Transfer your premium pension to your partner

Where to find the information about a pension entitlement transfer depends on whether you are transferring or receiving the transfer.

• If you are transferring premium pension entitlements you will receive this information by post only (your orange envelope). The orange envelope indicates the amount being transferred and states to whom this money is being transferred.
• If you are receiving a premium pension transfer, you will be able to see this information by post (in your orange envelope) and also on My Pages, under Account Transactions and My Pension Account.

To halt your transfer of pension entitlement, the Swedish Pensions Agency must receive your application no later than 30 April of the year in which the transfer is to commence.

• Fill out the form Notice of termination of a transfer of pension entitlement. This applies if you have an ongoing transfer.
• If you have specified the years during which the transfer is to apply, it will be stopped automatically at the end of that period.
• In conjunction with divorce, the transfer ceases automatically as of the year in which the marriage is dissolved.
• Should you pass away, the transfer will cease as of the year following your demise.
• Should the recipient of the pension entitlement pass away, the transfer will cease during year that the death occurs.

• You may only transfer premium pension entitlements you earn during the year in which you request the transfer and subsequent years. You can choose how long the transfer is to apply.
• You may only transfer premium pension entitlements you earn during the marriage or partnership.
• You may not transfer a portion of your annual premium pension entitlement. If you choose to transfer to a spouse, the entire annual premium pension entitlement is transferred.
• A premium pension that has already been earned cannot be transferred. You may only transfer premium pension entitlements that you earn during the year in which you request the transfer and subsequent years. You can choose how long the transfer is to apply.
• The transfer ceases automatically in the event of a divorce.
• You cannot retract a transfer. Money you have transferred to your spouse cannot be reversed.
• The transfer is carried out automatically in December every year when new pension entitlements are distributed to your premium pension account.

When the funds are transferred, your pension entitlement is reduced by 6 percent. This means the recipient receives 94 percent of your pension entitlement. If you transfer SEK 100 the recipient receives SEK 94. The difference is distributed among everyone else who has a premium pension – this is known as ‘inheritance gains’.

The transfer is usually carried out by a man to a woman. Since women, statistically speaking, are expected to live longer than men, the other pension savers must be compensated for their lost inheritance gains.

Example

A husband transfers his premium pension to his wife, which corresponds to a pension of SEK 1,000 a month for the rest of her life. The wife is expected to outlive the husband, which means this SEK 1,000 will be paid for a longer time than if the husband himself had withdrawn the funds as pension.

According to statistics, he would have passed away before she did, and the remaining pension would have been distributed to the remaining pension savers as inheritance gains. Since the wife, who is expected to live a long time, receives the money instead, all of the other pension savers lose out on any inheritance gains.

The inheritance gains system is essential to ensure that the pension will last the entire lifetime of those who live for a long time. 

If a high-income-earning man transfers his premium pension to his wife over 20 years, he would lose approximately SEK 1989 a month in premium pension for the rest of his life and the wife would gain about SEK 1870 a month in pension for the rest of her life.

The wife then receives an amount that is 6 percent lower. Since the wife is expected to live longer than the husband, she will receive benefits for a larger amount of years than her spouse.

Sample calculation

The sample calculations presented employ the Swedish Pension Agency’s rule of thumb for pension calculations. The recipient is presumed to retire at their target age and receive their first premium pension entitlement at around 30 years of age.

The target age for retirement pension is linked to the trend of the average lifespan in Sweden. For those born in 1992 in corresponds with a pension age of 69.