ASP account

Other frequently asked questions about ASP saving

What’s the benefit of saving into an ASP account?

An ASP account is an easy and safe way to save money for your first home.

Some of the benefits of ASP saving include: 

• tax-free deposit interest of 1%, which is paid annually on the savings in your ASP account on 31 December
• tax-free bonus interest of 4%, which is paid on your savings in arrears once you have saved 10% of the home’s purchase price in your ASP account, taken out an ASP loan and bought your first home
• the possibility of applying for an ASP loan once you have enough savings in your ASP account. ASP loans come with a free state guarantee and interest subsidy  and have a lower margin compared to regular home loans.

You can stop ASP saving at any point and use your savings for some other purpose instead if you so choose. However, please note that in this case a tax at source will be charged on the deposit interest paid on your savings and no bonus interest will be paid.

Can I withdraw money from my ASP account?

You can’t withdraw money from your ASP account while you’re saving for a home. If you withdraw money from your account, your ASP account agreement will expire.

If you decide to opt out of the ASP scheme altogether, you can of course start saving again from scratch later. But please note that if you stop saving into your ASP account and withdraw your savings, the deposit interest you have earned on your savings will be subject to a tax at source of 30%.

How much money should I save in an ASP account?

You can deposit between 150 and 4,500 euros to your ASP account during one calendar quarter. You need to make at least eight of these quarterly deposits to meet the requirements of the ASP scheme.

To qualify for an ASP loan, you need to save 10% of the purchase price of the home you want to buy into your ASP account. 

How much you should save depends on your savings goal: how big of an ASP loan are you planning to apply for and how much savings will you need to put up for it?

While you save money in your ASP account, you can also save in other ways – perhaps by investing in investment funds.

For how long do I need to save?

To meet the requirements of the ASP scheme and to qualify for an ASP loan, you first need to deposit savings into your account in at least eight calendar quarters. In practice, this means that you need to save money in your ASP account for at least two years. 

However, you don’t have to make deposits in consecutive quarters, so you can also take a break from ASP saving if you need to. There’s no upper limit for how long you can save.

It depends on your goals and how much you can afford to save – meaning how soon you’re looking to buy a home and how quickly you’re able to save the required amount in your ASP account.

You should keep in mind, however, that the bonus interest of 4% is paid on the savings you deposit in the year you open the ASP account and in the next five calendar years. So the more you can save at the beginning, the more interest you will earn on your savings. The bonus interest will be paid on your savings in arrears once you have reached your savings goal, qualified for the ASP scheme and applied for a home loan to buy your first home.

Can I open an ASP account before I turn 18?

If you are aged 15 to 17, you can open an ASP account by booking a meeting with us in branch for you and your guardian or by calling us together with your guardian. We will verify your identity at the start of the call.

Until you turn 18, you may only deposit money you have earned from working in your ASP account. This may be a salary you have received for a job or a grant you have been awarded at school, for example. As a minor, you are not allowed to deposit money from other sources, such as any child benefit money from Kela or money that has been gifted to you, in your ASP account. For this reason, we ask all minors with an ASP account to provide us with a statement on the origin of their deposits each year. You can use a template provided by the State Treasury to draw up your statement. Open the template for reporting the origin of the ASP savings of a minor (available in Finnish only) 

You can send us your statement attached to a message in Nordea Mobile or Netbank or via Nordea Omaposti.