The full amount of the old-age pension for persons living alone is
EUR 775.70 per month
Old-age pension
On this page:
You can receive an old-age pension from an authorised pension provider, from Kela, or from both. For more information on earnings-related old-age pensions, contact your authorised pension provider.
Kela pays old-age pension in the form of a national pension.
Can I get an old-age pension?
You can get an old-age pension from Kela if you receive no earnings-related pension at all or if it is less than EUR 1,601.21 per month. For people who are married, cohabiting or in a registered partnership, the corresponding limit is EUR 1,434.88 per month.
Your other pensions will be taken into account according to their amount before taxes. See what types of income affect the amount of the old-age pension.
You can get an old-age pension from Kela when you reach age 65. If you were born in or after 1965, your old-age retirement age is determined according to your year of birth. Use the calculator at työeläke.fi to check your retirement age.
In certain situations, you may qualify for an early old-age pension.
In order to get an old-age pension from Kela, you must be living in Finland or you must have lived in Finland for at least three years after reaching age 16. If you have lived in Finland for at least a year, any insurance period accumulated in other EU or EEA countries, in Switzerland or in Great Britain can be taken into account.
How much is the old-age pension?
*A couple relationship refers to a cohabiting relationship, marriage or registered partnership.
Your income from other pension sources affects the amount of your old-age pension.
The full amount is payable only if you receive no other pensions or if their combined amount before taxes is EUR 65.62 per month or less. If you have more income from pension sources, your old-age pension will be smaller or will not be paid at all.
Old-age pensions that are less than EUR 7,90 per month are not paid.
Learn more about how taking an old-age pension early affects its amount.
You must pay taxes on your old-age pension.
You can use the formula below to calculate your old-age pension, or you can call our customer service for an estimate.
First, the amount entitling to a full old-age pension is deducted from a person’s earnings-related pensions. Then, half of the resulting amount is deducted from the full old-age pension. As used in the formula, ‘earnings-related pension’ refers to the amount of earnings-related pension before taxes.
Calculation formula for persons who live alone: EUR 775.70 – (earnings-related pensions – EUR 65.62) ÷ 2
Calculation formula for persons living together with another person: ÉUR 692.54 – (earnings-related pensions – EUR 65.62) ÷ 2
You cannot use these formulas to calculate your pension if you have lived or worked abroad.
When applying for old-age pension, list all countries in which you have lived, worked or studied.
The time you have spent abroad may reduce your pension if you have lived in Finland less than 80% of the time between age 17 and start of pension.
You may have accrued some pension rights abroad. Learn more about how to apply for a pension from abroad.
Kela adjusts national pensions annually in line with the National Pensions Index. This may increase or reduce your old-age pension.
The index adjustment is made automatically. You do not have to do anything.
Payment date
If banks are closed on the scheduled payment date, the payments are made on the nearest preceding banking day.
If you move abroad permanently, Kela can in certain situations continue to pay you old-age pension. Learn more about the countries in which you can receive an old-age pension from Kela.
If you live abroad and receive an old-age pension, send a written notification of your foreign bank details (IBAN account number and BIC code) to Kela's Centre for International Affairs. Without the bank account details, the pension cannot be paid.
Effect of other pensions and income on the old-age pension
Nearly all earnings-related pensions and other pensions that are paid on a continuous basis affect the amount of the old-age pension available from Kela. If you do not yet receive an earnings-related pension, the amount of earnings-related pension you have accrued by the time you reach the lowest old-age retirement age will affect the amount of the old-age pension.
Any pensions or benefits you receive from abroad will usually also reduce the old-age pension.
Your other pensions will be taken into account according to their amount before taxes.
The old-age pension available from Kela is reduced by
- earnings-related pensions, such as old-age, disability and survivors’ pensions
- voluntary supplementary pensions and survivors’ pensions that are based on private- or public-sector employment, self-employment or the holding of a public office
- occupational accident pensions, survivors’ pensions, life annuities and assistance pensions payable on the basis of statutory worker’s compensation insurance
- rehabilitation allowance paid on the basis of statutory worker’s compensation insurance
- compensation for loss of income paid on the basis of statutory motor liability insurance
- disability or survivors’ pension paid on the basis of statutory motor liability insurance
- assistance pension paid under the Military Injuries Act
- basic amount of the farm closure compensation
- pensions and compensations from foreign sources.
Rehabilitation allowance and compensation for loss of income do not reduce the old-age pension until one year after the accident or traffic injury.
The amount of the old-age pension is not affected for example by the following
- wage income, capital income or assets
- spouse’s income or assets
- earnings-related pensions accrued from studying or child care
- a deferral bonus to an earnings-related pension
- one-off increases in disability pensions
- earnings-related pensions accrued from work you have done between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2016 while 63 years of age or older.
Working while on a pension does not affect the amount of the old-age pension. However, you accrue earnings-related pension for any work you do. When the pension you have accrued by working is added to the earnings-related pension, the old-age pension available from Kela will be reduced.
Old-age pension in different life situations
You can choose to postpone the start of the old-age pension. In certain situations, you can also take an old-age pension before the regular retirement age.
You do not have to apply for an old-age pension immediately when you turn 65. If you postpone your old-age pension to begin later than the beginning of the month following your 65th birthday, your pension will be increased
- by 0.6% if you are born before 1962
- by 0.4% if you were born in 1962 or later.
This is called the deferral bonus. It is calculated for each month by which you postpone the start of your old-age pension. There is no maximum limit to the amount by which your pension can be increased. However, the pension is not increased for those months for which you are not entitled to an old-age pension from Kela. You are not entitled to a pension if you, for instance, live abroad after having reached the age of 65 years.
If you retire on an earnings-related pension before you turn 65 and your pension is small, you can get an old-age pension from Kela before the regular retirement age. This is called an early old-age pension.
You can decide for yourself whether to apply for the pension immediately when you retire on an earnings-related pension or when you turn 65. If you decide to apply for a Kela old-age pension at 65, there will be no reduction for early retirement.
Early old-age pension is available starting from age 64 if you were born before 1962.
Taking the old-age pension early reduces its amount
The early old-age pension is permanently lower than the old-age pension that begins at the age of 65. The old-age pension is reduced by 0.4% for each month of early retirement.
If you start your pension immediately when you turn 64, your pension will be permanently 4.8% smaller than it would have been at 65. The old-age pension will not increase even after you turn 65.
Contact Kela if you want to know in advance how much your early old-age pension would be. Please note that if you have lived abroad for a long period of time, we will not be able to provide an exact estimate of your old-age pension.
If you wish to have Kela pay you an old-age pension before you begin to draw an earnings-related pension, your future earnings-related pension will reduce your Kela pension even though you do not receive it yet.
If you have been unemployed a long time and received basic unemployment allowance from Kela or earnings-related unemployment allowance from the unemployment fund, you can qualify for old-age pension slightly earlier on the basis of so-called additional days of unemployment allowance.
Old-age pensions awarded on the basis of the additional days are not reduced for early retirement. Learn more about the additional days of basic unemployment allowance.
If you were born before 1962, you can receive an old-age pension on the basis of the additional days at age 64.
You can choose whether to apply for an old-age pension at age 64 or later. If you choose not to apply at age 62, you can be paid unemployment allowance until the end of the calendar month in which you reach the age of 65 years.
If you apply for old-age pension on the basis of the additional days, you can draw the old-age pension from the beginning of the calendar month following your application. The pension cannot be granted retrospectively.
Persons who receive labour market subsidy cannot be granted an old-age pension on this basis because they are not entitled to unemployment allowance for additional days. The same is true of self-employed persons, who also are not entitled to unemployment allowance for additional days.
As an earnings-related pension, you can receive an old-age pension starting from the lowest retirement age in your own age group.
How to apply for an old-age pension
- Apply for an old-age pension in OmaKela if your earnings-related pension is less than the income limit for a Kela old-age pension or if you receive no earnings-related pension at all.
- If you do not know how much your earnings-related pension is, you can visit the website of your authorised pension provider (elakepalvelut.fi).
- Apply for earnings-related pension from your authorised pension provider. Go to the e-service of the pension provider (elakepalvelut.fi). Use your online banking user ID and password to log into the service.
- Take photographs of the supporting documents and send them in OmaKela.
- If you have lived outside Finland, enclose with your application the following document: Appendix U (Residence and employment abroad, ETK/Kela 7110) (pdf). List all the countries where you have lived, worked or studied. You may have a right to a pension from one or several of such countries.
- If you apply for an old-age pension on the basis of additional days of unemployment allowance, include with your application a certificate from the payer about the additional days.
- Visit OmaKela to see if your application has been processed, how much you will get and when your benefits will be paid. You can also see reminders about any documents that may be missing from your application. The decision notice will also be sent to your home address unless you have opted out of paper mail.
You can also complete and print out the application form ETK/Kela 7001e (pdf). You can use this application to apply for an old-age pension from both Kela and your authorised pension provider. Send the application and any supporting documents by mail. The address is Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
You can also contact Kela to file a verbal application for an old-age pension. To do so, call Kela's customer service number 020 634 2650.
Things to remember when applying for an old-age pension
You can apply for a Kela old-age pension retroactively for up to 6 months.
You can apply for an old-age pension from Kela separately or at the same time when applying for an old-age pension from your authorised pension provider.
For example, if you apply for earnings-related pension at age 64, you can also apply for an early old-age pension from Kela. However, the early old-age pension will be permanently smaller than if you had applied for it at 65. You can also apply for an old-age pension from Kela when you turn 65 even if you have retired on an earnings-related pension before that.
If Kela is paying you a disability pension, it will be converted automatically into an old-age pension from the beginning of the month following your 65th birthday, except if you have suspended the disability pension because you are working. In that case, file a separate application for old-age pension when you turn 65.
For information about how long the processing of an application usually takes, see the page titled Application processing times. Your application will take longer to process if you have lived or worked abroad.
If you have worked, studied or lived abroad, it will take longer to process your pension application. Kela must verify all the periods in which you have lived or worked in another country.
If there is a long wait to receive a pension decision from another EU or EEA country or from Switzerland, you can get a temporary decision on a Kela pension.
Contact Kela’s Centre for International Affairs if you have questions about how a period of foreign residence affects your pensions.
If interacting with Kela is challenging for you personally, you can authorise another person to do so on your behalf.
It is possible to handle another person’s affairs by phone, by mail or by visiting a customer service point. There are some limitations to handling another person's affairs online.
Report changes that affect your old-age pension
If you are paid an old-age pension or early old-age pension, you must notify Kela of the following types of changes:
- if you begin to receive another pension, compensation or survivors' pension from Finland or from abroad or if their amount changes for a reason other than indexation
- if a pension you have received is discontinued
- if there is a change in your family circumstances
- you move abroad or stay abroad for more than 3 months.
Report changes in OmaKela.
You can also report changes by calling Kela's customer service number 020 634 2650.
Alternatively, you can complete the form E 285e (pdf) and mail it to KELA, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
What else is going on in your life?
Are you short of money?
If you receive little income from your pensions, you may have a right to a guarantee pension. You may also wish to check if you have a right to social assistance.
Do you need assistance with your housing costs?
You are eligible for the housing allowance for pensioners if you are living permanently in Finland, you have a low income and you receive a pension which entitles you to the housing allowance for pensioners.
Do you have medical or medicine expenses?
You can receive reimbursement for the costs of private healthcare services and prescription medicines prescribed for an illness. Read about what kinds of expenses can be reimbursed.
Do you need everyday support because of a disability or severe illness?
The care allowance for pensioners is intended as support for pensioners with a disability or chronic illness in their daily life, functional ability, rehabilitation and care.