Sixty-one per cent of Danes aged 56-65 have not received financial advice or made a plan for their finances in retirement, according to research by Sampension.

Its research, conducted by Epinion on behalf of the firm, comes amid a backdrop of an increasing number of people claiming a state pension. The number of state pensioners has increased for 17 months in a row, according to new figures from the Danish Agency for Labor Market and Recruitment (STAR).

In May this year, there were 1,129,622 old-age pensioners compared to 1,127,367 in April. This means that the number of old-age pensioners has increased every month since December 2022 and by a total of approximately 31,900 people in the period. This is the first time in six years that the number of state pensioners has increased for so many months in a row.

"The fact that the group of state pensioners has now grown for 17 consecutive months should of course be seen in light of the fact that the retirement age has remained unchanged since 1 January 2023,” Sampension customer advisory manager, Anne-Louise Lindkvist, said.

“The unchanged retirement age means that more people are reaching the age at which they can retire on state pension, and therefore the number of pensioners is also increasing. And we can expect this trend to continue in the coming years, as the state pension age will remain unchanged until 2030, when it is planned to be raised again.”

From 2019 to 2022, the state pension age was gradually increased from 65 to 67 years, and during that period the number of state pensioners fell by a total of approximately 59,400 (from 1,157,135 in January 2019 to 1,097,706 in December 2022).

"This development also means that there are many Danes who have either just replaced working life with retirement or who are facing this transition in the foreseeable future. And this transition can be a major upheaval. First and foremost, it's about having a new everyday life where there's no longer a job to worry about. But it's also about how to organise their finances, and we know that many people don't make a financial plan for retirement before they retire," Lindkvist added.

Lindkvist highlighted the benefit of making a financial plan for retirement. For example, with an annuity, for most Danes the installment pension is set for a 10-year period following retirement.

However, for many there may be a financial gain to be made by stretching the payments over a longer period, as this means that the annual installment pension payments will be smaller and they will be more eligible for the supplementary amount of the state pension.

Calculations from Sampension show that extending the annuity payments from 10 years to 20 years can add up to almost DKK 300,000 to a person’s retirement.

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