Statutory Earnings-Related Pension Scheme for Farmers

Mandatory insurance

• Farmers, fishermen, forest property owners and reindeer herders who have worked as such for at least four months and whose estimated annual confirmed earnings are above the minimum insurance limit.
• People with scholarships for at least four months.
• Insurance obligation ends at age 70 for persons born after 1961.¹

Voluntary insurance

• Abovementioned persons (excluding scholars) with earnings below the minimum insurance threshold.
• Abovementioned persons who receive an old age pension.

General finances

• Mainly tax-financed as state covers for any deficits incurred by the scheme. (In 2020, the state paid approximately 80% of the pension expenditure).
• Partly PAYG-financed from pension insurance contributions.

Contribution rates

• Fixed share of estimated income (24.1%; higher for persons aged 53 to 62 until the end of 2025² without contribution assessment ceiling, but with minimum insurance limit (EUR 3,979.49 in 2020); lower contribution rates apply to estimated annual incomes of up to EUR 44,000; lower rates do not affect the level of pension benefits.³
• Contribution base: calculated income based on the area of cultivated land or forest.
• Pension benefits for unpaid (non-contributory) periods are financed jointly by all pension providers.

Taxation of contribution payments

• Contributions are tax-deductible.

• The administration is centralised and run by the ‘Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution’.
• The fund is supervised by the ‘Financial Supervisory Authority’.
• Certain functions such as the coordination of pension claims from abroad and the coordination of the cooperation between pension providers are handled centrally by a statutory co-operation body, the ‘Finnish Centre for Pensions’.

• Same as for the statutory earnings-related pension scheme for private sector employees  (TyEL).

• Same as for the statutory earnings-related pension scheme for private sector employees (TyEL).