Retirement
At the end of one’s career, it is time to begin a well-earned retirement.
Retirement is more comfortable when you know what kind of things you need to take into account. When you retire, there are certain things you need to consider. It is essential to know your own pension amount, retirement age and to resign from your job.
Membership details of a retiring teacher
Remember to update your membership information when you retire, as information about retirement is not automatically updated in OAJ’s membership services.
Update your membership details
Retirement checklist
1. When there is less than a year until the start of the pension, check at least the following information in the service register: service times and registration of each service relationship. You can do it online or by phone at either Keva or Finnish Centre for Pensions.
2. Check the retirement age and pension amount from the pension fund administration.
3. Resign from the job. An informal notice is sufficient, for example "I am resigning to end my employment on July 31, 2025 in order to retire on August 1, 2025." The pension always starts at the beginning of the calendar month, so you should schedule your resignation at the end of the previous calendar month.
4. You can retire directly from the leave of absence, but as a rule not from the job alternation leave. Of course, you can continue working past retirement age by your own decision.
5. Submit the pension application to the pension provider two months before the pension starts. You can get the form, for example, from Keva.
6. When you have received a pension decision and you know your income for the beginning of the year, withholding and deductions, ask the tax authority to deliver a pension tax card to the pension payer before the first pension income.
7. If there were substantial changes in your earnings between 1995 and 2004, you can request a discretionary revision of your pension salary. Explain the matter informally as an attachment to your application.
8. If you have not received a pension decision about 2–3 weeks before the pension starts, contact the pension fund administration.
9. Before making a final decision, always contact the pension provider one more time. Make sure you've got things right.
Report your retirement to OAJ's member service. At the same time, you can become a member of OSJ, the Retired Teachers in Finland.
>> Report to member service
>> Become a member of OSJ
10. OAJ's insurance ends when the pension starts. However, it's worth getting your insurance in order, because as a member of OSJ you get discounts on insurance premiums.
>>Insurance for senior teachers
Leave of absence before retirement
Taking a leave of absence right before retirement has no other effect than a reduction in the amount of the pension based on the reduction in annual earnings. You can transition from leave of absence directly to retirement, but it is not always possible to transition from job alternation leave to retirement.
Leave of absence does not always reduce the amount of the pension. This is due to duplication, where the earnings of the last, missing year of service are used as the earnings of the previous year, adjusted by a salary coefficient, i.e. the index of working age. This rule is not without exceptions either, so you should find out in advance from the pension institution the financial consequences of your leave of absence just before retirement.
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