Your earnings-related pension will be calculated based on all your earnings from both employment and self-employment. When you are self-employed, you will earn pension funds under the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act based on your confirmed annual income.
Your pension funds will grow by 1.5% of your confirmed annual income.
As a result of the 2017 pension reform, your pension funds will grow by 1.7 per cent between the years 2017-2025 if you are between the ages of 53 and 62.
In addition to your confirmed income, your pension funds will grow also for studies leading to a degree, for certain social security benefits, and for periods when you take care of your own children (at home) under the age of three.
Check your pension record to find out how much pension you have accrued so far.
If the earnings-related pension you have earned is small or you have earned no earnings-related pension, you may be granted a national pension or a guarantee pension.
| Example of how your pension funds grow | |
|---|---|
| Your confirmed income from self-employment | €28,000 |
| Accrual rate | 1.5% |
| Monthly amount of pension funds that your earn | €28,000 x 1.5% ÷ 12 = €35 |
If you keep your confirmed income at this level for 10 years, you will have earned a monthly pension of €350.
The earnings-related pension you have accrued will also be adjusted with the life expectancy coefficient determined for your age group.
The amount of your pension funds that you have earned from self-employment is based on your confirmed income throughout your period of self-employment. If you have raised or lowered your earnings-related pension contributions at any point during your self-employment, that will also be taken into account.
It is important that you keep your confirmed income on the correct level at all times. If you raise your confirmed income in the last years of your self-employment, it will not significantly affect the amount of your pension funds.
Insurance contributions
The higher contributions you pay, the higher your pension will be.
The contribution will be collected based on your confirmed income stated in the insurance contract.
| Your pension contribution when you are self-employed | |
|---|---|
| If you are under 53 or over 63 | If you are between 53 and 62 |
| 24.10% | 25.60% |
You can deduct the contributions you pay in your taxation to their full amount. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health confirms the YEL contribution rate each year.
| Example of how much your contributions are and the pension funds you earn (in 2023) | |
|---|---|
| How much you would pay in contributions/year | |
| Your confirmed income from self-employment | €28,000 |
| Your contribution rate (you are under 53-years-old) | 24.10% |
| The amount you pay in pension contributions per year | €28,000 x 24.10% = €6,748 (ca €562/month) |
| How much pension you earn/month | |
| Your confirmed income from self-employment | €28,000 |
| Accrual rate | 1.50% |
| How much your pension funds will grow per month | €28,000 x 1.50% ÷ 12 = €35 |
| Your year of birth | 1967 |
| Your retirement age | 65 years and 5 months |
| Your expected time life expectancy after retirement | 21 years and 10 months (= 262 months) |
| The total amount of pension you would get | 262 months x 35 euros = €9,170 |
| With the above assumptions, the contributions you have paid (€6,748) will give you an old-age pension of €9,170 in total. The earnings-related pension you have accrued will also be adjusted with the life expectancy coefficient determined for your age group. Money value adjustments have not been taken into account in the example. Your accrued pension will be adjusted with the valid wage coefficient up to the time of your retirement and with the earnings-related pension index after you have retired. |
|
Reduction for newly self-employed
If you are a newly self-employed worker, you will receive a 22% discount on your YEL contribution for four years (48 months). If you stop being self-employed before the 48 months are up, you can use the remaining discount months later if you take up self-employment again.
Flexible contributions
You can make your future pension grow more thanks to flexible contributions. This means that, when you are doing well, you can temporarily raise your insurance contribution by 10-100%. When times are tough, you can temporarily reduce your contribution by XX-XX%. In that case, you will earn less in pension funds during that period.
You can pay higher contributions every year if you want, but the restrictions for reducing your contributions are stricter. You have to notify your pension provider of your changed contributions. The change is valid for one year at a time. Increasing or reducing your contributions does not affect your confirmed income, nor does it affect the benefits granted by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).
| Example of how you earn more pension when you increase your contribution | |
|---|---|
| Your confirmed annual income | €28,000 |
| Your contribution rate | 24.1% |
| Amount you pay in contributions each year | €28,000 x 24.1% = €6,748 |
| Amount you pay in increased contributions/year | €2,500 |
| Your total income from self-employment used when calculating your pension (following the increase in contributions) | (€6,748 +€2,500) ÷ 24.1% = €38,373 |
Interests may also slightly effect the result depending on at white time of year you pay the additional contribution. If you pay it at the beginning of the year, it results in a higher total income than if you increase your contributions with the same amount towards the end of the year.
| Example of how you earn less pension when you decrease your contribution | |
|---|---|
| Your confirmed annual income | €28,000 |
| Your contribution rate | 24.1% |
| Amount you pay in contributions each year | €28,000 x 24.1% = €6,748 |
| Amount that you decrease your annual contributions with (10% decrease] | €520 |
| Your total income from self-employment used when calculating your pension (following the decrease in contributions | (€6,748-€520) ÷ 24.1% = €25,842 |
If you need to raise your confirmed income permanently, contact your pension provider. Together, you can adjust your confirmed income to the correct level.
Use the pension calculator to estimate how much pension you will receive.
The pension is in the price level of the ongoing year.
Retirement age
Test how the age at which you retire affects your pension estimate.
This calculator will calculate the amount of your earnings-related pension. It doesn’t calculate your partial old-age pension or your disability or years-of-service pensions. If you are 55 or older this year, the calculator will also calculate the amount of your national and guarantee pensions if you qualify for them. You can estimate your pension using this calculator if you were born between 1954 and 2005.
The calculator will calculate your pension based on the wage you’ve entered and the laws that are valid in 2023. To get an estimation that is as close to the truth as possible, enter the amount of your accrued earnings-related pension that is stated on your pension record. Your final pension cannot be calculated until just before you retire.
If you are a wage earner, you will begin to accrue pension at age 17. If you are self-employed, the age limit is 18. The calculator will calculate your earned pension as of age 17 and under the assumption that you will not retire early. The calculator will calculate your pension to the age of 70 at the most. After that, you no longer earn more pension.
The calculator calculates your pension under the assumption that the earned pension you have entered has been adjusted with the life expectancy coefficient and does not include an increment for late retirement. If you have already reached your retirement age, the pension you have earned may include an increment for late retirement.
If you can retire during the ongoing year, you can estimate not only the amount of your starting old-age pension but also the amount of your index-adjusted pension amount for next year. You can see the index-adjusted amount for next year when you select “Assessment of index effect (nominal price level)” and your selected time of retirement is in the ongoing year. By changing your age at retirement, you can compare your index-adjusted pension for next year with the pension amount you would get were you to retire next year.
Calculator’s assumptions on wage and price development as well as extended life expectancy
You can select between two different future general wage developments in this calculator. The option in which the wage level remains unchanged corresponds to the pension record’s baseline projection of your pension. The option in which the wage level grows corresponds to the Finnish Centre for Pensions’ baseline assumption in its long-term projection.
If your pension can start during the ongoing year, you can also select to have the pension amount presented at a nominal level in addition to the price level of the ongoing year. In the alternative with the nominal price level, the projected price development corresponds to the baseline projection of the long-term projection of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
According to the baseline assumption, the earnings level grows by 1.2 per cent and the consumer price index by 2.0 per cent per year real term. The near-future economic outlook has been taken more closely into account in the calculator. The wage coefficient that your pension is adjusted with to the level of the year in which your pension begins is calculated based on the general wage and price development. Long-term, the real-term annual development is around 1.0%.
The calculator assumes that your earnings grow each year in line with the wage coefficient. That is why your earnings grow slightly less than the average wages of wage earners since the wage coefficient takes into account 80% of the general growth in earnings.
The calculator presents your assumed pension amount in current prices. The euro amount thus reflects the effect of the wage coefficient adjustment and the growth of your own earnings on your pensions’ purchasing power. If you reach your retirement age during the ongoing year, you can assess your pension also at a nominal price level. In that case, the assessment includes the impact of the projected price development.
The extended life expectancy that affects the projected retirement ages and life expectancy coefficient are based on the population forecast of Statistics Finland.
The assumptions used by the calculator regarding the life expectancy coefficient, the retirement age and the general earnings and price development are listed in this excel file.
Retirement age
Each birth year group has its own retirement age. The retirement age for those born in 1965 and later is based on the currently estimated life expectancy. The projection is based on Statistics Finland’s population forecast for 2021. Read more about how the retirement ages are determined
Earning a pension and age at when your insurance obligation ends
Your earnings-related pension pot grows by 1.5 per cent of your annual earnings. If you are between 53 and 62 years old, your pension pot will grow by 1.7% of your annual gross wages between the years 2017 and 2025. If you retire late (after you have reached your retirement age), your pension will be increased by an increment for late retirement (0.4% for each month that you retire late).
The age when you stop paying pension insurance and your pension pot no longer grows will rise from 68 to 69 (for those born between 1958 and 1961) and 70 (for those born in 1962 and after).
Life expectancy coefficient
When you retire, your pension pot will be adjusted with the life expectancy coefficient, which depends on your year of birth. The life expectancy coefficient for your age group will be confirmed when you turn 62 years. If you are younger than that, it is an estimate. The estimate is based on Statistics Finland’s population forecast for 2021.
Wage coefficient
When the amount of your starting pension is calculated, your income from work and self-employment during your working life will be adjusted with the wage coefficient to the level of the year in which you retire. The wage coefficient ensures that the pension you have earned during your working life retains its value. The wage coefficient takes into account 80% of the changes the index of wage and salary earnings and 20% of the changes in the consumer price index.
Kela pensions
You can get a national or guarantee pension from Kela if you have no or only a small earnings-related pension. Every euro of earnings-related pension that you get will reduce your full national pension by 50 cents until there is no national pension left to pay. Your national pension depends on whether you live alone or with a spouse. You get a guarantee pension if your total pension is below the full amount of the guarantee pension. Apart from the earnings-related pension, the calculator does not take into account other pensions that may affect your national or guarantee pension.
All components of your earnings-related pension do not reduce your national pension. The increment for late retirement does not reduce your national pension, but the calculator takes all other components of your earnings-related pension into account as factors reducing your national pension.
In the national pension scheme, the retirement age is 65 years. As of those born in 1965, the retirement age will be linked to life expectancy, just as in the earnings-related pension scheme. The calculator counts the reduction for early retirement (0.4% per month that you take the pension early) for both the national and the guarantee pension if you retire before you reach the retirement age of the national pension. The calculator also calculates an increase for late retirement if you retire after reaching the retirement age of the national pension. If you were born before 1962, the increment for late retirement is 0.6% for each month that you postpone your retirement and 0.4% if you were born in 1962 or after.
The calculator calculates your Kela pension providing you have lived long enough in Finland to qualify for a full national pension (80% of the time between you turned 16 and when you retire).
In the future, the national and the guarantee pension are expected to develop in line with the price index. In real terms, the Kela pension is at the current level in the calculator.
For more information on the national pension and the guarantee pension, go to Kela’s website.
By year-end 2022, the different age groups had accrued a median pension as shown in the table below. This means that half of each age group had accrued a higher and half a lower pension than the figure shown in the table for the age group. The accrued median pension has been presented separately for men, women and the combined total.
The accrued pensions have been adjusted with the wage coefficient to the 2023 level and multiplied with the life expectancy coefficient for each birth year.
The data of the table can be used in the calculator, for example, as an estimate of the previously accrued pension. For a more detailed information on your own accrued pension, check your pension record.
Estimate of the accrued pension at year-end 2022, median, €/month
| Birth year | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 2003 | 13 | 11 | 12 |
| 2002 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| 2001 | 34 | 34 | 34 |
| 2000 | 50 | 52 | 51 |
| 1999 | 69 | 74 | 72 |
| 1998 | 92 | 96 | 94 |
| 1997 | 123 | 127 | 125 |
| 1996 | 154 | 156 | 155 |
| 1995 | 186 | 189 | 188 |
| 1994 | 224 | 223 | 223 |
| 1993 | 258 | 254 | 256 |
| 1992 | 295 | 284 | 289 |
| 1991 | 333 | 315 | 324 |
| 1990 | 374 | 345 | 357 |
| 1989 | 413 | 380 | 394 |
| 1988 | 456 | 417 | 433 |
| 1987 | 505 | 448 | 472 |
| 1986 | 550 | 484 | 511 |
| 1985 | 590 | 509 | 544 |
| 1984 | 634 | 533 | 574 |
| 1983 | 668 | 561 | 603 |
| 1982 | 698 | 583 | 630 |
| 1981 | 735 | 610 | 662 |
| 1980 | 791 | 640 | 702 |
| 1979 | 842 | 681 | 748 |
| 1978 | 900 | 715 | 791 |
| 1977 | 962 | 752 | 839 |
| 1976 | 1008 | 789 | 882 |
| 1975 | 1063 | 819 | 923 |
| 1974 | 1098 | 847 | 954 |
| 1973 | 1137 | 870 | 985 |
| 1972 | 1191 | 901 | 1025 |
| 1971 | 1232 | 939 | 1060 |
| 1970 | 1266 | 972 | 1095 |
| 1969 | 1317 | 1012 | 1140 |
| 1968 | 1376 | 1074 | 1203 |
| 1967 | 1428 | 1138 | 1261 |
| 1966 | 1482 | 1195 | 1318 |
| 1965 | 1549 | 1260 | 1380 |
| 1964 | 1613 | 1321 | 1443 |
| 1963 | 1678 | 1365 | 1493 |
| 1962 | 1750 | 1429 | 1561 |
| 1961 | 1801 | 1473 | 1604 |
| 1960 | 1853 | 1530 | 1657 |
| 1959 | 1889 | 1568 | 1694 |
The statistics includes data of persons who reside in Finland, are insured for an earnings-related pension and who have not retired. The accrued pension for each age group is based on the data for year-end 2021. It has been adjusted to the level at year-end 2022 according to each age group’s previous development.
If you can retire during the ongoing year, you can estimate not only the amount of your starting old-age pension but also the amount of your index-adjusted pension amount for next year.
For example, you can compare the amount of your pension if you retire in December 2023 or January 2024. For comparable results, select the nominal price level in all calculations.
- Calculate how much your monthly pension would be if it were to start in December 2023 and how much your index-adjusted pension that would start in January 2024 would be.
- Calculate how much your pension that would start in 2024 would be by selecting a higher age at retirement.
- Compare the results with each other.