Skip to main content

Pension Investment Account

When you enter into a PIA agreement, you must choose how large a share of the pension assets that have been accumulated so far you would like to transfer to the PIA. Based on your decision, we will submit an application to Estonian Funded Pension Registry that will transfer the requested amount to your PIA.

If you submitted an application to transfer money from your current pension fund to the PIA no later than:

  • 30 November, the money will be received in the PIA on the working day following the 1st of January;
  • 31 March, the money will be received in the PIA on the working day following the 1st of May;
  • 31 July, the money will be received in the PIA on the 1st of September or the working day following it.

You can also decide at the time of entering into the PIA agreement whether you will also be directing your monthly 2% + 4% contributions to your II pension pillar to the PIA. If you choose this option, your next 2% + 4% contribution will be credited to your PIA by the end of the next month, at the latest.

Open your PIA agreement
View and cancel your previously submitted pension applications

No, you do not, because PIA is a bank account included in the II Pillar system. This means that payments made to PIA are not the same as withdrawing money from the II Pillar (in which case income tax of 22% would apply).

While using PIA, you can also continue making 2% + 4% payments to your II Pillar.

LHV cannot give you specific recommendations, so you have to make the investment decisions yourself.

We generally recommend the following two main principles.

  • Hedge risks: do not invest all your assets in the shares of one or two companies.
  • The longer you plan to keep your money invested, the higher risks you can generally afford. If you plan to invest for one or two years, it is worth only considering investments with a very low risk level.
    Read more

You may find ideas for building your portfolio from the LHV finance portal where we have posted articles about long-term investing.

We charge 1% of trade value as a commission for automatic purchases. This fee applies to both Baltic and foreign securities.

If, for instance, you purchase 100 euros’ worth of Apple shares, the commission you pay will be 1 euro (100 euros × 1%).

You can change your automatic investment options in the Internet Bank by selecting ‘Info and Settings’ → ‘Agreements’ → ‘Pension Investment Account’ → ‘Change’ → ‘Step 2’ → ‘Investment’.

If you have directed your monthly 2% + 4% pension contributions to the PIA, but you now want to change your choice, please submit a new selection application on the Internet Bank by selecting ‘Pension’ → ‘Manage the II Pillar Funds’ → ‘Forwarding Contributions’.

If you want to change the application for transferring money from the pension fund, please cancel your previous application on the Internet Bank by selecting ‘Pension’ → ‘History of Applications’. You can then submit a new change application on the Internet Bank by selecting ‘Pension’ → ‘Manage the II Pillar Funds’ → ‘Change of Units’.

Receiving the funds to your PIA is dependent on when you submitted the PIA application.


Exchange Application

Application submission dateDate of funds transfer
01.12-31.03Next business day following May 1
01.04-31.07September 1 (or the next business day if September 1 falls on a weekend)
01.08-30.11Next business day following January 1

If you are a new voluntary joiner (person born before 1 January 1983 who did not have the II pension pillar), the first contribution will arrive later.

Application submission dateDate of funds transfer
01.12-31.03from 1 September
01.04-31.07from 1 January
01.08-30.11from 1 May

*Deposits to PIA occur during business days only.


If you've directed your monthly pension payments to PIK, the money will be deposited to your PIA by the end of the next month the latest.

You can transfer available money from your PIA back to your pension fund at any time. One can only transfer money (in euros) from a PIA to a pension fund. Other assets should first be realized (e.g., securities sold and deposits closed), the money received can then be transferred back to the pension fund.

To make a transfer, please submit an exchange application via the Internet Bank of LHV, by selecting Pension → Pension Investment Account → Settings → Pension Exchange Application. In the application, specify the amount to be transferred and the name of the pension fund the units of which you would like to acquire using your PIA funds.

Once you confirm the application, the money will be transferred from your PIA to the selected pension fund during the next 3 business days at the latest. The submitted application cannot be withdrawn or modified.

If you have another PIA opened at a different bank, you may use the same pension exchange application to transfer the free funds from your LHV PIA to your other PIA located at another bank.

You can sell all securities bought for you PIA with automatic investment in the regular way. Enter the securities sales order in the internet bank section "Investing" → "Buy-sell" → "Stocks and index funds" or in the detail view of the security in the mobile app.

The price list of an ordinary transaction applies to the sales transaction.

In order to transfer money from the PIA to your current account, you need to submit the application on leaving the II pension pillar on the website of the Estonian Funded Pension Registry. At the earliest, you can expect to receive the money five months as of the date of submission of your application.

Period for submitting an application to withdraw moneyMoney will be paid out (at the latest)
From 1 December to 31 MarchOn 20 September
From 1 April to 31 JulyOn 20 January
From 1 August to 30 NovemberOn 20 May

If you terminate the II pension pillar agreement and withdraw the money, you will have to pay 22% income tax on the total amount withdrawn. Furthermore, you will not be able to join the II pillar again for the next ten years.
More information

If you do not want to leave the II pillar, you can transfer the money from the PIA, for example, back to the pension fund or to a PIA that you have opened with another bank. To this end, you need to prepare an ex change application where you can specify where you want to transfer the money in your PIA. It is possible to only transfer money (in euros) to another bank or pension fund, not shares or units.

No, you can only invest into stock exchange listed securities through PIA. But you can find real estate focused funds and companies also from exchange listed securities.

Yes, II pillar assets, including assets on your pension investment account, are inheritable.

No, you may not. The PIA may only receive money from the II pillar assets or monthly 2% + 4% pension pillar contributions.

When there is less than five years until the retirement pension age, you will have three options for receiving your funds:

  • One-time disbursement (starting from 01.01.2022)
    When choosing this option, you have the possibility of transferring a specified cash amount from your Pension Investment Account to your bank account. Disbursements can be partial or in-full. One-time disbursements can be done whenever you like. The money is paid out the next working day after submitting your disbursement application to the bank.
  • Fixed-term pensions from a pension fund
    With a fixed-term pension you will be paid periodically from the pension fund you have chosen. If you have available funds in your Pension Investment Account and you wish to purchase the units of a pension fund, submit an application to your bank for the exchange of pension funds. You will then be able to select the term and frequency of fixed-term pension payments either through your bank or on the Pensionikeskus.ee website.
  • Fixed-term or lifetime pension agreement with an insurance company
    With this option, the insurance company will make guaranteed fixed amount payments to your bank account. In order to choose this option, you will have to contact an insurance provider and then, and only then, send an application to your bank to transfer the funds from your Pension Investment Account to your insurance provider. A guaranteed pension agreement can be signed with the following insurance providers:
    Compensa Life Vienna Insurance Group SE

A lifetime and fixed-term pension, for which the chosen payment term meets the recommended time or is longer, is tax-free. When the beneficiary chooses a term shorter than the recommended or applies for a one-time payment, the payment is taxed at 10%. This does not apply, when the cause for disbursement is due to an incapacity, the income received will not be taxed.

It is possible to combine disbursements, for example, in the following ways:

  • Apply for a one-time payment → you will have to pay 10% income tax on the payment amount;
  • Transfer a part of your available funds to a pension fund and open a funded pension → depending on how much time you have left before your retirement age you will pay either 10% income tax or 0%;
  • The rest of the available funds can be transferred to an insurance provider for a lifetime guaranteed pension → pension disbursements are tax free.

Opening a PIA account automatically involves two additional accounts:

  • Pension Investment Account (PIA)
    • This account receives all purchases of securities and funds.
    • From this account, you can make a transfer to your PIA automatic investment account. Assets purchased through the automated system will be credited to this account.
  • PIA automatic investment
    • You can transfer money to this account from the PIA to purchase assets through automatic transactions.
    • For the money credited to the account, transactions are made once a week, generally on Wednesdays.

Yes, as of September 2021, the state resumed making contributions to the II pillar (4% at the expense of social tax).

PIA or securities transactions carried out through a PIA do not have to be declared to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. PIA is treated as a pension fund: contributions are exempt from tax and withdrawals are taxed on the full amount withdrawn.

Tick “Income received in the pension investment account“ in table 5.1 and 7.1. This way the dividends and interest received on the Pension Investment Account will not be calculated as your annual income nor influence the amount of tax-free income.

If you received interest on financial assets acquired via a Pension Investment Account from which income tax has been withhold and the interest has been prefilled in Table 5.1 of the income tax return, then tick the respective line. In that case the withheld income tax will be refunded.