Will 1 million people be able to retire early? Social Security expert explains

Social Security expert Özgür Erdursun made notable statements regarding the current debates on the retirement system.

Erdursun stated that citizens who postpone their retirement to 2025 are experiencing drops of up to 30 percent in their pensions, noting that the system essentially punishes those who continue to work.

Social Security expert Özgür Erdursun used the following expressions in his statements:

"Currently, millions of people are working and paying premiums. For those who do not retire in 2024 and leave their retirement to 2025, the pension they see in the system has dropped by 30 percent. If that reduced pension is left to 2026 because they cannot retire this year either, it will most likely drop by another 15 to 20 percent.

THEY ARE PUNISHING THOSE WHO WANT TO WORK...

Minister of Labor Vedat Işıkhan says, 'Do not retire, keep working; our President is also at an advanced age but he is still working.' There is a system that punishes those who want to work. The Minister of Labor either does not know this or does not want to talk about it. When I wrote last July that there would be a drop in pensions, government officials said, 'There will be no drop,' but in December, this drop occurred at a rate of 30 percent.

IS RETIREMENT COMING FOR 1 MILLION PEOPLE?

It is not the case that 1 million people in Turkey will retire. There are only those under the EYT (Retirement with Age Compensation) scheme, and those who will retire by completing their premium day requirements; their numbers are already known and limited. Even if the EYT law had not been passed, they would have retired because they reached the age. The number of people from that group applying for retirement is decreasing every day.

Something like this will happen: after this EYT issue is over, since the retirement age for women became 58 and for men 60 after September 9, 1999, and for both men and women 65 after May 1, 2008, the number of people applying for retirement will be very low in 3-4 years.

Because the system has changed. People will now have to wait for their age. Our greatest advantage is our young population. Unfortunately, we cannot establish a system where working and paying premiums is advantageous. We need to transition to such a system."