a. To qualify for an old-age retirement benefit under the residence-based system (first pillar), a person must:

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  be at least age 67 with at least 3 years of residence in Iceland between the ages of 16 and 66; or

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  be at least age 60 with at least 25 years of work on a seafaring vessel during which the worker averaged at least 180 days per year as a crew member.

  NOTE: Beneficiaries can elect to defer receipt of a residence-based pension until age 72. Each month of deferment past age 67 provides a .5% increase to the benefit amount, up to a maximum of a 30% increase.

b. To qualify for an old-age retirement benefit under the occupational pension system (second Pillar), a worker must:

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  be at least age 65 with at least 2 years of valid contributions to a pension fund.

Iceland has two tiers of disability – one for people with between 50% and 74% lost work capacity, and another for people with 75% or greater lost work capacity.

a. To qualify for a disability benefit under the residence-based system (first pillar), a person must be under age 67 with at least 50% loss of work capacity and have resided in Iceland for at least 3 years.

b. . To qualify for a disability benefit under the occupational pension system (second pillar), a worker must be under age 67 with at least 50% loss of work capacity and have at least 2 years of valid contributions to a pension fund.

a. To qualify for a survivors benefit under the residence-based system (first pillar), a person must be a child (including adopted children and stepchildren) under the age of 18 of a deceased person who resided in Iceland for at least 3 years. No benefits are available to surviving spouses of the deceased person.

b. To qualify for a survivors benefit under the occupational pension system (second pillar), a person must be a surviving spouse, registered partner, or child under the age of 18 of a deceased worker who was either receiving an occupational pension when he or she died or made a certain number of contributions to a pension fund (the minimum amount of contributions varies with each pension fund). People caring for the minor child of a deceased worker may also be able to receive benefits.