Pension
Public Sector Pensions Act shall be applied to those individuals employed by universities who were born prior to January 1, 1980. The Employees Pensions Act (Työntekijän eläkelaki 395/2006) shall be applied to all other individuals employed by universities.
When should I retire?
The lowest possible year of retirement on an old-age pension is affected by one’s birthyear. Persons born in 1954 or earlier may retire once they reach the age of 63. The old-age pension of those born in 1955 or thereafter, the pensionable age will be raised by 3 months per each birth-year until the lowest possible age of an old-age pension is 65. If one is born in 1965 or after, one’s retirement age will be linked to life-expectancy.
Those retirement ages that were statutorily valid or individually selected prior to the pension reform (December 31, 2004) remained valid even after 2005. The personal retirement age of professors varies between 63 and 65 years of age. If one retires at the age of 63, before one’s personal retirement age, the accrued pension by year 1995 will be deducted.
For those born in 1957 and before, the retirement age is 68, for those born between 1958–1961, the retirement age is 69, and for those born in 1962 or after, the retirement age is 70 years of age. This means that the contractual employment relationship automatically ends and without notice of dismissal or notice period at the end of the calendar month during which the employee reaches the age of retirement, unless the employer and the employee both agree to continue the contract.
Pension on the basis of an Advanced Research Fellowship
Until 1997, senior scientists were awarded with specific grants (also known as Advanced Research Fellowships). In 1997, the system was replaced by a service relationship-based system in which senior scientists are considered to be in a service relationship for a background organisation, in other words, a university or research facility.
Even though the grant period for senior scientists does not, in itself, entitle the individual to statutory pension, the Ministry of Finance can, by application, grant dispensation. Upon applying for dispensation, the individual must prove that the inclusion of the scholarship period has a significant impact on the pension accrued prior to 1 January 2005.
Below you will find a letter template, which members can use to draft such a request to the Ministry of Finance.
The retiring members may continue as a member of the Finnish Union of University Professors. The membership fee for retired members is 120 euros per annum (y. 2023).
| Your retirement to the Finnish Union of University Professors: professoriliitto (at) professoriliitto.fi |