Can You Retire If You’ve Never Worked?
In Finland, a surprisingly high number of young individuals are applying for disability pensions even before they’ve set foot in the working world, as highlighted by a recent report from Helsingin Sanomat.
A study conducted by Keva, the public sector pension insurance provider, reveals that merely 20 percent of those under 30 who sought disability pensions or vocational rehabilitation for mental health issues had any previous employment. Mental health concerns stand as the predominant reason for these applications within the public sector.
When Blades Freeze
Kauppalehti has delved into a weather-related phenomenon that’s impacting electricity prices across Finland. An accumulation of ice on turbine blades at wind farms, coupled with weak winds, has drastically reduced the output from the country’s wind energy resources.
Forecasts suggest an impending deterioration in weather conditions, likely causing spot prices to soar to nearly 40 cents per kilowatt-hour on Tuesday. While icing on turbines is a familiar winter challenge in the Nordic countries, this season’s severity is markedly worse than in years past. Although blade heating systems could alleviate this issue, the responsibility to implement such measures rests largely on the wind power industry itself.
Goodbye Gmail?
A shift is noticeable among Finns who are increasingly seeking alternatives to Gmail and other U.S.-based digital services, a trend documented by Hufvudstadsbladet.
IT expert Petteri Järvinen has been vocal about the need to reduce dependence on American technology, advocating for a new perspective on email services. “Stop being stingy,” he told the paper, suggesting that users should be ready to invest a few euros each month for a reliable email account.
“If we’re not willing to pay, we will inevitably find ourselves relying on companies like Google or Microsoft. To nurture European alternatives, we have to be prepared to spend,” he emphasized. After all, people routinely pay for bus tickets and various other services, so why should email be any different?