How much will my pension be in 2026, and how can I determine the exact amount?

Are you unsure whether your pension was granted correctly, or did you receive a rejection of your application? As part of our pension legal counseling service, we’ll review the Social Security Administration’s decision and help you with the next steps.

How is a pension calculated?

The amount of an old-age pension is determined based on two components: the base amount and the percentage amount. The base amount is the same for everyone and amounts to 10% of the current average wage. In 2026, this amounts to 4,900 crowns. Added to this base amount is the percentage component, which depends on your past earnings from which you paid pension insurance contributions, as well as on the number of years you worked.

How is the percentage amount calculated?

Your past earnings are taken into account when calculating your pension. Specifically, they are added up each year, and their total forms the so-called assessment base. Earnings from 1986 through the year preceding your pension application are considered.

These annual incomes (assessment bases) are then multiplied by the so-called pension coefficient, which converts your past earnings into today’s monetary value (since money loses value as inflation rises, and what you earned in, say, 1990 does not correspond to today’s value). This means that if you earned the average wage in 1990 (approximately 3,300 crowns), this income will be treated as if it were today’s average wage (48,967 for the year 2026).

Next, an average is calculated from the individual assessment bases, which determines your average monthly earnings over your entire working life—that is, your personal assessment base. This amount is then subject to two reduction thresholds. For the year 2026, the first reduction threshold is 21,546 Kč and the second reduction threshold is 195,868 Kč. As a result of the pension reform, only 99% of the portion of the personal assessment base up to the first reduction threshold is now taken into account. The portion between the first and second reduction thresholds continues to be counted at 26%, and the amount above the second reduction threshold is not taken into account.

These reduction thresholds are intended to account for differences in insured persons’ incomes and to prevent high-income earners from receiving disproportionately high pensions.

After reducing the personal assessment base, we arrive at the so-called calculation base, from which the percentage rate is then calculated directly. This is calculated such that for each full year of pension insurance, you receive 1.495% of this calculation base. For example, for 40 years of insurance, the percentage rate is 59.8% of the calculation base.

The percentage rate is then added to the base pension amount, giving you the total amount of your old-age pension.

Let’s look at a specific example of how an old-age pension is calculated:

The assessment base (average income for each year from 1986 through the year preceding the pension application) will, for simplicity’s sake, be set at 40,000 CZK per month.

The personal assessment base will be equal to the average of these assessment bases.

Insurance period: 40 years.

The basic pension amount in 2026 is set at 4,900 Kč per month.

Step 1: Determining the assessment base

The assessment base is the sum of all income earned during the insurance period (from 1986 through the year preceding the application). This base is then converted to today’s value using the pension coefficient.

Let’s assume that the insured person had the same assessment base every year, which, when converted to today’s values, amounts to 40,000 Kč per month.

Step 2: Reduction Thresholds

First reduction threshold: 44% of the average wage = 21,546 CZK.

Second reduction threshold: 400% of the average wage = 195,868 CZK.

If your assessment base is 40,000 CZK per month, this amount falls between these two thresholds. After applying the reduction thresholds:

If your monthly income is 40,000 CZK:

The first 21,546 Kč is calculated at 99%, which is 21,330 Kč.

The next 40,000 – 21,546 = 18,454 CZK is calculated at 26%, which is 4,798 CZK.

The calculation basis is therefore the sum of these amounts:

21,330 CZK + 4,798 CZK = 26,128 CZK.

Step 3: Calculating the Percentage Amount

The percentage rate is calculated based on the calculation base. For each year of insurance, you receive 1.495% of the calculation base. Let’s assume the insured person worked for 40 years.

40 years × 1.495% = 59.8%.

59.8% of 26,128.58 CZK (calculation base) is:

26,128.58 × 0.598 = 15,624.29 Kč.

Step 4: Addition to the Basic Pension Amount

The basic pension amount, which is 4,900 Kč in 2026, is added to this percentage amount.

15,624.29 CZK + 4,900 CZK = 20,524.29 CZK.

This insured person’s monthly old-age pension would amount to 20,525 CZK.

The pension calculation only looks simple on paper. In practice, problems can arise from missing insurance periods, incorrectly calculated income, unaccounted-for child-care periods, or an incorrect assessment of substitute periods. If you disagree with the decision of the Czech Social Security Administration, have it reviewed as part of our pension legal counseling service. We will verify whether the calculation is correct and advise you on how to appeal.

Excluded Insurance Periods

However, one question remains unanswered: how is the time you spent on maternity or parental leave calculated? These periods are known as substitute insurance periods. These are periods during which you were not engaged in gainful employment and did not pay pension insurance contributions; nevertheless, these periods are counted toward your pension.

Substitute insurance periods include, for example:

• Caring for a child under 4 years of age (maternity and parental leave);
• Military service (until June 30, 2016);
• Attending high school or college (only if certain conditions are met);
• Third-degreedisability pension (total disability);
• Period of registration with the employment office (subject to certain conditions);
• Care for a dependent person (at dependency levels II, III, or IV), or for a child under 10 years of age with dependency level I or higher;
• Illness, injury, or quarantine (temporary incapacity to work).

Substitute insurance periods become so-called “excluded periods” when determining the pension amount. These have a positive effect on the final pension. This is because the days in the excluded period are subtracted from the total number of days used to calculate the average earnings, thereby increasing that average.

Let’s look at an example to explain how this works in practice: Mr. Novák has an average monthly earnings of 30,000 crowns. However, during the year he suffered an injury and spent three months on sick leave. If the days of sick leave were not subtracted, the average monthly earnings would be lower—in this case, 22,500 korunas. However, by deducting the days of incapacity for work from the total number of days, the average earnings are still calculated based on 30,000 CZK, which affects the amount of the pension.

An Example from Our Law Practice

A client approached us after being granted an old-age pension in an amount lower than she had expected. Upon reviewing the decision, we discovered that part of the period spent caring for a child had not been properly taken into account in the calculation, and that some employment data from earlier years had not been fully documented. We helped the client gather the necessary documentation, prepared arguments for the Social Security Administration, and explained the next steps to her. As a result, she had a clearer idea of whether it made sense to challenge the decision and what documents she would need.

Pension Supplements and Increases

However, it’s possible to receive additional benefits on top of your final pension, which can significantly increase the total amount—and you can also take certain steps to increase it yourself. Let’s take a look at the most common ones:

Child-Rearing Allowance

Child-rearing allowance is one of the most common pension supplements. It is compensation for the time a person spent raising children. This supplement is therefore intended for people who, as a result of raising children, were unable to fully engage in gainful employment, which had a negative impact on their future pension.

The child-rearing allowance is provided for each child who was raised for at least 10 years before reaching adulthood. An exception applies if you take in a child older than eight years of age or if the child died before reaching the age of five; in such cases, the child must have been raised for at least five years.

In 2026, the child-rearing allowance is set at 500 CZK per month for each child raised. Therefore, if you have raised more than one child, multiply this amount by the number of children.

Who is eligible for the child-rearing allowance?

Child-rearing benefits may be granted to both men and women who have raised a child. However, only one person may receive the benefit per child, and this entitlement cannot be transferred. For example, if a wife was the primary caregiver but died prematurely, her husband and the child’s father cannot receive the child-rearing allowance. It also applies only to women who are not subject to the rules regarding the reduction of the retirement age based on the number of children raised (women born after 1971). Those who have committed a criminal offense against the child’s life or health, against their freedom or personal rights, against human dignity in the sexual sphere, or against the family and children are not eligible for the child-rearing allowance.

You must apply for the child-rearing allowance and provide proof that you have been raising the child. However, a sworn statement is sufficient as proof. The application can then be submitted to any district social security office.

Dispute Over Child Support

A dispute may arise over who raised the child. For example, in a situation where a married couple is divorced and both believe they are entitled to child support. In this case, the relevant administrative authority will investigate the situation to determine which party is telling the truth (it may request relevant documents, interview witnesses, etc.).

Working After Retirement

A person receiving an old-age pension may continue to work even after the pension has been granted. However, starting in 2025, the way in which working during retirement is incentivized has changed. Instead of receiving an additional pension increase for days worked , working old-age pensioners can take advantage of a 6.5% social insurance discount. The discount applies to both employees and self-employed individuals who have reached retirement age and are entitled to receive their full old-age pension. An employee must request the discount from their employer, while a self-employed individual claims it as part of their insurance premium payments.

Working Beyond Retirement Age

Another way to increase your pension is through what is known as “working beyond retirement age.” This occurs when you continue to work and do not receive an old-age pension, even though you are already eligible for it (i.e., you have reached retirement age and met the minimum period of pension insurance contributions). In this case, for every 90 days of continued employment, your pension rate increases by 1.5% of the calculation base.

Pension Supplement to Mitigate Certain Injustices Caused by the Communist Regime

This pension supplement is quite specific. It applies to political prisoners from the period of the communist regime and to individuals who were killed while attempting to flee the country. Under certain conditions, it also applies to their widows and widowers and to children who were orphaned as a result of their parent’s imprisonment and were minors at the time of the imprisoned parent’s death.

Starting this year, these supplements are no longer increased by new fixed rates set by law, but rather by 2.6% of the supplement amount to which the person was entitled prior to the increase, and the resulting amount is rounded up to the nearest whole crown.

Pension Supplement to Recognize Participants in the Resistance During World War I and World War II

Although not many people receive this type of supplement today, let’s briefly introduce it. As the name suggests, it applies to resistance fighters during the world wars, their widows, and their orphans who were minors at the time of the fighters’ deaths.

Specifically, the amounts are as follows:

• 50 crowns for resistance fighters for each month (or part thereof) of resistance activity.
• 25 crowns for the widow or widower of a resistance participant for each month or part thereof of resistance activity.
• 20 korunas for an orphan of a resistance fighter for each month or part thereof of resistance activity.

If a resistance fighter died while engaged in resistance activities, the allowance for the widow or widower is increased by 3,000 crowns, and the allowance for the orphan is increased by 2,400 crowns.

Pension Taxation – When Does It Apply?

In some cases, you should also expect your final pension to be subject to taxation. This applies when your total annual pension exceeds 36 times the minimum wage for that year. For 2026, the minimum wage is 22,400 CZK per month. Pensions are tax-exempt up to 36 times the minimum wage, i.e., up to 806,400 CZK per year, which corresponds to an average of 67,200 CZK per month. Only the portion of the pension exceeding this limit is taxed.

In this case, the pension is taxed at the standard rate of 15%; however, if your total income exceeds 36 times the average wage, the difference between the income up to the 36-times limit and the income above that limit would be taxed at 23%. The higher 23% tax rate will therefore apply in 2026 to the portion of the tax base exceeding 36 times the average wage, i.e., 1,762,812 CZK per year, or 146,901 CZK per month.

Pension Reform and Pension Amounts

Starting in 2026, the way pensions are calculated will begin to change as a result of pension reform. The first changes will take effect for newly granted pensions as early as 2026: the credit for earnings up to the first reduction threshold will be reduced to 99%, and the rate for each year of insurance will drop to 1.495% of the calculation base. The changes will continue gradually through 2035.

Pensions increase annually through indexation, which adjusts their amount based on inflation and the growth of the average wage. Newly granted pensions will grow more slowly between 2026 and 2035 due to the gradual reduction of two calculation parameters: the credit toward the first reduction threshold and the percentage rate applied to the calculation base. The credit toward the first reduction threshold will gradually decrease from 100% to 90% starting in 2026; specifically , it will be 99% in 2026 .

Another change is that the minimum pension has been increased. As of January 1, 2026, the minimum old-age pension amounts to 20% of the average wage. This corresponds to the sum of the basic pension amount and the minimum percentage pension amount. Pensions granted before 2026 will also be adjusted to the new minimum amount.

The reform has also changed the rules for working old-age pensioners. Starting in 2025, pensions will no longer increase based on days worked while the pension is being received. Instead, working old-age pensioners who have reached retirement age and are receiving their full old-age pension can take advantage of a 6.5% social insurance discount. This increases their net income from work.

Summary

The calculation of the old-age pension in 2026 is based primarily on two components: the base amount and the percentage amount. The base amount is the same for everyone, while the percentage amount depends on your income and the length of your pension insurance coverage. Income earned since 1986 is included in the calculation; this income is adjusted using coefficients to reflect the current value of money and is then subject to reduction thresholds.

Substitute and excluded insurance periods also play an important role. Typically, these include child care, incapacity for work, registration with the employment office, or care for a dependent. These periods have a positive impact on the calculation because they prevent periods without regular earnings from negatively affecting the average income.

The final amount may also be affected by allowances, particularly child-rearing allowances. Another option is working beyond retirement age—that is, continuing to work without receiving an old-age pension after becoming eligible. Starting in 2025, working retirees will benefit from a social insurance discount instead of a pension increase.

Starting in 2026, the pension reform will be gradually reflected in newly granted pensions. In particular, the calculation of income up to the first reduction threshold and the rate for each year of insurance coverage are changing. That is precisely why it pays to carefully review your pension decision, especially if the amount awarded does not seem correct, if you are missing certain periods of insurance, or if your application was denied.