Pension

With mutual pension savings, along with those of your employer, you earn the right to lifelong pension benefits making it an important financial basis for your retirement years. The pension fund builds on social insurance system that ensures a lifelong pension and protects its‘ fund members and their families from loss of income because of disability. You also earn the right for your spouse to receive a spouse ‘s pension upon your death and for you children to receive child‘s pension (children under the age of 18) should your capacity for work be significantly reduced or upon your death. Between the ages of 16 and 70, fund members paying 15,5% premiums which is divided into 4% of the members own contribution and 11,5% of the employer's contribution. Benefits you receive reflect your contribution to Birta throughout your working life.

Birta is divided into three divisions, a mutual pension division, a private pension division and specified personal pension division. Contributing to a mutual pension fund is mandatory for those earning wages in Iceland. Contributions to private pension savings and specified personal pension are voluntary.

By contributing you earn a right to guaranteed lifelong pension payments. For Birta the general retirement age is 67 years. Fund members can choose to start receiving pension benefits earlier or later. If you choose to start receiving the benefits earlier than 67, the monthly payments will be proportionally lower, but by choosing to receive the benefits later, your monthly payments increase proportionally. Fund members may be entitled to a retirement pension from more than one pension fund. It is usually sufficient to apply for retirement pension payment from the pension fund member paid into before retiring. The pension application will then be forwarded to other pension funds if requested.

Pension Application process

An application must be submitted to Birta no later than the 20th of the month members wish to begin receiving pension payments. We strongly recommend applying with an electronic ID, but the application is only available in Icelandic. If you need help filling out the application, please contact our experts or send an email at birta@birta.is If you do not have an electronic ID or you can not submit the application electronically you can access the application at the bottom of the page.

Your Birta membership might earn you the right to a disability pension should you experience a loss of income due to a reduction in your capacity to work. A fund member is entitled to a disability pension from the fund if his/her working capacity is reduced by at least 50% and income is reduced accordingly. Disability pension is based on the right to a lifelong pension.

The right to a disability pension is limited for the first three years paid into the pension fund, therefore we advise younger fund members to purchase additional protection or insurance.

Application process

We strongly recommend applying with an electronic ID, but the application is only available in Icelandic. If you need help filling out the application, please contact our experts. If you do not have an electronic ID or you can not submit the application electronically, you can access the application at the bottom of the page.

If a fund member passes away, surviving spouse earns the right of pension if certain conditions are meet. The right to a spouse pension is based on a marriage or cohabitation to a fund member for at least two years before the member passes away.

If a fund member passes away under the age of 67 in addition to the right of spouse and child’s pension the family may also be paid one-time payment of family pension.

A spouse’s pension generally amounts to 50% of fund members’ right.

Application process

We strongly recommend applying with an electronic ID, but the application is only available in Icelandic. If you need help filling out the application, please contact our experts. If you do not have an electronic ID or you can not submit the application electronically you can access the application at the bottom of the page.

If a fund member passes away or becomes unable to work, his/her children under the age of 18 may be entitled to a child pension.

To earn the right to a child’s pension, fund members must have paid to Birta Pension Fund for at least 24 of the last 36 months before he/she passed away or experienced a loss of income due to a reduction in capacity to work.

Application process

We strongly recommend applying with an electronic ID, but the application is only available in Icelandic. If you need help filling out the application, please contact our experts. If you do not have an electronic ID or you can not submit the application electronically, you can access the application at the bottom of the page.