Many workers imagine retirement as a well-deserved rest after decades of effort, but this moment does not always arrive voluntarily or with the expected tranquility. This is what happened, according to the report published in Spain, with Antonia Velázquez, who started working at the age of 14 and today receives a pension of 800 euros per month after having been recognized for just 28 years of deductions.
Antonia Velázquez told her story on the program Y ahora Sonsoles, on Antena 3, where she explained that she wanted to continue working, but ended up leaving active life with a pension that she considers insufficient to live comfortably. According to the Spanish digital newspaper, she regrets that after a lifetime of work, she was told she had worked enough.
An imposed reform
Antonia only had 28 years of contributions to Spanish Social Security, despite having worked for much longer. The difference is explained, according to the same report, by several periods of work without formal registration, which ended up decisively reducing the value of the pension he receives today.
The woman remembers that she tried to oppose the retirement and asked if she could continue working, but received a negative answer. In his statement, he says that he was informed that he would have to retire at 65 years and 7 months, which marked the end of a career that began very early and spanned several activities.
A lifetime without stopping
Antonia’s career is described as a succession of almost uninterrupted works. She remembers that she started working at the age of 14 and that it was only much later that she took her first vacation, after years dedicated to professions linked to caring for other people and services provided in different contexts.
Despite this long journey, the pension he receives was limited by the number of years officially registered. He worked in hairdressers, in a residence for the elderly and in private homes, but many of these periods were not reflected in his recognized contributory career, according to the source cited above.
In general terms, Spanish Social Security indicates that, in 2025, the ordinary retirement age was 65 years for those who had at least 38 years and 3 months of deductions, and 66 years and 8 months for those who had less than this contribution period.
Weight of informality
Cases like Antonia’s help to understand the impact of informal work on retirements. When long periods of activity are not included in official records, what counts at the time of retirement is not the time actually worked, but only the years that were recognized for contributory purposes, says Noticias Trabajo.
Today, looking back, Antonia considers that she worked much longer than the 28 years shown in her contribution history. Still, it is these official data that determine the value of the pension granted to you.
Financial and emotional impact
Leaving the job market did not only have economic consequences. In the same statement, Antonia admits that she would return to work if necessary, making it clear that retirement did not only represent a loss of income, but also a loss of routine and personal identity.
This story ends up showing how a long career can translate into a low pension when a substantial part of the professional trajectory is left out of the records. The weight of informality and the lack of discounts in several years ended up being decisive in the final amount received.
What if it happened in Portugal?
If a similar situation occurred in Portugal, the legal framework would be different. The normal age for access to old-age retirement in 2026 is 66 years and 9 months, as set in , on December 30th.
This means that, at age 65, a worker does not automatically enter retirement due to age. The Labor Code provides that the contract only becomes a fixed-term contract if the worker continues in service 30 days after both parties become aware of retirement due to age, or if they reach 70 years of age without having retired.
According to article 348 of the CLT, when there is retirement due to an age known to both parties and the employee remains in service, the contract becomes valid for periods of six months, renewable, with its own rules for expiry. The same solution applies to those who reach 70 years of age without retiring.
Conditions for reform
To be entitled to an old-age pension in Portugal, you must meet the current legal age and have at least 15 calendar years of earnings records, the so-called guarantee period. This requirement arises from article 19 of Decree-Law nº 187/2007, while the age of 66 years and 9 months for 2026 arises from Ordinance nº 358/2024/1.
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