet been reflected.

When the retirement application is submitted by December 31, 2024, the pension of 16,612 TL will first increase to 24,793 TL after the January raise is applied. This amount will become 30,925 TL when the July pension raise is applied. Let's assume that inflation in the July-December period of this year is 10 percent. The pension of the person in question, who submitted the application before December 31, 2024, will be increased by 10 percent in January of next year, reaching 34,016 TL.

If the retirement application is submitted after January 1, 2025, the monthly pension, which was 16,612 TL at the beginning of January 2024 without the raise, will remain at 23,124 TL if increased by 39.2 percent, or 24,040 TL if increased by 44.72 percent. In January, when also increased by the 10 percent inflation rate from the second half of this year, these figures will become 25,436 TL or 26,623 TL, respectively.

In this case, when the person in our example submits their retirement application on December 31, 2024, they will receive a monthly pension of 34,016 TL in January 2025.

When the same person submits their application on January 1, 2025, their January 2025 salary will be between 25,436 TL and 26,623 TL. The difference between the January salaries for next year could reach up to approximately 10 thousand TL.