This is how seniors try to get rich. Experts see a better solution

Data from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) show that over the last decade, the number of people of retirement age who decide to work and receive benefits at the same time, rather than just work without applying for a pension, has almost quadrupled.

The number of working retirees is growing

At the end of 2025, 879.5 thousand seniors combined retirement with professional activity. A year earlier it was 872.6 thousand. people. The number of working people of retirement age is growing by several percent every year, and those who decide to postpone it are growing at a rate of one percent. Most people decide to receive the benefit as soon as they are eligible (for women – 60 years, for men – 65 years). Data quoted by “Rzeczpospolita” show that in 2024, nearly 70 percent 70 percent seniors applied for a pension as soon as they were entitled to it.

– People prefer a sparrow in the hand than a pigeon on the roof. This happens for several reasons: the need for current money, the lack of full confidence in the pension system and the fact that we do not consider that in 10-20 years, when we will no longer be able to work due to health and well-being, we will be left with a lower pension than if we had delayed receiving it. And our expenses, even those related to health, will not decrease – commented for the newspaper by prof. Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, former Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy.

Experts point out that delaying the decision to retire by even one year increases the amount of the benefit by approximately 8%. It is therefore worth considering whether to receive a pension and salary at the same time, or refrain from collecting it in order to make it higher in the future.