Prior to your retirement

Yes. You should avoid high-risk savings as you approach retirement age. A good rule of thumb is to not have more than one-quarter of your savings in shares when you retire.

The earliest you can start drawing your retirement pension, partly or fully, is from the age of 63. You can work at the same time as you draw your retirement pension.

You can draw your occupational pension when your pension agreement allows you to do so. If you have worked within several sectors, you may have more than one occupational pension.

As long as you work, you earn for the general pension. If you wait to draw a general pension, you will receive more in pension for each year you choose to postpone the pension withdrawal. If you continue to work, you will receive an additional basic deduction from the year you turn 67.

On the Swedish Tax Agency’s website, you can see how the tax is affected depending on how much pension you plan to withdraw. The cut-off point for 20% state income tax is at an annual income of SEK 643,100. If you have turned 66 at the beginning of the year, the cut-off point is SEK 733,200. The cut-off points refers to the income year 2025.

From the year you turn 67, you get an increased basic deduction  that reduces the tax on your pension payments. This applies to those born in 1957-1959. Those born in 1960 will receive the increased basic deduction from January of the year you turn 68.

When you want to start drawing your retirement pension you should contact the Swedish Pensions Agency and send in your application no later than three months before you want your first payment. Your insurance company(s) will automatically send you a pension application form to your home address a few months before you reach retirement age.

The Swedish Consumer Agency estimates that we are pensioners for approximately one-fifth of our lives. You can draw up a budget for your life as a pensioner on the Swedish Consumer Agency website. On the minPension website you can see your total pension and make calculations for different pension withdrawal rates.

It is possible to temporarily pause payments of your retirement pension and to restart payments later on. However, it is not possible to pause payments of your occupational pension and private pension insurance.

From January 2025, it is also possible to pause the payments during the first five payment years and to extend the payment period for the occupational pension. There is no mandatory requirement for pension companies to offer this, but for ITP the possibility shall apply no later than 2025-10-01 and for SAFLO no later than 2026-01-01.

Currently, there is no possibility to pause payments at VFF Pension, but we are reviewing the possibility of being able to do so in the future.

For the occupational pension and private pension, the shortest payment period is generally 5 years and payments may only start in the month after you turn 55. If payments end in the month you turn 65, the shortest period for your private pension payment is 3 years. The shortest payment period for VFF Pension’s occupational pensions is 5 years.

If you have insurance with repayment cover your beneficiaries will receive your money if you pass away before your entire pension has been paid to you. After payment has commenced, it is not possible to add or delete repayment protection. However, you may alter the sequence of your beneficiaries after payment has commenced. If you have a pension insurance without repayment cover it may be a good idea to draw this first, before you start drawing your pension insurance with repayment cover. If you do not have repayment protection, you get a higher pension.

Unemployment benefit is coordinated when you start drawing your retirement pension and occupational pension. This means that your unemployment benefit will be reduced by the amount that you receive in the form of your pension. However, there is no coordination with any private pension insurance you may have.

To be entitled to housing supplement, you must withdraw your entire public pension including the premium pension. It doesn’t matter if you rent or own your home.

On the Swedish Pensions Authority’s website, you can read more about housing supplement and elderly support and make calculations to see if you are entitled to housing supplement.

The retirement pension consists of two components, firstly the income, premium and supplementary pensions, which you have earned by working throughout your life and for which you have paid your own fees, and secondly (for some people) the guarantee pension that the state pays out.

Regardless of where you settle, you have the right to receive the part of the pension that you have earned yourself. The guarantee pension, which is a tax-financed basic protection for those who have had little or no work income during their life, on the other hand, cannot normally be taken with them if they move outside the EU.

All your other earned pensions, including Volvo Företagspension and other occupational pensions, will be paid to you regardless of which country you move to. If you do not have a substantial connection to Sweden, the tax is 25% (SINK) or lower if Sweden has an agreement with the country you are considering moving to. You apply for SINK tax at the Swedish Tax Agency.

Keep in mind that if you change to a new address abroad in the future, we will not receive information about this, but you must report your new address directly to us, either via email or regular letter.

Contact any of our insurance administrators by calling +46 (0)31-66 12 10. Also contact your other insurance providers.

Swedish Pensions Agency website: www.pensionsmyndigheten.se
minPension website: www.minpension.se
Consumer Association website: www.konsumentverket.se/for-konsument/