At age 16, Pavel Stepchenko joined the school of Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs as a student, and by age 23, he had already retired, becoming the country;s youngest pensioner.

Retirement is traditionally associated with old age, and while today’s youth dream of retiring young to focus on living their best lives, that usually means retiring by age 40 or so. Well, one Russian youth managed to do something most of us can only dream of – retire with a full pension in his early 20s. Pavel Stepchenko’s story is an unusual one. He enrolled in the educational institution of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs at age 16 and after five years of diligent studies, he began working in the territorial division of the internal affairs system. The young man from Donetsk only worked there for two years, because at age 23, he officially retired, taking full advantage of a special provision stating that for each month of service during a period of martial law, a person received three months of credited length of service.

On November 28, 2023, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation at the time, Pavel Stepchenko applied for retirement and was awarded a full pension for length of service. This unusual record was officially confirmed by experts from the International Record Registration Agency INTERRECORD and recorded in the Register of Records of Russia – the national registrar of outstanding achievements, also known as the “Book of Records of Russia”.

To many, Stepchenko’s early retirement is nothing more than an anomaly, but according to State-controlled Russian media, it is “a testament to the flexibility and capabilities of the social protection system in Russia”. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective…