Topical issues

The gradual increase of the retirement age agreed on in the 2017 pension reform has considerably raised the employment rate of those approaching their retirement age. At the same time, unemployment and disability retirement have also clearly increased, as revealed by a new study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

The assets of the Finnish earnings-related pension system shrunk in 2022 – investment losses accounted for 14.8 billion euros. Since the dependency ratio is getting increasingly weaker over time as the population ages, improving investment returns is essential. The options include, among others, adjusting the risk level of private sector pension investments by relaxing the related regulations.

In Finland, employers’ views on the appropriate retirement age, that is, their retirement age norms, are higher than in European countries on average. Overall, employers have higher retirement age norms than employees in most countries. This is evident in a fresh study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

The Pro Gradu Award of the Finnish Centre for Pensions has been granted this year to Master of Business Administration Ozan Yanar. In his master’s thesis, he has examined the 2011 guarantee pension reform. Each year, the Finnish Centre for Pensions grants a Pro Gradu Award to a distinguished master’s thesis.

Occupational class inequalities in physical functioning (PF) increased after old-age retirement and decreased after disability retirement. In a study by the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Centre for Pensions, we have reviewed for the first time how PF has developed after old-age and disability retirement.

The new Suomi.fi guide ‘Death of a close family member’ guides you through the difficult process step by step. The Finnish Centre for Pensions has contributed to the content of the guide. The Suomi.fi web service is provided by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

Last year, nearly 35,000 persons drew the partial old-age pension for the first time. This is more than ever before. A substantial number of well-off people chose to start drawing a partial old-age pension last year. As a rule, the pension is drawn at a 50-per-cent level, which translates into an average of 830 euros per month.

The average nominal return of the pension funds included in our comparison was more than eight per cent in the negative in 2022. The real return is even weaker since inflation pushed losses deeper in the red in all countries. The average real return was nearly –15 per cent. However, Finnish earnings-related pension investors performed above average.

The intended retirement age has increased in Finland at the same pace as the retirement age after the 2017 pension reform. In many other countries, retirement intentions have remained virtually unchanged despite pension reforms.

At the end of 2022, the Finnish Centre for Pensions issued instructions on when to apply for the A1 certificate for work abroad. Now we have specified the instructions for short conference and business trips.