Pension in Estonia: minimum and maximum pensions, length of service, accrual conditions and calculation rules

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

The size of the pension in Estonia has recently been of interest to many Russians. He althy curiosity appears when information about the plans of the Russian government to raise the retirement age appears. At the same time, it is no secret that the pensions themselves are still incredibly low. What about the neighboring republics that seceded from the collapse of the Soviet Union? In this article, we will tell you how things are in Estonia.

Pension system

Pension in Estonia consists of three parts. First, the part of the payment that is provided by the state consists of 20 percent of the tax. It is paid by the working population, as well as 13 percent, which the state pays extra for medical care.

Secondly, there is the concept of a mandatory fund. It receives 2 percent of the personal income of citizens and 4 percent from the state. This contribution may be voluntary for Estonians born before 1983of the year. But for all other citizens, the contribution is exclusively mandatory. He begins to be debited from the very first salary immediately after coming of age.

Thirdly, the pension in Estonia is also formed at the expense of an additional pension fund. Each citizen has the opportunity to determine it independently. Moreover, both the amount of the contribution itself and the frequency of payments made, the receipt of a payment holiday, the premature termination of the contract can change.

Such payments begin to be provided to an Estonian citizen when he turns 55 years old. There is no need to pay tax on this pension. But only on condition that the contributions do not exceed the amount of six thousand euros or 15 percent of income, not taking into account costs. If an indefinite contract is concluded between a citizen and an insurer, and the funds have been in the account for more than five years, then such a pension is not taxed at all.

At the same time, usually when making a contract with specific terms or when there is a need to withdraw the entire amount, a tax of ten percent is withheld.

Thus, today the pension in Estonia is formed from the main part, the length of service of the citizen, as well as insurance for those who retired since 1999.

Types of payments for pensioners

There are several types of pensions in this country.

State. It is accrued by age (with a mandatory length of service), by disability (in this case, without taking into account the length of service), in case of loss of the opportunity to receive income (such a pensionprovided to disabled citizens), early retirement (paid when working in a hazardous industry that does not allow working until the official retirement age), the so-called support pension (it is accrued five years after the age, if the citizen does not receive another type of accrual).
Professional pension. For this pension, contributions are made by the employer, both compulsorily and at will.
Voluntary. Each future recipient of pension benefits can contribute voluntarily if he cares about his well-being.

Retirement age

Unlike in Russia, Estonian men now retire at 63. For the representatives of the stronger sex, this is a constant value.

But in the case of women, everything is much more complicated. Retirement in Estonia for them directly depends on the year of birth. Those who were born in 1951 or earlier are eligible to retire at age 62. If a woman was born between 1951 and 1953, then she retires at 62 and a half years, and for those born after 1953, the retirement age is exactly the same as for men. For them, at the age of 63, retirement comes in Estonia. They can change their retirement age on their own.

Premature payments

In Estonia, there is such a thing as early retirement. Any citizen is allowed to enter it three years before hethe corresponding number of years for retirement to a well-deserved rest will be completed. The main condition that must be met for this is to work for a decade and a half.

The main difference of this type of pension is the loss of 0.4 percent of the total pension for each month taken ahead of schedule. That is, in just three years, a person risks losing 14.4 percent. They will be deducted from the total amount for life. If a citizen has taken a premature pension, it is no longer possible to refuse it.

Another feature of the Estonian pension system is the deferred pension. Its size will grow every month by 0.9 percent. This will happen until a person decides to end his labor activity.

At the same time, the authorities have already officially announced that the maximum retirement age in Estonia will continue to increase.

How much do older Estonians earn?

In order to understand what kind of pension in Estonia, you need to know what it is formed from. These are the three main ingredients.

Firstly, the base part, which is currently 162 euros (about 11,800 rubles). Secondly, this is the so-called share of experience, which is accepted for labor activity until the end of 1998. Thirdly, it is an insurance share. The length of service, as well as the presence of maternity leave, the time of receiving full-time education above the average, the passage of military service, temporary disability for a good reason, have a direct impact on this payment.

Such a payment in Estonia is calculated individually for each citizen. By the way, in addition to the above factors, the payment itself will also depend on how much tax has been paid by a citizen since 1999.

Recalculation of pensions by the government of this republic is carried out every year in the spring. At the same time, the existing pension is multiplied by a certain value, a fifth of which directly depends on the rise in prices over the past year. The rest (this is 4/5) is affected by the growth of the social tax. After this recalculation, from April 1, the pension is paid at the new rate.

Average standard of living for older Estonians

In order to visualize the size of the pension in Estonia, let's calculate how much the average citizen gets. The average pension here is 391 euros (about 28.5 thousand rubles). This is the average pension in Estonia. The final amount is strongly influenced by pre-retirement income, length of service and participation in government programs. Now you know how much a pension is in Estonia.

For example, if your work experience is 15 years, then you will receive 223 euros (about 16 thousand rubles), if you have worked twice as much, then 301 euros (about 22 thousand rubles), if you have worked for 40 years, you will receive 354 euros (almost 26 thousand rubles), and if you are over 44 years old, then your monthly pension will be 375 euros (about 27.5 thousand rubles).

At the same time, the annual increase in pensions is about five percent.

The minimum pension in Estonia is called the people's pension. It is due to any citizen of the country, even if he does not have any work experience. At the moment, the minimum pension in Estonia is 158 euros (this is around11.5 thousand rubles).

Calculation schemes

In Estonia, there are several schemes for calculating pensions. There is a retirement pension. In this case, the payment to the citizen is made from the funds that he has in his account, or from the capital of the current able-bodied population. This scheme is little used because it is not very relevant due to the fact that the population is constantly decreasing and there is a negative increase.

Another option is a defined contribution pension. In this case, it implies the appointment of a specific amount that the future pensioner systematically contributes to the fund (for example, a percentage of the income of a citizen), but such a scheme has practically no guarantees, being directly dependent on the duration of the scheme.

Finally, there is a scheme with a designated payout. It is based on a predetermined amount at retirement. At the same time, contributions directly depend on the result you expect, as well as the amount of your salary in the pre-retirement period and length of service.

As a result, your pension payments are largely dependent on the savings that you were able to make before reaching retirement age.

The situation for Russian citizens

For Russian citizens, the pension in Estonia is 312 euros (that's almost 23 thousand rubles).

The government often notes that it is not easy in the country to provide for pensioners. This is due to the fact that many citizens, and first of all, able-bodied youth, tend to go tomore economically developed European countries in order to receive higher salaries there. The outflow of young people in recent years is so great that now almost half of all citizens in the country are pensioners.

In this regard, it is expected that in the coming years the conditions for Russian pensioners may change. In particular, the possibility of raising the retirement age for Russian citizens to 74 is being discussed. At the same time, the minimum length of service for obtaining a pension will reach 44 years. True, the pension itself will be much higher - 396 euros (that's almost 29 thousand rubles).

Transferring a pension from Russia to Estonia

Russia and Estonia signed an agreement on mutual support for pensioners, so it is possible to make such a transfer. It is worth noting that in both countries the amount of the pension depends on your length of service, which you individually received on the territory of each of the states.

This means that if a person moves to Estonia from Russia at a time when he is already retired, then the country in which he accumulated retirement savings pays for him.

Thus, Estonian citizens in Russia lose the national part, but can claim local benefits.

It is worth noting the absence of a survivor's pension in Estonia, as well as the fact that when funds are credited to a bank account, there is a conversion from one currency to another. Because of this, part of the money will be lost.

Date received

In Estonia, pensions are issued on the 20th day of every second month in special institutions.

At the same time, everythingpensions are without exception subject to income tax. There are no exceptions for citizens who receive payments abroad.

Prospects

In the future, the Estonian authorities expect to significantly change the system. They expect to establish such payments so that pensioners do not need anything. To do this, it is proposed to establish a higher retirement income.

In particular, it is planned to abolish the ability to independently determine the time of retirement, freeze and make partial payments.

At the same time, the retirement age will be correlated with the predicted life expectancy, it is possible that it will reach 70 years. The changes will not affect current pensioners and savings shares.