Günnar Högnäs decided to continue working as he had done for decades, as a librarian in the city of Abo, once he reached retirement age. Thanks to the delayed retirement He collects 400 euros more in pension and admits: “I have become a bit of a capitalist,” he jokes in an interview broadcast by the Yle network and collected by focus. “I had to retire at 65 years and 10 months but it was too early.”
He’s not the only one. Recently the Spanish journalist Olga Viza She recognized that thanks to active retirement she felt useful, in better spirits since “she receives half of the pension, she contributes to Social Security and the work continues.” In the Finnish model, the increase in the benefit responds both to a specific supplement for late retirement and to additional contributions derived from additional years worked.
This retiree’s working life began early, and he chained part-time jobs, with temporary contracts, until he found stability in the municipal library. He remained there for about 20 years until the end of 2025. “Unlike many of my colleagues, I was able to choose to prolong my activity thanks to two factors that have been decisive. The first of them is good health and the second, being able to have a permanent job.”
Furthermore, he is grateful because “this is not a real possibility for everyone.”
Now he has more free time but he stays active
Once he has started collecting his pension, Högnäs recognizes that he has more free time to dedicate to what he likes. He still goes to the library and takes books home, but he has also started writing.
He also goes to the gym every day, marking new rays. “Retiring does not mean entering the last stage of life, when you stop working you have to realize that there is life beyond.”
Among his challenges, joining a language academy to learn to speak English and Italian. “I have achieved the balance between economic incentives and quality of life.”
The population is getting older and putting pressure on pension systems
In Europe, the population is increasingly older. The standard of living increases and this, in the end, generates strong pressure on public pension systems. Many countries encourage workers to remain active with different incentives.
For example, in Germany. There, delaying retirement while maintaining employment and contributing means increasing the pension by around 0.5% per additional month of work. That is, at the end of the year the sum is 6%.
But experts do not see it clearly, since they agree that these incentives could also have a negative impact in the case of sectors where there is more physical exhaustion, in intermittent work careers or in those employees who have health problems.
Gunnar Högnäs acknowledges that thanks to the decision he made, he now receives 400 euros more in pension due to the incentives that exist in his country, Denmark.