Sweden to stop pension to beneficiaries in Finland from Jan

Sweden has decided to discontinue payments of the guarantee pension (garantipension) to beneficiaries in Finland who were born in 1938 or later, said the Finnish national social insurance institution- Kela in a press release on Friday.

The effective date for the discontinuation is 1 January 2023. This change may impact the benefits that certain current garantipension recipients may get from Kela.

If anyone is entitled to a Swedish guarantee pension as of September 2022, he or she will be paid the pension until the end of this year.

Persons born in 1937 or earlier will continue to get a guarantee pension also after the turn of the year.

The decision to discontinue payments of the guarantee pension also does not apply to the guarantee pension paid on top of a spouse’s pension (garantipension till änkepension). That will continue to be paid as normal.

Occupational pensions paid by the Swedish Pensions Agency (Pensionsmyndigheten) or Swedish occupational pension providers will not be affected.

Occupational pensions, whether paid by the Swedish Pensions Agency (inkomstpension, premiepension, inkomstpensionstillägg, tilläggspension) or by occupational pension providers, will continue to be paid to recipients outside Sweden.

At the end of September, the Swedish Pensions Agency sent a letter to current recipients of a guarantee pension informing them of the discontinuation of the pension.

A formal decision about the discontinuation of the pension will be sent to recipients in December.

If anyone is born in 1938 and get a guarantee pension from Sweden, and also gets a guarantee pension or additional front-veteran’s supplement from Kela that is adjusted to his or her Swedish guarantee pension, the Kela benefits of the person must be reviewed.