Topical issues

A recent study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions shows that the planned retirement age of a worker accurately predicts the actual retirement age. The worker’s work ability, the working conditions at the workplace and the employer’s attitudes also affect actual retirement.

Unemployment, disability and poor health weaken the transition to the labour market for many young people. Their earnings from work are low which often leads also to weaker pensions. This is revealed in a fresh doctoral dissertation.

The pension calculator has been supplemented with statistical data on accrued pensions. The table shows the median pension accrued so far for each birth year group.

The trust in the pension grew last year. If the financial sustainability of the pension system had to be improved, the most accepted measure would still be to raise the pension contributions. Only every third would accept rising retirement ages. The corona crisis has had only a slight impact on the opinions.

Earnings-related pension payments in 2019 amounted to 29 billion euros, up one billion from the year before. There were 44,500 new old-age pension retirees, marking a decrease of 9 per cent from 2018. The main reason for the drop in the number of new old-age retirees is the pension reform decision to progressively raise the retirement age.

We are pleased to announce the new Etk.fi website! The modernisation work has been steered by a variety of information needs, an extensive customer base and accessibility requirements. 

When sending a worker abroad to work, the employer may be confused about which social security contributions for the worker must be paid to Finland. The service of the Finnish Centre for Pensions helps to clarify this. The online service is now available also in Swedish and English.

This newly published collection of articles offers a versatile overall picture of the investment operations of the Finnish earnings-related pension sector. At the same time, bearing the future in mind, viewpoints relating to the solvency regulation and investment trends are considered in the publication.

Kiuru starts her work as Director of Legal Affairs and member of the Management Group at the Finnish Centre for Pensions as of the beginning of August. She currently holds the position of Director of Legal Affairs at Keva.

Nearly half of the 55–64-year-old Europeans were outside the labour market in the mid-1990s. Twenty years later, only about one third were in that position. In many countries, the share of early retirees has gone down, but the changes vary greatly from one country to another.