Pension decision

Order a tax card for pension. For more detailed instructions, see section ‘Payment and taxation of pensions’.

We will send the earnings-related pension card to you within two weeks. You can use the card to prove that you are a pensioner and are entitled to discounts at companies offering them. Read more about the earnings-related pension card.

If you have worked until the start of the pension and you have not reached your upper retirement age when the pension starts, at least one of your employment relationships must end before the pension starts. If one of your employment relationships continues, you can apply for the payment of the pension accrued on it once the employment relationship has ended.

Interim decision

If you received an interim decision, we will issue the final decision no earlier than in the month following the start of your pension, when the employer has notified the Incomes Register of the end date of your employment relationship and after we have received all the information on earnings and unpaid periods.

Getting a pension requires the end of the employment relationship, unless you are at your upper retirement age. The requirement for ending the employment relationship also applies to casual work and working on a so-called zero hours contract. If we have paid a pension with an interim decision, but the conditions for receiving the pension have not been met, the pension that was paid without reason can be recovered.

Increase for deferred retirement

If you applied for pension later than at your lower retirement age and are entitled to the increase for deferred retirement, you will not receive the increase for deferred retirement in full until we have issued the final pension decision. Unemployment benefit periods do not entitle you to the increase for deferred retirement.

Working while on pension

You can work alongside old-age pension without an earnings limit. Work in Finland accrues more pension. Read more about working while on pension.

Insuring self-employed activities carried out alongside an old-age pension is voluntary. Read more about entrepreneurship after retirement.

Remember to apply for the pension that you accrued by working while on pension when you reach your upper retirement age. You can find your upper retirement age based on your birth year here.

Order a tax card for pension. For more detailed instructions, see section ‘Payment and taxation of pensions’.

Working while on pension

You can work as much as you like on a partial old-age pension. The increase for deferred retirement accrues on work carried out after your lower retirement age.

Work carried out while on partial old-age pension must be insured. If you work as an entrepreneur, your YEL insurance will continue with the current YEL income. We ask you to inform us without delay if any changes occur in your entrepreneurial activities.

Applying for old-age pension

Apply for pension following partial old-age pension using the old-age pension application. It will not start automatically, because you can choose when to retire on old-age pension.

You will not get an earnings-related pension card until you retire on old-age pension, at the earliest at your lower retirement age.

Order a tax card for pension. For more detailed instructions, see section ‘Payment and taxation of pensions’.

Earnings-related pension card

We will send the earnings-related pension card to you within two weeks, if you have been granted a disability pension for an indefinite period. You can use the card to prove that you are a pensioner and are entitled to discounts at companies offering them. If your decision is an interim decision, you will receive your earnings-related pension card after the final pension decision. A recipient of a cash rehabilitation benefit granted for a fixed term cannot receive an earnings-related pension card.

Applying for an extension to the cash rehabilitation benefit

If you received a decision on a fixed-term cash rehabilitation benefit and your disability continues, you can apply for an extension to your pension by submitting a new medical statement B to us well before the end of your pension.

The easiest way to submit the statement is through the MyPension service’s section Hae eläkettä tai kuntoutusta - Hae jatkoa (Apply for pension or rehabilitation - Apply for an extension). We do not cover the expenses you have incurred to obtain the medical statement.

Working while on pension

Work or entrepreneurial activity carried out while on pension must be insured. Salaried work is insured by the employer, while an entrepreneur must take out a self-employed person’s pension insurance for themselves.

If you work while on pension, you accrue more pension. Your pension decision tells you how much you can earn while on pension. Earnings are usually considered to be all taxable income from work, including holiday bonuses, performance bonuses and the taxation value of fringe benefits.

If the gross earnings paid for your work exceed the earnings limit, let us know.

You must apply for the pension you accrued on the work alongside your pension separately when you reach the old-age pension age.

If you have received a preliminary decision on partial pension and you wish to retire on partial pension, inform us thereof within the period indicated in the decision.

How do I report that I’m retiring?

If you plan to transition to part-time work, agree with your employer on starting part-time work and reducing your earnings so that they fall within the earnings limit. You can inform us that you are starting to work part-time in the MyPension service’s section Hae eläkettä tai kuntoutusta - Hae osatyökyvyttömyyseläkkeesi maksuun (Apply for pension or rehabilitation - Apply for the payment of your partial disability pension).

In addition, we will ask your employer to supply an account of part-time work and the earnings. If you have applied for or received unemployment allowance or allowance in accordance with the Health Insurance Act, specify from where and during which period in the section Lisätietoja (additional information).

If you will not continue working, you can inform us that you are retiring on partial pension in our MyPension service’s section Hae eläkettä tai kuntoutusta - Hae osatyökyvyttömyyseläkkeesi maksuun (Apply for pension or rehabilitation - Apply for the payment of your partial disability pension). If you have applied for or received unemployment allowance or allowance in accordance with the Health Insurance Act, specify from where and during which period in the section Lisätietoja (additional information).

Earnings taken into account

All gross earnings subject to tax are taken into account when calculating your earnings from part-time work: wages, holiday bonuses, increments, performance bonuses and fringe benefits. The wage components paid less frequently than once a month must be estimated and divided over 12 months. Such wage components include holiday bonuses and performance bonuses. Earnings from any secondary employment and your entrepreneurial activities are also taken into account. The total amount of your monthly earnings must remain below the earnings limit.

Beginning and payment of pension

We will issue a separate decision on the payment of your partial pension after we have received all the necessary information for issuing the decision. The beginning of partial pension is influenced by the onset of disability and, when it comes to self-employed persons, the decrease in YEL income. The payment of retroactive partial pension is influenced by the benefits paid for the same period.

Partial pension always begins on the first day of the month.

Self-employed activity while on partial pension

You can continue working as an entrepreneur while on partial pension. Be sure to take note of the earnings limit indicated in the preliminary decision when estimating the amount of your YEL income. To obtain the maximum amount of your annual YEL income, multiply your monthly earnings level by twelve. Your YEL income may thus be
no more than your annual earnings limit when the pension begins.

YEL insurance is statutory, which means that it is mandatory, if your YEL income exceeds the minimum limit for YEL income. When working while on pension, you accrue more pension under the YEL insurance based on your YEL income.

Decision on the payment of partial pension

When you receive a decision on the payment of partial pension, order a tax card for pension. For more detailed instructions, see section ‘Payment and taxation of pensions’. 

A recipient of partial pension cannot receive an earnings-related pension card.

Applying for an extension to the partial cash rehabilitation benefit

If you received a decision on a fixed-term partial cash rehabilitation benefit and your disability continues, you can apply for an extension to your pension by submitting a new medical statement B to us well before the end of your pension.

The easiest way to submit the statement is through the MyPension service’s section Hae eläkettä tai kuntoutusta - Hae jatkoa (Apply for pension or rehabilitation - Apply for an extension). We do not cover the expenses you have incurred to obtain the medical statement.

If you have received a preliminary decision on years-of-service pension and you wish to retire on pension, inform us thereof within the period indicated in the decision.

We will issue a decision on the payment of the pension after we have received your notification that you are retiring. The pension will be paid as of the beginning of the month in which you reach the required age and your earnings remain below the earnings limit or you stop working.

How do I report that I’m retiring?

To report that you are retiring, fill in the form you received as an attachment to the decision. If you have applied for or received unemployment allowance or allowance in accordance with the Health Insurance Act, specify from where and during which period in the additional information section (Lisätietoja) of the form.

Pension insurance for the self-employed

You can continue working as an entrepreneur while on pension. Be sure to take note of the earnings limit indicated in the preliminary decision when estimating the amount of your YEL income. To obtain the maximum amount of your annual YEL income, multiply your monthly earnings level by twelve. Your YEL income may thus be no more than your annual earnings limit when the pension begins.

YEL insurance is statutory, which means that it is mandatory, if your YEL income exceeds the minimum limit for YEL income. When working while on pension, you accrue more pension under the YEL insurance based on your YEL income.

Decision on the payment of years-of-service pension

When you receive a decision on the payment of years-of-service pension, order a tax card for pension. For more detailed instructions, see section ‘Payment and taxation of pensions’. We will send the earnings-related pension card to you within two weeks. You can use the card to prove that you are a pensioner and are entitled to discounts at companies offering them. If your decision is an interim decision, you will receive your earnings-related pension card after the final pension decision.

Working while on pension

Work or entrepreneurial activity carried out while on pension must be insured. Salaried work is insured by the employer, while an entrepreneur must take out a self-employed person’s pension insurance for themselves.

If you work while on pension, you accrue more pension. Your pension decision tells you how much you can earn while on pension. Earnings are usually considered to be all taxable income from work, including holiday bonuses, performance bonuses and the taxation value of fringe benefits.

If the gross earnings paid for your work exceed the earnings limit, let us know.

You must apply for the pension you accrued on the work alongside your pension separately when you reach the old-age pension age.

Order a tax card for pension. For more detailed instructions, see section ‘Payment and taxation of pensions’. Please note that you should order a tax card also for the orphan’s pension.

If you are on pension

• The amount of your surviving spouse’s pension will be adjusted based on your own earnings-related pension right at the beginning of your surviving spouse’s pension.
• If your own earnings-related pension is larger than that of the deceased at the time of death, you will not receive any surviving spouse’s pension.

If you are in working life

• The amount of your surviving spouse’s pension will be adjusted after six months when your initial pension has ended.
• If you have underage children who live in the same household with you, your surviving spouse’s pension will be adjusted when your youngest child turns 18.
• Your surviving spouse’s pension will be readjusted when you retire on your own earnings-related pension. If your own earnings-related pension is large, it is possible that you will not receive survivors’ pension.

Other considerations

• If you also receive surviving spouse’s pension under the Public Sector Pensions Act, the pension will be reduced based on the proportion of private sector surviving spouse’s pension to the public sector surviving spouse’s pension.
• If you also receive surviving spouse’s pension from a foreign country, the pension will be reduced based on the proportion of surviving spouse’s pensions from Finland to the surviving spouse’s pensions from the foreign country.
• More information, e.g. the amount of orphan’s pension, can be found on the page Survivors’ pension for surviving spouses and children

Below is a description of the situations in which the surviving spouse’s pension is adjusted. This information helps you interpret your pension calculation.

Adjustment after six months of initial pension

The surviving spouse’s calculated earnings-related pension is made up of the earnings-related pension accrued by the end of the previous year and of the component for projected pensionable service. The projected pensionable service is calculated from the beginning of the year of death of the deceased spouse until the end of the month in which you reach the lower old-age pension age confirmed for you and your age group.

The basis for the reduction of the surviving spouse’s pension is the limit confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, which, according to the earnings-related pensions acts, must be used in adjusting the surviving spouse’s pension. If the surviving spouse’s calculated earnings-related pension exceeds the basis for the reduction, each euro exceeding the limit reduces the surviving spouse’s pension by 50 cents.

The impact of the adjustment on the surviving spouse’s pension is calculated according to the following formula: Surviving spouse’s calculated earnings-related pension – basis for the reduction = excess / 2

Youngest child turns 18

The surviving spouse’s calculated earnings-related pension is made up of the earnings-related pension accrued by the end of the previous year and of the component for projected pensionable service. The projected pensionable service is calculated from the beginning of the year when the child turns 18 until the end of the month in which you reach the lower old-age pension age confirmed for you and your age group.

The basis for the reduction of the surviving spouse’s pension is the limit confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, which, according to the earnings-related pensions acts, must be used in adjusting the surviving spouse’s pension. If the surviving spouse’s calculated earnings-related pension exceeds the basis for the reduction, each euro exceeding the limit reduces the surviving spouse’s pension by 50 cents.

The impact of the adjustment on the surviving spouse’s pension is calculated according to the following formula: Surviving spouse’s own earnings-related pension – basis for the reduction = excess / 2

Surviving spouse retires on their own earnings-related pension

The surviving spouse’s pension before the adjustment is 50 per cent of the earnings-related pension of the deceased spouse at the time of death, converted to the current year’s index level. This differs from the amount of surviving spouse’s pension being paid to you because we have already once adjusted your pension based on your calculated earnings-related pension.

The surviving spouse’s own earnings-related pension is the full amount of your statutory earnings-related pension in accordance with the information obtained from the pension register.

The basis for the reduction of the surviving spouse’s pension is the limit confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, which, according to the earnings-related pensions acts, must be used in adjusting the surviving spouse’s pension. If the surviving spouse’s calculated earnings-related pension exceeds the basis for the reduction, each euro exceeding the limit reduces the surviving spouse’s pension by 50 cents. The basis for the reduction is the same now as it was when we adjusted your surviving spouse’s pension for the first time. The basis has been converted into the current year’s index level.

The impact of the adjustment on the surviving spouse’s pension is calculated according to the following formula: Surviving spouse’s own earnings-related pension – basis for the reduction = excess / 2

• If you wish to cancel a pension that has been granted to you, you can do so during the appeal period.
• If we have not yet had the time to issue a pension decision, you can cancel the processing of your application by notifying us thereof.
• Notify us of the cancellation in writing in the MyPension service under section Lähetä viesti (Send a message).