Working during retirement

You can work while receiving old-age pension without your earnings affecting the amount of your current old-age pension. There are no income limits.

When you retire on old-age pension, your employment relationship must end before the start of your old-age pension. If you continue to work for the same employer when your old-age pension starts, your employment terms must change. A significant change has to take place in your tasks, pay or working hours. If you start an employment relationship with a new employer, the same requirement does not apply.

You can apply for pension that has accrued while you are drawing old-age pension at the earliest at the highest retirement age. Fill in a new old-age pension application in our online service.

Log in to Varma Online Service

You can work while receiving partial old-age pension without your earnings affecting the amount of your current old-age pension. There is no income limit or obligation to work.

You can apply for pension that has accrued while you are drawing partial old-age pension at the earliest at the lowest retirement age. Your employment contract must end in this case. Fill in a new old-age pension application in our online service.

Log in to Varma Online Service

You can work while drawing disability pension and years-of-service pension as long as you take into account your personal income limit. The work accrues pension, which needs to be applied for with an old-age pension application. Fill in an old-age pension application in our online service when your employment relationship ends and you have reached the pensionable age.

Your income limit depends on whether you receive disability pension or partial disability pension. You can check your income limit in your pension decision and our online service.

• When drawing disability pension, your earnings cannot be more than 40% of your earlier income level.
• When drawing partial disability pension, your earnings cannot be more than 60% of your earlier income level.
• You may, however, earn 976.59 euros per month (in 2024) without it affecting the payment of your pension. This earnings limit also always applies to Kela’s disability pension.
• If you are an entrepreneur, your confirmed YEL income cannot exceed the income limit stated in the decision (the monthly income limit multiplied by twelve).
• While collecting years-of-service pension, your earnings cannot exceed 976.59 euros per month (in 2024).

If you receive national pension or another benefit from Kela (e.g. housing allowance for pensioners), report your gainful employment to Kela. If you receive pension from abroad, contact the pension institution of the country in question.

Monitor your income on a monthly basis and let us know in good time if you exceed the income limit. If you know your income limit will be exceeded for the next three months, contact Varma so that we can suspend your pension for this period and we can avoid having to recover the pension. 

If you have any questions about suspending your pension and about income limits, please contact Varma. Log in to Varma Online Service, send a message in the Messages and documents service and select ‘Disability pension’ as the subject.

Log in to Varma online Service

If your health improves to the extent that you could try earning above your earnings limit, you can try working and leave your pension dormant without worrying about exceeding your earnings limit (regulation in effect until 31 Dec. 2024). In this case, your pension will not be terminated, but instead it will be dormant and your pension payments will be put on hold for at least three months and at most two years.

When you stop working or reduce the amount of your work such that your earnings fall below the limit, inform Varma of the reduction in your earnings and we will resume the payment of your pension at your request. If your earnings are reduced, you can notify us thereof in a free-form message in our online service.

If your pension has been left dormant and you have not been able to work such that your earnings exceed your earnings limit for at least three months, your pension will be paid retroactively starting from the date that it was placed in dormancy. Contact Varma.
If you continue working and exceeding your earnings limit for more than two years, your pension will stop completely.

If you work while retired, you will accrue more pension at the rate of 1.5 per cent until you reach your maximum pensionable age. Go to the “Amount of pension” page to read more about the accrual of pension.

Do this when you want to get the pension accrued by working during retirement paid to you:

1. Log in to Varma Online Service with your online banking credentials or mobile ID.
2. Go to the “Pension applications” page and select “Old-age pension application”.
3. Fill in the old-age pension application. If you indicate a new account number on your application, we will pay your entire pension to the new account. Under “Pension being applied for”, select as the pension start date the date when you want the payment of the pension accrued by working during retirement to start.

When you choose the electronic service in the application, you will receive your pension decision in Varma Online Service immediately after your pension application has been processed.

Log in to Varma Online Service to fill in the application for old-age pension

Read more about how to apply for a pension on the Apply for pension page.