An early old age pension is a pension benefit paid from old age insurance intended to provide the insuree with an income before reaching their pensionable age.
The early old age pension can particularly help those who have lost their job just before reaching the pensionable age and are unlikely to find a new one or are unable to find a long-term job and have no other means of dealing with their economic situation.
From 15th May 2024, you are entitled to an early old age pension if
Your insurance contributions were paid by your employer on your behalf if you were in a regular employment relationship, or you paid them as a self-employed person, or you paid them voluntarily, or they were paid by the State in certain cases.
You must no longer be employed nor work as an entrepreneur or self-employed person. If you pay contributions to compulsory pension insurance, an early old age pension cannot be paid out. This means that an applicant will not be entitled to receive an early old age pension if they are compulsorily insured for a pension as an employee or self-employed pension at the date when the right to an early old age pension arises.
The required period of work for the relevant year, i.e. for persons born in the same year, is determined as the difference between the general pensionable age (not reduced for raising children) for the relevant year of birth and the number 23.
The required period of work will be gradually increased by two months depending on the year of birth of the insuree. Insurees born in the same year have the same required period of working history for the purpose of entitlement to an early old-age pension.
The required period of working history is determined as the difference between the general pensionable age for the relevant year of birth and the number 23.
Example:
The required duration of working history for insurees born in 1961, whose general pensionable age is 63 years and 2 months, is 40 years and 2 months.
General pensionable age - 23 = required period of working history
63 years and 2 m – 23 = 40 years and 2 m
Required period of working history, if the insuree's pensionable age is known:
| Year of birth | General pensionable age | Required period of working history |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 63 years and 2 m | 40 years and 2 m |
| 1962 | 63 years and 4 m | 40 years and 4 m |
| 1963 | 63 years and 6 m | 40 years and 6 m |
| 1964 | 63 years and 8 m | 40 years and 8 m |
| 1965 | 63 years and 10 m | 40 years and 10 m |
| 1966 | 64 years | 41 years |
For insured persons born after December 31, 1966, the pensionable age is currently unknown. It will be known five years before reaching the pensionable age and it will be determined by a measure of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic.
If the general pensionable age for a particular year is not yet known, for the purpose of determining the required period of working history, the last determined general pensionable age is increased by two months for each year for which the pensionable age is not known.
For example, for the purpose of determining the required period of working history for insurees born in 1968, the general pensionable age of 64 years and 4 months is used (the last known general pensionable age is for the year 1966 and is 64 years, so it is necessary to add 4 months for the two years whose pensionable age is unknown). The required period of working history for the year of birth in 1968 is 41 years and 4 months (64 years and 4 months - 23).
Example:
For the purposes of determining the required period of working history for insurees born in 1969, the general pensionable age of 64 years and 6 months is used. The last known general pensionable age is determined for the year 1966, namely 64 years. Thus, for the year 1969, it is necessary to add 6 months for three years whose pensionable age is not known. The required period of working history for insurees born in 1969 is 41 years and 6 months.
Assumed general pensionable age - 23 = required period of working history
64 years and 6 m – 23 = 41 years and 6 m.
Required period of working history if the insuree's pensionable age is not known:
| Year of birth | General pensionble age | Required period of working history |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 | 64 years and 2 m | 41 years and 2 m |
| 1968 | 64 years and 4 m | 41 years and 4 m |
| 1969 | 64 years and 6 m | 41 years and 6 m |
| 1970 | 64 years and 8 m | 41 years and 8 m |
| 1971 | 64 years and 10 m | 41 years and 10 m |
| 1972 | 65 years | 42 years |
| 1973 | 65 years and 2 m | 42 years and 2 m |
| 1974 | 65 years and 4 m | 42 years and 4 m |
| 1975 | 65 years and 6 m | 42 years and 6 m |
| 1976 | 65 years and 8 m | 42 years and 8 m |
| 1977 | 65 years and 10 m | 42 years and 10 m |
The period of working history for the purposes of assessing the eligibility for an early old-age pension is all the years of pension insurance that you have completed, including the insurance period that you may have completed abroad (abroad means another European Union Member State, the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Liechtenstein Principality and the Swiss Confederation, and countries with which the Slovak Republic has an international social security agreement), except for
The above periods continue to be the pension insurance period for the purpose of assessing whether the condition of the necessary period of 15 years is met, and also the pension insurance period for the purpose of determining the amount of an early old age pension.
If you have completed the required period of working history for your year of birth, the age requirement does not apply to you. Which means that if you also meet the other qualifying conditions, you will be entitled to an early old-age pension, even if you are more than two years away from reaching the pensionable age.
If you are not missing more than two years until reaching the pensionable age, for the purposes of pension entitlement, it is not required to meet the condition of completing the required period of working history, but it is necessary to complete at least 15 years of pension insurance.
To find out what your pensionable age is, the Pensionable Age Table (SK) can help you.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The amount of the subsistence minimum, and therefore also 1.6 times the minimum amount of early old age pension, varies each year. The subsistence minimum is defined as the socially recognised minimum income threshold for an individual, below which they are in a status of material need.
You can check if you have the Pillar 2 via email info.english@socpoist.sk. For verification, you will need your first name, surname and birth registration number or information about your employment, if applicable. You can also find out which pension management company you have a contract with.
Yes. For every 30 days you retire earlier than your pensionable age, your pension will be reduced by 0.5%.
This means that your pension will be reduced by 0.5% for every 30 days starting from the day you become entitled to it until you reach the pensionable age. Therefore, if you apply for an early old-age pension exactly two years before reaching the pensionable age, your pension benefit will be reduced by 12.5%; if a year before its completion, it will be reduced by 6.5%.
Yes. We recommend checking whether the Social insurance Agency has records of all your periods of employment and gross earnings (because the amount of your pension benefit depends on them).
To check which pension insurance periods you have recorded, please visit your Electronic Account of an Insuree (EUP). In the pension insurance section (Dôchodkové poistenie), you can check the individual periods of your pension insurance and thus verify whether all periods are registered here for your pension.
You can also check the record of pension insurance periods by requesting an The EUP Statement (Výpis z EUP) via:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Other documents may also be needed, depending on what is required in your case (an employee of the Social Insurance Agency branch can advise you).
Please, check your periods of employment and information about your social insurance via Electronic Account of an Insuree (EUP): Electronic Account of an Insuree.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: An insuree may submit an application for an early old age pension no more than twice per calendar year.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: In complex cases, the time limit may be extended by up to 60 days; however, the Social Insurance Agency will inform you about this in writing.
Your pension may also be paid in advance, but only if you meet the conditions for entitlement to an early old age pension; however, some facts that are necessary for determining the pension need to be ascertained before the decision on granting a pension is taken.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All necessary data are always collected during the specific pension entitlement procedure of the given insuree.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Pension benefit may also be paid to your spouse’s account if you request it and have the right to dispose of the account and your spouse consents to this.
Entitlement to an early old age pension arises at the earliest from the date of submitting the application for an early old age pension.
You must not be working at the time you apply for your pension, not even based on an agreement with levy relief with an income of up to EUR 200 per month. However, once you have been awarded an early old age pension, you can work for a wage of up to EUR 200 per month, provided that you apply the exemption from the payment of pension insurance contributions in the agreement. This means that you ask the employer for a levy relief. The form is available here: Notification and Declaration on Honour (Levy Relief – PENSIONERS) (SK).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: The income from such an agreement may not exceed EUR 2 400 in any calendar year, otherwise payment of your pension will be suspended.
For more information, see the PENSION INSURANCE – EARLY OLD AGE PENSION section.