Law tightening conditions for early retirement now in force

A law tightening the rules for early retirement came into force on October 1. People can no longer retire five years ahead of their scheduled retirement date, but only three, and only on condition that they have paid social insurance for 40 years. Financially the conditions for early retirement are less advantageous than they were. For instance, the merit part of the pension will not be indexed until the scheduled retirement date. Under the new law, which aims to reduce spending on pensions, regular pension increases will slow down for all pensioners and any extra increases stemming from high inflation will be made in the form of one-off contributions, rather than permanent pension hikes.