Anyone who has worked in Sweden has the right to receive a Swedish general pension paid by the Swedish Pensions Agency, even if you do not live in Sweden.
However, the general pension consists of several parts – income pension, premium pension, supplementary pension and guarantee pension – and it is not certain that you will be able to keep all parts if you settle abroad.
For example, people living outside of Sweden cannot receive a guaranteed pension, which is a basic protection in the general pension that is for people who have had means, little or no work income during their life.
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“In a judgment from 7 December 2017, the EU Court of Justice has ruled that guaranteed pensions for those born in 1938 or later, and guaranteed pensions in the form of transition pensions, must be categorized as a minimum benefit according to EU regulations,” the Pensions Agency explains on its homepage and continues:
“Minimum benefits are only paid to those who live in the country where the benefit is granted. According to a temporary law in Sweden, guaranteed pension was previously paid to you who reside within the EU/EEA and Switzerland. The temporary law has ceased as of January 1, 2023 .”
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The pension will cease to be paid in January 2025
Last spring, it became clear that the Finnish equivalent of the Swedish guaranteed pension – called folk pension – will not be paid out to people living outside Finland for a long time.
In total, roughly 23,000 pensioners are affected, and around 18,000 of these live in Sweden.
– From January next year, they will not receive any Finnish national pension, it will cease to be paid out completely, has Ann-Sofie Kraft Nilsson at the Pensions Authority previously told The evening paper.
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She then continued:
– It is only their national pension that is affected. They keep their Finnish occupational pension and family pension, if they have one.
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“Gonna Be Tough”
Although no formal decision has yet been taken, the Finnish Folkpensionsanstalten (FPA), on behalf of the Finnish government, sent out information letters to the pensioners concerned earlier in November.
When News24 talking to Marja-Terttu Mäntylä at PRO Finnish in Västerås – one of several Finnish associations within the organization – she describes a concern for the affected pensioners in Sweden.
– I am concerned. Some of these old ladies and uncles, who in some cases are over 90 years old, can’t even afford toppings for a sandwich.
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What do you think the consequences of the stopped payment of the national pension could be?
– The consequence can be, for example, that it becomes more difficult to pay for medicine and care. Now they are also raising the ceiling in the high-cost protection for medicines, so it will be tough.
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