Flexible partial old-age pension
The partial old-age pension allows you to take out part of your accrued earnings-related pension before you retire on a full old-age pension. The partial old-age pension is paid only from the earnings-related pension system. It is not a national pension.
If you start drawing a partial old-age pension before you reach your retirement age, your full old-age pension will be reduced permanently. You can choose to receive 25% or 50% of your accrued earnings-related pension.
You can qualify for a partial old-age pension once you reach the minimum qualifying age for your age group. You can apply for the partial old-age pension to begin as soon as you have reached the minimum qualifying age, or later. There is no upper age limit for applying for the pension. If you were born in 1964, the minimum qualifying age is 62 years. If you were born in 1965 or later, you can take out the partial old-age pension no earlier than three years before you reach your own minimum retirement age for the full old-age pension.
Check your qualifying age using the retirement age calculator below.
Check your retirement age
Select your year and month of birth. The calculator will tell you when you can retire.
Working and partial old-age pension
The partial old-age pension allows you the freedom to decide how much you work while drawing the benefit. You can continue working as much as you like or stop working altogether. You earn new pension as usual for your work while you draw a partial old-age pension.
You don’t need to inform your employer if you decide to take out a partial old-age pension. If you wish to change your working hours, agree on this with your employer. You don’t have to inform your pension provider of changes to your working hours since it doesn’t affect your pension being granted. If you decide to stop working completely, resign from your job in the regular manner.
If you are self-employed and continue working in your own business while receiving a partial old-age pension, you must have valid YEL insurance. If you make changes to your work input as a self-employed person when you draw a partial old-age pension, notify your earnings-related pension provider of these changes.
When can you not be granted a partial old-age pension?
You cannot get a partial old-age pension if
- you get another earnings-related pension from Finland based on your work,
- you receive the farmer’s early retirement age, or
- your disability pension is dormant because you are working.
How does the partial old-age pension affect your full old-age pension?
If you take out a partial old-age pension before you reach your minimum retirement age, your full old-age pension will be reduced permanently. This reduction is called a reduction for early retirement.
The reduction is 0.4 per cent for each month that you take out your pension early. This means a reduction of 4.8 per cent per year. The reduction is permanent.
If you take out a partial old-age pension after you have reached your minimum retirement age, an increment for late retirement is added to your pension. The increment for late retirement is 0.4% for each month that you defer retirement.
If you take out 50% of your accrued earnings-related pension, your future full old-age pension will be reduced more than if you take out a partial old-age pension that is 25% of your accrued pension. This is because the reduction for early retirement is applied to a larger part of your full old-age pension.
If you decide to draw 25 per cent of your pension, you can later increase it to 50 per cent. If you take out 50% to start with, you cannot later reduce the share to 25%.
Example
You have accrued a monthly earnings-related pension of €2,000. You take out 50% of it three years before you reach your minimum retirement age for the full old-age pension. Your monthly full old-age pension is permanently reduced by €144.
Before you apply for a partial old-age pension, contact
- your pension provider to find out the amount of your earnings-related pension, and
- Tax Administration to find out how your pension and earnings from work affect your tax rate.
Estimate your partial old-age pension
Use the calculator to estimate the amount of your partial old-age pension. The calculator will also show you how the partial old-age pension affects your future full old-age pension.
Sarah looks at her pension record and considers her pension options. Her pension record shows that, by the end of 2025, she has accrued a monthly earnings-related pension of €1,648.
Her minimum retirement age is 65 years. At 70, she no longer needs pension insurance.
Sarah was born on 15 February 1964, so she turns 62 in February 2026.
Her regular monthly income is €3,000.
Partial old-age pension
Sarah takes out a 50% partial old-age pension at age 62, that is, three years before she reaches her minimum retirement age.
Her monthly partial old-age pension is around €705 euros.
Sarah continues working part-time while drawing the partial old-age pension. She earns €1,500 per month for her work.
Amount of old-age pension in different situations
If Sarah retires on a full old-age pension at her minimum retirement age – at age 65 – she will get a monthly old-age pension of around €1,601.
If Sarah continues working for one year and retires on a full old-age pension at age 66, her monthly full old-age pension is around €1,666.
Were Sarah not to take out a partial old-age pension and continued working with a monthly wage of €3,000, she would get a monthly full old-age pension of around €1,783.
Note about the calculations
The calculations for Sarah are indicative. They don’t include the effects of indexes. The amounts are gross amounts, that is, before taxes.
How do you apply for a partial old-age pension?
You can apply for a partial old-age pension from the earnings-related pension scheme only. Fill out the online application form.
Get started by clicking the button “Log in to the pension application service”. You will be directed to your own pension provider’s application service.
Apply for the partial old-age pension about two weeks before you want the pension to start. Send in your application in time, because you cannot get the partial old-age pension in retrospect.
If your own pension provider doesn’t have an online application service, you can apply for your partial old-age pension by filling out a paper form or filling out the online form (2021e) and printing it out.
Partial old-age pension application form in Forms
Partial disability pension as an option
If your ability to work has become clearly weaker, discuss the situation with your physician and employer. It’s worth doing it before you apply for the partial old-age pension. Together, you can consider whether a partial disability pension might be a suitable option for you.
To get a partial disability pension, your ability to work must be reduced. Contrary to the partial old-age pension, which you can be granted without a reduced ability to work.
If your ability to work has been reduced but not enough to qualify for a partial disability pension, the partial old-age pension may be a viable option.
Read more about the (partial) disability pension
Apply for the full old-age pension separately
Your partial old-age pension will continue until
- you retire on a full old-age pension, or
- you are granted a disability pension.
If you are drawing a partial old-age pension, you must apply for your full old-age pension separately. You can apply for an old-age pension as of when you have reached your age group’s minimum retirement age for the old-age pension. Apply for the old-age pension using the application form for the old-age pension.
As a wage earner, your employment must end before your old-age pension can begin. This means that you must resign from your work before you start drawing your old-age pension. When you have retired on an old-age pension, you can start working in a new employment relationship. There is no limit to how much you can earn while you work in retirement.
If you are self-employed, you can apply for your old-age pension and continue your self-employment. In other words, you don’t have to end your business. Your obligation to take out insurance ends when your old-age pension starts. You can take out voluntary YEL pension insurance if you continue your self-employment while drawing your old-age pension.
The partial old-age pension is pension income for which you must pay personal income tax. You get a deduction from pension income for the partial old-age pension. This deduction reduces the amount of tax you must pay.
If you retire on a partial old-age pension and your income from work is reduced, your tax and contribution rates tend to decrease, as well. If your income from work remains unchanged and you recieve a partial old-age pension on top of that, your tax rate will increase.
If you continue working while receiving a partial old-age pension, you pay regular tax and contributions on your wage. When you receive both a wage and a pension, your tax and contribution rates are usually smaller than if your total income consisted of only a wage or only a pension.
For more information on the taxation of pensions and wage income, contact the Tax Administration.
The table below presents the net income and tax and contribution rates of a person receiving a partial old-age pension on different wage and pension levels in 2026. The last column of the table shows what the tax and contribution rates would be if the person were to receive only a wage and no partial old-age pension.
The person is assumed to be 62 years old. Deductions based on work and the average municipal tax rate (7.57%) have been taken into consideration in the calculation. The Church tax rate has been excluded from the calculation.
Combined effect of partial old-age pension and wage income in taxation in 2026
| Partial old-age pension | Wage while receiving a partial old-age pension | Total gross income | Net income | Tax and contribution rate | Tax and contribution rate of wage without partial old-age pension- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 | 0 | 400 | 400 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 400 | 500 | 900 | 859 | 4.6 | 8.2 |
| 400 | 1000 | 1400 | 1316 | 6.0 | 8.2 |
| 400 | 1500 | 1900 | 1751 | 7.9 | 9.4 |
| 400 | 2000 | 2400 | 2126 | 11.4 | 13.1 |
| 400 | 3000 | 3400 | 2680 | 21.2 | 20.7 |
| 400 | 4000 | 4400 | 3140 | 28.6 | 27.2 |
| 600 | 0 | 600 | 600 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 600 | 500 | 1100 | 1059 | 3.7 | 8.2 |
| 600 | 1000 | 1600 | 1511 | 5.5 | 8.2 |
| 600 | 1500 | 2100 | 1934 | 7.9 | 9.4 |
| 600 | 2000 | 2600 | 2255 | 13.3 | 13.1 |
| 600 | 3000 | 3600 | 2782 | 22.7 | 20.7 |
| 600 | 4000 | 4600 | 3256 | 29.2 | 27.2 |
| 800 | 0 | 800 | 800 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 800 | 500 | 1300 | 1259 | 3.2 | 8.2 |
| 800 | 1000 | 1800 | 1687 | 6.3 | 8.2 |
| 800 | 1500 | 2300 | 2073 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| 800 | 2000 | 2800 | 2376 | 15.1 | 13.1 |
| 800 | 3000 | 3800 | 2883 | 24.1 | 20.7 |
| 800 | 4000 | 4800 | 3370 | 29.8 | 27.2 |
| 1000 | 0 | 1000 | 1000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1000 | 500 | 1500 | 1449 | 3.4 | 8.2 |
| 1000 | 1000 | 2000 | 1814 | 9.3 | 8.2 |
| 1000 | 1500 | 2500 | 2207 | 11.7 | 9.4 |
| 1000 | 2000 | 3000 | 2506 | 16.5 | 13.1 |
| 1000 | 3000 | 4000 | 2978 | 25.6 | 20.7 |
| 1000 | 4000 | 5000 | 3476 | 30.5 | 27.2 |
| 1200 | 0 | 1200 | 1184 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| 1200 | 500 | 1700 | 1567 | 7.8 | 8.2 |
| 1200 | 1000 | 2200 | 1952 | 11.3 | 8.2 |
| 1200 | 1500 | 2700 | 2328 | 13.8 | 9.4 |
| 1200 | 2000 | 3200 | 2630 | 17.8 | 13.1 |
| 1200 | 3000 | 4200 | 3075 | 26.8 | 20.7 |
| 1200 | 4000 | 5200 | 3583 | 31.1 | 27.2 |
| 1400 | 0 | 1400 | 1303 | 6.9 | 0.0 |
| 1400 | 500 | 1900 | 1686 | 11.3 | 8.2 |
| 1400 | 1000 | 2400 | 2091 | 12.9 | 8.2 |
| 1400 | 1500 | 2900 | 2455 | 15.3 | 9.4 |
| 1400 | 2000 | 3400 | 2732 | 19.7 | 13.1 |
| 1400 | 3000 | 4400 | 3189 | 27.5 | 20.7 |
| 1400 | 4000 | 5400 | 3690 | 31.7 | 27.2 |
| 1600 | 0 | 1600 | 1421 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| 1600 | 500 | 2100 | 1821 | 13.3 | 8.2 |
| 1600 | 1000 | 2600 | 2212 | 14.9 | 8.2 |
| 1600 | 1500 | 3100 | 2585 | 16.6 | 9.4 |
| 1600 | 2000 | 3600 | 2834 | 21.3 | 13.1 |
| 1600 | 3000 | 4600 | 3304 | 28.2 | 20.7 |
| 1600 | 4000 | 5600 | 3797 | 32.2 | 27.2 |
The partial old-age pension replaced the part-time pension in connection with the 2017 pension reform.
The last part-time pensions were paid out in 2023.
Special situations
If your partial old-age pension has been reduced because you retired early and you are entitled to a national pension, the deduction for early retirement will be taken into account as income when your national pension is calculated.
This means that the national pension does not compensate for the deduction made to the partial old-age pension for early retirement if you have taken out the pension before your old-age retirement age.
Receiving the partial old-age pension does not affect the amount of your earnings-related unemployment allowance. The allowance is usually determined based on your employment history before becoming unemployed.
General social security benefit and partial old-age pension
The basic unemployment allowance and the labour market subsidy paid by Kela were replaced by a new general social security benefit as of 1 May 2026. The partial old-age pension is considered income when calculating the means-tested general social security benefit.
The means testing income limit for the general social security benefit is €311 per month (gross). This means that, if your capital income and other income exceed €311 per month, 50% of the amount exceeding the limit will be deducted from your general social security benefit. The partial old-age pension is considered such income.
If you consider applying for a partial old-age pension, contact Kela in advance to find out how the partial old-age pension would affect your general social security benefit. The effects of the benefit apply in particular to new applications. The transitional provision described below applies only to those who have already received a decision.
If you are already receiving a partial old-age pension and start receiving the general social security benefit on 1 May 2026 or later, your pension will be taken into account in the means testing that applies to the general social security benefit. This may reduce the amount of the general social security benefit you get. However, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has proposed a transitional provision for people who have received a decision on the partial old-age pension before 16 January 2026. The aim is to secure their livelihood, as the decisions were made without knowledge of the effects of the general social security benefit. The law is intended to take effect as soon as possible, or by autumn 2026 at the latest. It is also intenteded to apply retroactively from 1 May 2026.
Your partial old-age pension continues until you retire on a full old-age pension
Your partial old-age pension continues until you retire on a full old-age pension or are granted a disability pension. The partial old-age pension continues until you retire on a full old-age pension or are granted a disability pension. The partial old-age pension cannot be suspended or discontinued. However, you may cancel it within three months of the decision granting the pension.
Check with Kela how your sickness allowance is determined if you fall ill while you are on a partial old-age pension. Do this also if you are on a sickness allowance and consider applying for a partial old-age pension.
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