Types of national pension

The national pension benefits include old-age pensions and disability pensions. Your state of health and year of birth affect the payment of the national pension.

  • National pension = disability pension for persons aged 16–64 years:
    • For persons aged under 20 years the rehabilitation allowance for young persons takes precedence over a pension.
    • A rehabilitation subsidy often precedes an actual disability pension. The rehabilitation subsidy is a fixed-term disability pension.
  • National pension = old-age pension for long-term unemployed born before 1958
  • National pension =  early old-age pension:
    • For persons born before 1958 who have reached the age of 63 years
    • For persons born in 1958-1961 who have reached the age of 64 years
    • Persons born in 1962 or later can no longer be granted an early old-age pension.
  • National pension =  old-age pension:
    • For persons born before 1965 who have reached the age of 65 years
    • For persons born in 1965 or after the retirement age is linked to their age group in the earnings-related pension scheme.

Kela pays a guarantee pension if your earnings-related pension is small or if you have not accrued any earnings-related pension.

Kela can pay you a national pension if you are covered by the Finnish social security system and you satisfy the following conditions:

You can apply for a national pension if the other pensions and benefits you qualify for do not exceed the income limit for a national pension. However, other income or assets you may have does not affect the national pension that is paid as an old-age pension. Your spouse's/partner's income does also not affect the pension. However, your own earnings affect the national pension that is awarded as a disability pension.

You may be entitled to a Finnish national pension even if you live permanently outside Finland.

Further information