From 2026, the Law on Social Insurance adds one more case of early retirement of up to 5 years without being deducted the percentage of pension benefits.
Early retirement is not subject to pension deduction
Clause 2, Article 169 of the Labor Code stipulates that the retirement age of workers in normal working conditions is adjusted according to a roadmap, until reaching 62 years old for male workers in 2028 and 60 years old for female workers in 2035.
Since 2021, the retirement age is 60 years and 3 months for male workers and 55 years and 4 months for female workers; then, it increases by 3 months each year for men and 4 months for women until reaching the above milestone.
However, in reality, there are cases where employees retire 5-10 years earlier than the retirement age in normal conditions. These cases are regulated in Article 64 and Article 65 of the Law on Social Insurance.
According to Article 65, employees with reduced working capacity can also retire early for 5-10 years. However, the pension level in this case is lower than those retiring under Article 64, due to the deduction of the benefit rate due to early retirement.
Another case without pension deduction from 2026
From 2026, when the Law on Teachers takes effect, there will be one more case of early retirement without being deducted the percentage of pension benefits.
Specifically, according to Clause 2, Article 26 of the Law on Teachers, teachers in preschool education institutions, if they wish, can retire at an age lower than the normal retirement age but not exceeding 5 years. In case they have 15 years or more of social insurance contributions, the percentage of pension benefits is not reduced due to early retirement.
At the same time, Article 40 of the Law on Teachers has amended Article 66 of the Law on Social Insurance to supplement this regulation. Accordingly, the monthly pension level of preschool teachers when retiring early is calculated similarly to the group of employees retiring according to Article 64 of the Law on Social Insurance - that is, there is no deduction of 2% for each year of early retirement.
The addition of new regulations is assessed as a step of adjustment suitable to the professional characteristics of preschool teachers - a group of workers with a specific nature of work, high intensity, and high pressure.
From 2026, this policy is expected to help more preschool teachers be more proactive in choosing retirement time while still ensuring their pension benefits.
