Pension

 A new pensions system is presently being developed. You can read more at www.pensjonsreform.no

The present pension system in Norway

Old age pension

This is provided from the age of 67. The national insurance old age pension comprises a basic pension and a supplementary pension. Those who have a low or no supplementary pension will receive a special supplement.

Basic pension

This is based on the time during which the person has been a member of the Norwegian national insurance from the age of 16 to the end of the 66th year. This is called the insurance period (trygdetid). Insurance over 40 years provides a full basic pension.

Supplementary pension

This depends on how many years you have received an income from gainful employment (pensionable income) in Norway (points years) and according to what your earned income has been (points amount). One points year in Norway is counted as one year’s insurance period, see above under “Basic pension”.

Supplement for spouse and children

This can be awarded for supported spouse and children. These supplements are means tested, i.e. income-related.

You can find more information at www.nav.no.

Other pension arrangements

Most employees in Norway are associated with a occupational pension arrangement that provides an old age pension. You can get more information on this from your employer.

Disability pension

Persons who have earned the right to a pension in Norway may have the right to a disability pension from the national insurance when the ability to work has been decreased by at least 50 per cent as a result of long-term sickness, injury or defect. If a person has been gainfully employed, a disability pension will come into force after having been off sick for a year and after the person has undergone appropriate medical treatment and possible rehabilitation for the purpose of improving the ability to earn an income.

Pension to surviving spouse

A widow or a widower who has been married for at least 5 years or has had a child or children with the deceased can receive a survivor’s pension according to what the deceased had accumulated through national insurance in Norway.
A deduction from the pension is made for earned income that the survivor has or can be expected to receive. The deduction constitutes 40 per cent of the income above a non-deductible amount.

The pension to the surviving widow or widower is not limited by time but ceases if the surviving person remarries