Estonians who withdrew pension savings can rejoin the second pillar
Sunday 1st November 2026 on 20:30 in
Estonia
People who withdrew their savings from Estonia’s second pension pillar can apply to resume contributions from November 1, ERR reports. Experts recommend returning to the system, which allows people to save for retirement.
About a third of second-pillar savers withdrew their money after a pension reform five years ago opened the option to access the savings before retirement. Research cited by Tartu University behavioural economist Heidi Reinson found that distrust of the state, the financial sector and the media was a leading reason for leaving.
About a third of the withdrawn money went towards repaying loans, while nearly a fifth was spent immediately. Reinson said that a year after the money was paid out, about half of it was still sitting in current accounts. Some people who repaid consumer loans later took out loans again, she added.
Pension funds currently hold about 8 billion euros in assets. Without the withdrawals, the total would be about 11 billion euros, according to the report. Swedbank Investment Funds head Age Petter said people who left the money invested could have seen savings of just over 8,000 euros in 2021 grow to around 20,000 euros over the following five years.
Applications to resume contributions can be submitted from November 1. People who left in September 2021, the first large wave of departures, can begin making payments in May. The same applies to people who left in January or May 2022. The new rule requires a five-year gap between leaving the pillar and restarting contributions.
Investor Kristjan Liivamägi said that an employee earning a gross salary of 2,000 euros a month contributes about 40 euros to the second pillar, while the state adds about 80 euros from social tax. People who stay out of the pillar miss out on the state contribution, as well as tax benefits and investment returns.
Liivamägi estimated that a 45-year-old earning 2,000 euros a month could accumulate about 63,000 euros in the pillar over 20 years, assuming their salary did not increase and investments returned about 7 percent a year.