Early old-age pension
If you retire on an earnings-related pension before reaching the age of 65 years and your earnings-related pension is small, you can receive an early old-age pension from the national pension scheme. You can decide yourself whether to apply for the pension immediately when you retire on an earnings-related pension or at age 65. If you apply for the national pension when you reach the age of 65, no early retirement reduction will be made to the pension.
Early old-age pensions can be awarded to persons born before 1962 who have reached the age of 64 years.
The early old-age pension is permanently lower than the old-age pension that you would have received at age 65. Pension payments are reduced by 0.4% for each month they are brought forward.
If you start your pension immediately when you reach the age of 64 years, your pension will be 4.8% smaller than it would have been at 65. The pension will thus not increase even after you reach the age of 65 years.
In other words, your pension will continue to be paid as an early old-age pension even after you reach the age of 65.
Before retiring, you should find out how large your early old-age pension would be. Ask your pension provider for an assessment of the amount of your earnings-related pension. With the help of the assessment Kela can check if you would be granted a national pension.
If you take out both the national pension and your earnings-related pension early, your national pension will be calculated on the basis of the earnings-related pensions you would have got at the normal age of retirement. This will mean that your national pension will be smaller.