To get the best help for your situation, first answer the questions on the guide's start page.
To get the best help for your situation, first answer the questions on the guide's start page.
You should start planning for your retirement well in advance so that you can prepare for the future changes, both financially and mentally.
Old-age pension may be one of the following:
Old-age pension may also be a combination of the above.
If you do not receive any earnings-related pension or your earnings-related pension is small, you can receive a national pension and possibly also a guarantee pension from Kela.
You can also start with partial early old-age pension.
The year you were born determines when you can retire. The age limits for earnings-related pension and national pension are different.
In the case of earnings-related pension, the retirement age for old-age pension is the earliest age at which you can retire. The age is determined according to your year of birth. The retirement ages for self-employed persons are the same as for other employed persons.
The age at which your insurance obligation ends is the general retirement age according to the Employment Contracts Act, at which time your employment contract will automatically end, unless you agree with your employer to continue working.
The national pension retirement age is 65 if you were born before 1965, unless you have a separate right to early retirement. For those born in 1965 and later, the retirement age depends on the retirement age for national pension, which is determined based on the life expectancy.
Check your old-age pension retirement age with the Työeläke.fi calculator.Opens in a new window.
Read more: Retirement age
You can use the pension calculators to estimate the gross sum of your future earnings-related pension and partial early old-age pension. Different formulas are used to calculate the national pension issued by Kela and partial early old-age pension.
You can also use the calculators to compare how much your future pension will be if you retire full-time or part-time:
Calculation formulas for old-age pensions paid by Kela:
For a more specific estimate of your pension, please contact Kela.
Read more: Estimate your old-age pension
An earnings-related pension earned in Finland will be paid to you regardless of your country of residence or citizenship. Please note that the retirement age in Finland may not be the same as the retirement age in your country of residence, which means that you may have to claim your pensions at different times.
As a rule, a national or guarantee pension is only paid to persons permanently resident in Finland. You can only receive these pensions, like other social benefits, if your residence abroad is temporary.
Read more: Pension from Finland to another country
You can continue working after retirement, either in your current job or a new one. You can also continue business operations as an self-employed person or start a new business. However, before you can start receiving old-age pension, your employment relationship must be terminated, and only then can you start working again.
You can also work while receiving a partial early old-age pension like you were fully retired, i.e. freely without any income limits. Your earned income will not affect the amount of your old-age pension.
Read more: Working during retirement
A pension is taxable earned income. However, the taxation of pensions differs somewhat from the taxation of wages. For example, you will have to pay a different social insurance contribution for wages than for a pension. You may also be eligible for different tax deductions. For these reasons, the tax rate on a pension is usually higher than that on wages of the same amount.
You can estimate your tax rate in MyTax or by using the tax percentage calculator at vero.fi. MyTax contains plenty of personal information, which means that its tax rate estimate is more accurate.
Read more: Taxation of pensions and financial planning
Hand in your notice in accordance with the term of notice specified in your employment contract. Pension payments always start on the first day of a calendar month, which means that your employment relationship must be terminated by the end of the previous month at the latest.
Handing in a written notice of termination is recommended, but a free-form notification also suffices.
Read more: When do you need to resign?
Submitting your pension application about one month prior to your planned start of retirement is a good idea. You can complete the application form in the e-service of your pension provider. If you do not know your pension provider, log into Työeläke.fi, the e-service of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, and you will be automatically forwarded to your pension provider’s service.
If you have accrued little or no earnings-related pension, you can receive a national pension paid by Kela and, under certain conditions, a guarantee pension. You can claim your old-age pension from a pension provider and Kela with the same application. You can only apply for a guarantee pension from Kela.
Partial early old-age pension can only be applied from a pension provider. You should submit your application at least two weeks prior to the time you want your partial early old-age pension payments to start. In the case of partial early old-age pension, you must choose whether you want to receive 25% or 50% of your accrued earnings-related pension.
Read more: Claiming your old-age pension
If you have worked abroad, you may qualify for a pension also from the foreign country. Check the country-specific pension rules at Työeläke.fi (in Finnish).Opens in a new window. The manner in which you claim a pension from abroad depends on the country in which you earned the pension. Please note that the retirement age varies by country, and pensions are not necessarily paid outside the country’s borders. In other words, you may receive a negative pension decision from one country even if another one grants you a pension.
Before you apply for a pension from another country, find out how a pension paid from abroad will affect your pension and benefits in Finland.
To claim a pension you have earned in another country, use the same electronic or paper form as for Finnish pensions. Attach information about employment and residence abroad.
Submit your pension application directly to the foreign pension authority if you are applying for a pension from a country with which Finland does not have a cooperation agreement on pension applications.
Read more: Claiming a pension earned abroad
You will receive the final pension decision from the pension provider once all the information needed to calculate your pension has been taken into account and your pension has been calculated.
If Kela has already issued a decision on the old-age pension before the final decision on earnings-related pension, Kela will have to adjust its decision.
The pension provider and Kela will notify you directly of the pension decision. You can view the decision on the website of your pension provider or in Kela’s e-service.
Read more: Decision on old-age pension
Once you have received your pension decision and know how much income you will receive, get a tax card for your pension via MyTaxOpens in a new window.. The information about your pension you need when completing the tax card request is available in the pension decision.
Once you have requested your tax card, the Finnish Tax Administration will usually send it in electronic format directly to your pension provider or Kela. If the tax card cannot be submitted in electronic format, you will see a notice about this in MyTax.
Read more: Getting a tax card for your old-age pension
If you will continue working after starting to receive your old-age pension, you will need separate tax cards for your pension and wages.
Request the tax cards via MyTaxOpens in a new window. and submit the tax card for wages to your employer. The Finnish Tax Administration usually sends the tax card for pension directly to the pension provider or Kela in electronic format.
Read more: Getting a tax card for your old-age pension and wages
Once you have received a pension decision, you will automatically receive a pension card for earnings-related pension recipients from your pension provider or a pension card for national pension recipients from Kela. Many pension providers also use electronic pension cards, which you can start using as soon as you start receiving a pension.
Many service providers offer pensioner discounts.
Read more: Pension card entitles you to discounts
You can receive benefits from Kela if your functional capacity has deteriorated or your income is insufficient to cover your housing costs or necessary expenses, for example. You can also receive assistance in paying for healthcare costs and medicine.
Read more: Benefits and reimbursements to pensioners