What is the pension record?
The pension record is a list of all the work you have done that has been insured and for which earnings-related pension has accrued. The pension record of 2012 will, for the first time, include earnings data from the public sector as well as the private sector. This means that work for e.g. municipalities, the State and the Church will also be listed.
The record shows the names of your employers, your earnings from work and self-employment as well as the pension that has accrued by the end of 2011. It also shows pension that has accrued based on certain social benefits, such as periods of study and unsalaried periods.
You receive the record in order to be able to check and inform your employer of any deficiencies and errors in your employment information. Considering your future retirement, it is important that all information about your work is correct. Your pension provider calculates your earnings-related pension based on earnings data entered in the pension registers. Checking old information may be difficult and delay the processing of your pension application, if you do not retire until years or decades from now.
Who gets a pension record?
The pension record is given to every employee or self-employed person between 18 and 67 years old who is residing in Finland. Of those already retired, only part-time pensioners receive a pension record. All in all, pension providers will issue approximately 3.5 million pension records in 2012.
Why didn’t I get a pension record?
A pension record containing pension data from the private sector can be checked online already from the beginning of April, at the website of your own pension provider or at www.työeläke.fi. Pension data of the public sector can be viewed online starting autumn 2012 at the website of Keva at www.keva.fi. You can access the personal section of the web service by logging in with your internet banking codes.
You don’t have to wait for the printed version of the pension record to arrive. Pension providers all have their own schedules for posting the records, and they will be mailed between April and November. We will send the pension record to the address that is listed for you in the population register. Is your address up to date?
The pension providers no longer send you the pension record by mail if you have opted to receive the electronic record, or have looked at it online since March. Keva still sends a printed record to their customers.
We only mail the pension records to persons who are resident in Finland, not to addresses abroad.
If you are already receiving a pension on account of age,illness or unemployment, you will not be issued a pension record . If you are on part-time retirement, however, you will receive a pension record.
How is my pension determined when I have been working in the municipal sector, for the state and for a private employer?
According to all earnings-related pension acts, pension is based on earnings from work and years spent working. Depending on the pension act, there has been, and is, some variation in the pension calculation rules. More detailed information is provided by your own earnings-related pension provider and on the website www.työeläke.fi.
All pension that has accumulated from your different earnings from work are added up, and the pension you receive is the sum. The earnings-related pension provider that has insured your last gainful employment is generally the one who also approves and pays your whole earnings-related pension.
Which earnings-related pension provider will be sending me my pension record?
The pension record is sent by the pension insurer (pension provider, pension fund, company pension fund, the Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution or the Seafarer’s Pension Fund) where your gainful employment was insured by the end of 2011.
The pension records of employees in the municipal sector, the State or the Church can be viewed online. If you have been insured with Keva at the end of 2011, they will send you a pension record.
Does the earnings-related pension record contain information on work abroad?
The pension record may display an insurance number for work carried out in Sweden, by which you can clarify the accrued pension. There is no information on other pension accrued abroad. Additional information on your pension security from abroad is available from the Finnish Centre for Pensions, inquiries: 029 411 2818. Inquiries in Swedish, 029 411 2815.
Does the earnings-related pension record contain information on private pension insurance?
The pension record shows the statutory earnings-related pension insurance, in other words the one that accrues from work, and which the employer pays on your behalf to the earnings-related pension provider. Any voluntary pension insurance that you may have taken out and paid for yourself constitutes an agreement between you the individual and a private life insurance provider, which your statutory earnings-related pension provider is not aware of.
Is the size of my pension affected by which pension provider it is that pays my pension?
No. The size of the earnings-related pension is determined according to the pension acts. Farming entrepreneurs (MYEL), seafarers (MEL), the State (VaEL), the municipal sector (KuEL) and the Church (KiEL) have their own earnings-related pension providers and acts, differing somewhat from the pension acts of the self-employed (YEL) and the pension acts of employees in other private fields (TyEL). All earnings-related pension providers that manage TyEL and YEL insurance follow the same act, and the amount of the pension is not dependent on the party paying the pension.
My pension record contains information about my work until the end of 2011. Where is the information from this year? Can I find out somewhere?
The pension record only includes data up until the end of the previous calendar year. Data from the current year will show up in the register once the earnings-related pension providers have received it from the employers.
If you were to retire now, the data on your work that is needed for the pension decision is naturally clarified with your employer already at this stage.
What is the life expectancy coefficient? How is it calculated?
The number of old-age pensioners will be growing quickly in the next few years and the life expectancy of the population is expected to rise. The resulting increase in earnings-related costs is controlled by the life expectancy coefficient, the purpose of which is to steer some of the growth in life expectancy to the active working years.
The life expectancy coefficient came into force in 2009 and was implemented for the first time in 2010. The coefficient is determined separately for each age cohort at the age of 62. The coefficient is calculated based on the general life expectancy of the population.
In 2012 the coefficient is 0.98351 and decreases, by 1.649 per cent, the old-age pension of those born in 1950, old-age pension taken early and old-age pension starting at an earlier age.
The disability pension is decreased by the coefficient of the year during which disability began. The coefficient only decreases the pension earned during work, not the pension accrued during the projected pension period.
Example: If a person born in 1950 has accrued a pension of EUR 1,500 by the time the old-age pension is starting, his pension will amount to EUR 1,475.30 (EUR 1,500 x 0.98351).
In the first few years, the life expectancy coefficient will only decrease the pension slightly. The decrease in pension of those born in 1948, 1949 and 1950 can be countered by working for 1–3 more months after the 63rd birthday.
The pension of someone born in 1957 does not decrease if he continues to work for 10–11 months past having turned 63. It pays to continue to work, since the pension accrual rises to 4.5 per cent per year from the age of 63.
The life expectancy coefficient in different years
Year Year of birth Life expectancy coefficient Decrease in the pension %
2009 1947 1.00000 -
2010 1948 0.99170 0.83
2011 1949 0.98689 1.311
2012 1950 0.98351 1.649
There are errors or employment contracts missing from my pension record. What do I do?
If corrections need to be made to your information, please contact the pension provider who sent you the pension record. It is especially important to check the oldest information as soon as possible. Private-sector pension providers will, at your request, check employment contracts from the time period 2006–2011 that are missing or deficient. The process of correction becomes faster if you attach a work certificate and salary slip to your request for clarification.
If your request for clarification concerns information that is older, any missing information is corrected only if you enclose your work certificate, wage slip or other written document to the request. Please send your request for clarification to your own earnings-related pension provider.
Since the pension record is sent to all employees and self-employed persons residing in Finland, our advisory service might occasionally become overloaded. We will contact you when your clarification request proceeds to the processing phase.
There is no deadline for correcting employment relationships in the public sector.
What is meant by overall pension security?
The Finnish overall pension security consists of the earnings-related pension and the national pension and guarantee pension. Together they secure a basic income. The purpose of the earnings-related pension is to ensure that the level of consumption that was achieved during the working years is secured during retirement. The amount of the earnings-related pension depends on your earnings and number of working years.
The national pension secures an income when the earnings-related pension is less than EUR 1,257.96 per month for singles and EUR 1,120.46 for those who are married or co-habiting. If the total pension amounts to less than EUR 707.26, the guarantee pension is added.
National pension is paid out, like earnings-related pension, based on old age, disability, unemployment and on account of the death of the family provider. There are some differences in the conditions for receiving earnings-related pension and national pension. Additional information on the national and guarantee pensions is available from Kela (the Social Insurance Institution) at www.kela.fi or Tel +358 (0)20 692 202 (Pension matters).
How is pension applied for?
All earnings-related pensions must be applied for from the earnings-related pension provider with whom the last employment or self-employment has been arranged. Application forms are available from all earnings-related pension providers, the offices of the insurance companies, the Finnish Centre for Pensions, Kela and their respective websites. Old-age pension can also be applied for directly from the easy-to-use Työeläke.fi website, which all earnings-related pension providers and Kela link to.
There is a separate form for each pension type. A single pension application is enough for all pensions that start simultaneously. Additional information about how to apply for pension and any necessary attachments is available from your own earnings-related pension provider, their websites and www.työeläke.fi.
There is usually only one decision issued for the whole earnings-related pension that has been granted, and it is given by the earnings-related pension provider that has insured your last employment contract. This provider also pays the entire earnings-related pension. Kela provides a separate decision on national pension and the guarantee pension.
