Life expectancy coefficient (elinaikakerroin)
The multiplier applied to your earnings-related pension when it starts: your cohort’s value and what it means in euros.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
For people born in 1964, the life expectancy coefficient (elinaikakerroin) is 0.94643, which trims old-age pensions starting in 2026 by roughly 5.4%. The value was set by ministerial decree and announced by the Finnish Centre for Pensions (Eläketurvakeskus, ETK) in November 2025. The mechanism is one multiplication: when your earnings-related pension (työeläke) begins, everything you have accrued is multiplied by your cohort’s coefficient, so €2,000 a month becomes €1,892.86. The idea is that a cohort expected to live longer receives the same total pension spread over more years. The coefficient has shrunk for almost every cohort since it was introduced: 3.7% for people born in 1955, 5.6% for 1961. You can offset it by working until your target retirement age. The coefficient for the 1965 cohort is still pending, and from 2027 the method itself changes: it will be calculated from the earliest retirement age instead of a fixed age of 62.
Effect of the life expectancy coefficient
Pension after the coefficient
€1,892.86
| Coefficient | 0.94643 |
| Reduction per month | €107.14 |
| Reduction in percent | 5.4 % |
Every confirmed coefficient
The table lists each confirmed value, what it does to a €2,000 monthly pension, and how many months beyond your earliest age you would need to work for the 0.4% monthly deferral increase to restore the uncut amount.
| Born | Coefficient | Cut | €2,000 after | Deferral that offsets it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | 0.96344 | 3.7% | €1,926.88 | 10 mo |
| 1956 | 0.96102 | 3.9% | €1,922.04 | 11 mo |
| 1957 | 0.95722 | 4.3% | €1,914.44 | 12 mo |
| 1958 | 0.95404 | 4.6% | €1,908.08 | 13 mo |
| 1959 | 0.94984 | 5.0% | €1,899.68 | 14 mo |
| 1960 | 0.94659 | 5.3% | €1,893.18 | 15 mo |
| 1961 | 0.94419 | 5.6% | €1,888.38 | 15 mo |
| 1962 | 0.94692 | 5.3% | €1,893.84 | 15 mo |
| 1963 | 0.94759 | 5.2% | €1,895.18 | 14 mo |
| 1964 | 0.94643 | 5.4% | €1,892.86 | 15 mo |
The deepest cut so far fell on the 1961 cohort at 5.6%. People born in 1962 and 1963 saw it ease slightly, then the 1964 value dipped again. These moves track mortality statistics, which is all the formula uses; nobody negotiates them.
The formula in plain terms
Under the Employees Pensions Act, the coefficient for 2018 to 2026 is set so that the capital value of a pension starting at 62 stays equal to its value when the coefficient was introduced. Capital value is computed from the five most recent years of mortality data. If people live longer, the same capital covers more years and the monthly payment shrinks by exactly the coefficient. ETK’s announcement for the 1964 cohort gives the worked example of €2,000 turning into €1,892.86.
It affects old-age pensions and certain other earnings-related pensions that start the same year. It does not touch the Kela national pension (kansaneläke) or guarantee pension (takuueläke); those are covered on national and guarantee pension.
What changes from 2027
From the cohort born in 1965, the earliest retirement age itself moves with life expectancy. Keeping the old formula would have penalised longer lives twice: once through a later retirement age and again through a smaller coefficient. The amended law therefore says that from 2027 the coefficient makes the capital value of a pension starting at the latest confirmed earliest retirement age equal to that of a pension converted with the 2026 coefficient and starting at 65.
Both figures for the 1965 cohort arrive this autumn: the age by the end of October 2026 and the coefficient by the end of November. Neither was published when this page was updated, so anything we show for 1965 on retirement age or here is an estimate.
What the cut looks like after tax
The gross cut does not reach your bank account in full, because a smaller pension also pays less tax. Living in Helsinki without church membership, a €2,000 gross pension leaves €1,704 a month after tax; after the 0.94643 coefficient the net figure is €1,627. The gross difference of €107 shrinks to €78 net, because the marginal tax on that slice of income is fairly high. Pension tax explains the pension income deduction behind these numbers.
| Without coefficient | With 0.94643 | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pension per month | €2,000 | €1,892.86 |
| Withholding rate | 15.0% | 14.5% |
| Net pension per month | €1,704 | €1,627 |
Comparing cohorts makes the trend concrete. The first cohort under the system, born in 1947, had a coefficient of exactly one. A person born in 1955 with €2,000 accrued received €1,926.88; a person born in 1964 with the same record receives €1,892.86, which is €34.02 a month less. The percentage is identical at every income level, so €1,000 accrued loses €53.57 and €3,000 loses €160.71.
One misunderstanding worth clearing up: the coefficient follows your birth year, not the year you retire. Someone born in 1961 who kept working and retires in 2026 still gets the 1961 value of 0.94419, not 0.94643. Retiring later never swaps your coefficient; it raises the pension through the deferral increase and extra accrual instead.
Using the target age to cancel the cut
The target retirement age is built around this number. Someone born in 1964 may retire at 65, but the official target is 15 months later. Each month of deferral adds 0.4% to the pension accrued at the earliest age, so the example pension reaches €2,006.43 a month at the target age, before counting any new accrual from salary. Deferring your pension works through the trade-off, including how long it takes to earn back the months you were not paid.
The coefficient is only one input. Your accrued amount comes from yearly pension accrual, and the pension calculator combines accrual, coefficient, deferral and tax in one estimate.