Once you reach your minimum retirement age, you are eligible for old-age pension, which offers you the chance to retire from working life and enjoy the pension funds that you have earned throughout your work career. You can freely decide when you would like to start to receive your pension as long as you have reached your minimum retirement age.
This means that you can also opt to continue working and earning a higher future pension for yourself. Whenever you start to think about retirement, remember that you generally must terminate your employment relationship before you can receive old-age pension.
When can I begin to receive old-age pension?
Your minimum retirement age is determined by your birth year. After that, you are free to choose when to actually retire. The payment of your pension can begin at the start of any month as long as you have reached your minimum retirement age and terminated your employment contract.
When you decide on the date you would like your pension to begin, send us your pension application. If you choose not to retire at your minimum retirement age, you do not need to inform us of this decision.
| Year of birth | Minimum retirement age |
|---|---|
| 1954 or earlier | 63 years |
| 1955 | 63 years 3 months |
| 1956 | 63 years 6 months |
| 1957 | 63 years 9 months |
| 1958 | 64 years |
| 1959 | 64 years 3 months |
| 1960 | 64 years 6 months |
| 1961 | 64 years 9 months |
| 1962 | 65 years |
| 1963 | 65 years |
| 1964 | 65 years |
Termination of your current employment contract is a requirement for pension
If you are working as an employee, you must terminate your employment contract before you can begin to receive old-age pension. One requirement for the transition to old-age pension is that you are no longer in the employment relationship from which you are retiring.
If, however, you wish to continue working for the same employer after you have retired, you must sign a new and substantially different employment contract with your employer.
- What is considered a substantial change?
A substantial change can be a change, for example, in your working hours, work tasks or earnings. The change must be seen as substantial when considered objectively.
Settle on your retirement date with your employer well in advance and resign with the normal period of notice.
If, however, you decide to wait to withdraw your full old-age pension until you reach your maximum retirement age, you do not need to terminate your employment relationship. It is also not necessary to terminate your employment relationship if you work as a family caregiver or you hold a position of trust.
Entrepreneurial activities do not need to end when pension begins
There is no requirement to end entrepreneurial activities in order to receive a pension. As YEL insurance is voluntary when receiving old-age pension, your YEL insurance will be automatically terminated when your pension begins. If you decide to continue your business activities after you have begun to receive old-age pension, you can still opt to take voluntary YEL insurance and, thus, continue to accrue an additional pension for yourself.
Delaying your pension is worthwhile
If you choose not to retire yet at your minimum retirement age, any additional period of working will increase the amount of your future old-age pension. Pension will continue to accrue up until your maximum retirement age. In addition, you will receive an increase for late retirement, which amounts to 0.4 per cent for each month that exceeds your minimum retirement age. If, for example, you delay your retirement by one year, your increase will total 4.8 per cent. The increase for late retirement is not accrued, however, for any months in which you are paid unemployment benefits.
Working during retirement
You can work freely while receiving old-age pension and additional pension will accrue at a rate of 1.5% until you reach your maximum retirement age. If, however, you wish to continue working for the same employer after you have retired, you must sign a new and substantially different employment contract with your employer.
In order to receive the payment of the additional pension, you must apply for it separately when you have reached your maximum retirement age.
If you were born in
| Year of birth | Retirement age |
|---|---|
| 1957 or earlier | Your maximum retirement age is 68 years |
| 1958–1961 | Your maximum retirement age is 69 years |
| 1962 or later | Your maximum retirement age is 70 years |
Pensions in the private and public sector
If your employment history includes work in both the private and public sectors and you want all the accumulated earnings-related pensions to be paid from the same date onwards, you must tick the boxes for both types of pensions when applying for an old-age pension.
- The public sector includes all employment positions for the State, municipalities, the Church and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.
- Any questions you may have regarding public sector pensions should be directed to Keva.
National pension provides additional security to supplement a small earnings-related pension
If your earnings-related pension is small, you can apply for national pension as additional pension security. You can apply for the national pension and earnings-related pension using the same application form. The national pension is granted by Kela and additional information about the income limits can be found on Kela’s website.
Provisional and final pension decisions
After you apply for pension, you may initially receive a provisional decision concerning your old-age pension. A provisional decision is issued, for example, when
- we are waiting for an employer to provide information about the final salary payment or the termination of the employment relationship
- an unemployment allowance or other benefits from unpaid periods have not yet been registered in the Incomes Register.
The final pension decision will be issued once the employer or payer of the benefit have reported all the necessary information to the Incomes Register. The amount of the pension may, therefore, be different in the final pension decision, for example, if an employer was late in reporting additional earnings from which pension is accrued.
How to apply for old-age pension
You can apply for old-age pension conveniently using our online service. You will need to use your personal online banking codes to complete the application.
It is also still possible to complete a paper application form and send it to us by mail. Further instructions can be found in our Forms and applications page.
Things to remember when applying for old-age pension
- Submit the application for old-age pension approximately one month before you would like to retire.
- Old-age pension can be granted retroactively for no more than the three months preceding the arrival of your application.
- You can use the same application to apply for national pension and earnings-related pension from abroad.
- Attach an Appendix U form with your application if you have lived or worked abroad. You can complete an Appendix U form in our online service.