Specified personal pension savings - withdrawal

Application form

Specified personal pension savings

• Specified personal pension savings are the fund member's personal property and are inherited as provided for by the Inheritance Act.
• The rules which apply to specified personal pension savings differ in some respect from those of unrestricted personal pension savings. Specified personal savings are free for withdrawal from age 67. They can, however, be withdrawn up to five years earlier, in which case the payments must be distributed over the period which remains until the fund member reaches 67 years of age.
• Specified personal pension savings comprise a separate fund owned by the fund member. It cannot therefore confer the right to a lifelong pension; instead, the fund decreases with each withdrawal until it is eventually exhausted.
• Specified personal pension savings can be withdrawn in the case of disability, like unrestricted personal pension savings. However, specified personal pension savings do not give entitlement to disability, spouse's or child's pensions.

Rules on withdrawal of specified personal pension savings

Withdrawal age: A fund member may begin withdrawing specified personal pension savings at 62 years of age, in which case the payments must be distributed at least over the period which remains until the fund member reaches 67 years of age.

Derogations can be made from this withdrawal period if the balance on the account is less than ISK 1,478,386. This reference amount will change each year to reflect changes in the CPI from the base index of 513,0.

Withdrawal in the case of disability: If a rightholder becomes disabled and the fund's medical officer assesses the loss of work capacity suffered as 100%, the member is entitled to withdraw his/her specified personal pension savings in equal annual instalments over a period of seven years. If the percentage of disability is below 100% the annual payments will decrease in proportion to the decrease in disability and the withdrawal period is correspondingly lengthened. At the fund member's request, derogations can be made from this withdrawal period if the balance on the account is less than ISK 1,478,386. This reference amount will change each year to reflect changes in the CPI from the base index of 513.

Withdrawal following death of member: Upon the death of a member with a positive balance in his/her specified personal pension savings, this balance will be paid to the member's heirs in accordance with the rules of the Inheritance Act. If the fund member is not survived by a spouse or child, the balance will accrue to the member's estate (see the Act on Pension Funds etc., No. 129/1997, as subsequently amended).