Here you find the most common questions and answers. Contact us if needed.
You can find answers to questions about specific types of pensions on the respective pension type pages.
-
How can I follow the progress of my case?
When the application has been registrered in the system, we send out a general information letter/e-mail to the applicant, which contains e.g. the name and contact details of the pension specialist that is handling your case.This info message is only a sign that your application has been received. There is no need to respond to this general message unless you have specific questions. Salary information is automatically visible through Finnish registers, but in the case of old-age pension applications, the pension specialist may have to wait for the final salary before the actual calculation can be carried out. A waiting period may occur if the applicant has worked under the Finnish flag uptil retirement.The pension specialist will contact you if any specific information is missing.If you have Finnish bank codes, you can follow the progress of your application via our electronic Loki-service.
-
How is the pension taxed?
You will need a tax card for your pension, because pensions are taxed differently to pay.
Request a tax card in good time, as soon as you have received your pension decision. If you do not have a tax card, your pension will be subject to withholding of 40%.
See the instructions on ordering a tax card online
You can also order a tax card in other ways
- Call number 029 497 000.
- Fill in the paper form.
- Visit the Tax Office
-
When do I need to submit a new tax card for pension?
You have to provide Seafarers’ Pension Fund with you tax-card the first year your pension will be paid. The following years we’ll get your tax rate automatically from the Finnish Tax Administration. You’ll get the similar information regarding your tax rate. You don’t need to send that to us.
-
Payment of the pension
The Seafarers' Pension Fund pays your pension into the bank account you have specified on your application
The pension is paid monthly retroactively on the last business day of each month.
-
I'm retired - what happens at the turn of the year?
In the middle of January the Seafarers Pension Fund send out the turn-of-the-year letter to every person that receives a pension from us. The letter is sent by mail to our customers or if you have choosen our online service (Loki) then the letter will be available directly in the online service.
Pension recipients living aboard must return their residence reports by the deadline mentioned in the turn-of-the-year letter. If you have Finnish online banking credentials, you can submit the residence report through our online service.
-
Changing your pension bank account
In our Loki-online service, you can change the bank account into which we pay your pension.
If you do not have online banking codes required for logging in, you can use a free-form letter by mail to notify us of your new bank account number (IBAN and BIC/Swift-code). Sign the notification of a changed bank account. You can also send the signed notification via the "Secure mail" email encryption service, which can be found at the bottom of our website . We cannot change your bank account number over the phone or via email, because the notification of a changed bank account must contain the pensioner's signature.
-
Taking care of another person's affairs
Pension matters are confidential, so if someone else takes care of your matters for you, you must submit a power of attorney for that purpose or you must have a legal guardian. Disclosure of information to the next-of-kin, for example, also requires an authorisation or guardianship.
-
Why an index adjustment?
The earnings-related pension indexes ensure that the starting level of your pension is reasonable and that the purchasing power of the pension you are paid remains intact.
The earnings-related pension index and the wage coefficient protect earnings-related pensions.
The amount of the pension is annually confirmed at the beginning of January by the Ministry of social affairs and health.
-
I’m working as a sailor in an EU/EEA country – where am I insured?
If you are a sailor, you are covered by the social security laws of the country under which flag the vessel that you are working on is sailing. If you are working on a vessel that sails under the flag of another EU/EEA country, you are covered by the social security laws of that country, even if you live permanently in Finland.
If the vessel changes flags from Finnish to another foreign flag, this means that you lose your right to a possible lower earned retirement age according to the Seafarers’ Pension law (MEL).