Retirement

Steps

1. Before you leave, ask for your S1 form from the pension or health insurance fund that pays your pension.
2. Register your residence with your municipality as soon as you arrive (exact deadline: see EE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001): you obtain your personal identification code and your right of residence, then your identity card (see EE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
3. Have your S1 registered with the Tervisekassa: two copies, with the application form for registering an insured person from another EU country, at a fund office. It checks your address in the register and registers you; you are then treated like an Estonian pensioner, at the expense of the country that issued the S1.
4. Choose a family doctor (see EE-SANTE-TOUS-001).
5. Have your tax residence determined (form R) and check how the tax treaty treats your pension (see EE-IMPOTS-TOUS-001).
6. If you have worked in Estonia, submit your Estonian pension application to the Sotsiaalkindlustusamet (SKA, the Social Insurance Board) between 6 months before and 3 months after pension age: online on its portal, by digitally signed email, at the counter or by post.
7. If you have worked in several European countries, a single application is in principle enough, to the fund of your country of residence (or of the last country of work); it forwards it to the others. Start at least 6 months before the target date.

Documents

• Valid identity document.
• S1 form (or the former E121) in two copies, and the Tervisekassa registration form.
• For the Estonian pension: application form, and for periods before 1999 the work record book and career evidence (children, studies, military service).
• Evidence of periods of work in other European countries.
• Tax residence certificate or pension certificate for the tax authority, if requested.

Costs and timelines

• Pension age: 65 in 2026 (people born in 1961), 65 and 1 month in 2027, 65 and 3 months in 2028, 65 and 4 months in 2029. After that, it follows life expectancy at 65, with an increase of 3 months at most per year, set by the government two years in advance.
• Duration condition: 15 years of pension qualifying period (pensionistaaž); since 1999, it is counted from the social tax paid for you: 15 years at the minimum wage count as 15 years, half-time work at half the minimum wage counts for only half.
• Amounts (since 1 April 2026): average old-age pension €860 per month (+5.3%); national pension (rahvapension, for those without enough qualifying period who meet other conditions, see below) €414.10; base amount €399.24; value of a qualifying year €10.477.
• Indexation: every 1 April, according to a formula that weights 80% the increase in social tax revenue and 20% prices.
• SKA deadlines: decision within 30 days after the right opens when the file is complete; pensions paid on the 5th of each month.
• Tax (2026): 22% above €776 per month (€9,312 per year), exemption applied automatically by the SKA to the Estonian pension. An allowance of €200 is paid once a year, in October, to pensioners living alone (SKA): without an application, you must be of old-age pension age, live alone according to the population register and receive a net pension below €992 from 1 April to 30 September 2026 (threshold set each year; conditions taken from the Ministry of Social Affairs press release of 02/02/2026, which presents the draft regulation).
• Cost of the S1: none for you; care is reimbursed to Estonia by the country that issued the S1. The usual co-payment (specialist consultation €5 instead of €20 for pensioners) applies (see EE-SANTE-TOUS-001).

Common pitfalls

• Arriving without an S1. Without a registered S1, a retiree who does not work has no Estonian health insurance and would have to pay voluntary insurance (€3,264 a year in 2026, see EE-SANTE-TOUS-001).
• Believing that retirement exempts you from tax. If you are an Estonian tax resident, you declare your foreign pensions; the tax treaty decides who taxes (civil service pensions are often taxed by the country that pays them: check in your treaty).
• Forgetting the Estonian pension after a short career. Even a few years of work in Estonia can count: the SKA adds together European periods to open the right, and each country pays its share.
• Thinking the age of 65 is fixed. It rises from 2027; check your exact age on the SKA website.
• The second pillar. If you work in Estonia, a contribution of 2% (4% or 6% on request) may be withheld for the funded pension (II sammas, see EE-IMPOTS-TOUS-001); the default contribution is 2% of gross salary (4% or 6% on request) plus 4% paid by the State; the withholding obligation only concerns Estonian residents who are members, and membership is compulsory for people born in 1983 or after (Pensionikeskus; an exemption from contributing can be requested since 2021, exit rules to be checked with it).

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: right of residence through registering your residence; S1 for health; careers added together under European Regulation 883/2004.
• Swiss citizens: same residence rules (the PPA treats them like EU citizens); Switzerland also applies the European coordination regulations for health and pensions.
• British citizens (Scotland included): residence permit needed for a new arrival (see EE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). The Tervisekassa accepts the S1 of a British retiree. For adding periods of work in the United Kingdom to the Estonian pension, the SKA specifies the rules when you apply for your pension.
• All: the Estonian national pension (€414.10 per month since April 2026) is not a top-up for small pensions. According to the SKA, it is reserved for those who have reached pension age without enough qualifying years, have lived in Estonia for at least five years immediately before applying and receive no pension from another country. A retiree arriving with a foreign pension is therefore generally not entitled to it: ask the SKA what applies to you.