Sointu Borg questions the Finnish pension system. He says that he invests his money with his future in mind.
Sointu Borg would personally support the “Swedish model”. Elle Laitila
On Thursday, April 30, Iltalehti reported how several of Finland’s leading celebrities do not pay statutory pension contributions even close to the monetary value of their own work.
One of the names that came up is media personality and presenter Sointu Borg, whose company paid salaries of 364,852 euros, but the company only paid 2,799 euros in pension contributions. The pension contribution rate was 0.77.
Iltalehti asked Sointu Borg about it. He answered the contact with a text message.
– I myself actively invest for my own pension security through my company. My current financial year ends at the end of April and I plan to accumulate wealth for the company as best I can for all my working years. I save and invest, just in time for retirement. I use professionals in my investment activities. I believe that this way I will get a better return for retirement, he says.
Borg says that he read Iltalehti’s article on Thursday.
– I don’t like the tone of painting a picture of me as a “tax evader”. I paid myself over 300,000 euros in 2024 salary and half of that in income tax. I raise a princely salary from my company. If I wanted to optimize my taxation, I wouldn’t do that, Borg answers.
Borg also gives his opinion on the entrepreneurs’ pension law, or YEL. Borg considers it important that each individual takes care of their own retirement dates.
– I always intend to act within the framework of the law, but I personally would support the Swedish model. I already pay corporation tax on my company’s profit, briskly earned income tax.
– I always pay my taxes, but the current pension system is not fair to young people. We work longer than current pensioners, we pay more and more pension contributions, and the thought lurks in the minds of many: what is the guarantee of the level of future pensions? Borg ponders.
in Sweden there is no similar system than in Finland. The pensions of joint-stock company entrepreneurs are based on wages drawn from the company. The payments of other entrepreneurs are based on taxable income. In Sweden, the Tax Administration collects statutory social insurance contributions and pension contributions. Thus, the pensions of the entrepreneurs of the joint-stock company are based on the salaries drawn from the company.
Borg emphasizes that he is not living on the wing of society.
– I would hope for a more entrepreneur-friendly approach from politicians and the media. Not the narrative that it’s an exploitative party for the well-to-do. My message to the media: I am not a free passenger, absolutely everything else, he concludes.
Iltalehti also reached Joonas Nordman. When the actor heard the subject of the call, he pressed the red receiver. Nordman’s company paid salaries of 68,856 euros and pension contributions of 1,672 euros, or 2.39 percent.
Iltalehti also reached out to influencers Pinja Sanaksenaho and Pernilla Böckerman, among others, who did not respond to contact. Host Shirly Karvinen did not want to comment on the matter.