Nearly two-thirds of Danish people aged between 18 and 56 want to retire before they reach the state pension age, according to a study by Epinion for Sampension.

The research found that 65 per cent of 18 to 34 year olds and 63 per cent of 35 to 46 year olds would like to retire before the state pension age.

Among Danes aged between 57 and 65 who have a state pension age of 67 or 68, nearly a third (29 per cent) want to retire at 66 or earlier.

The state pension age is currently 67, but this will rise to 68 in 2030 and 69 in 2035.

A further state pension age rise could occur from 2040, with parliament set to make a decision on this in 2025.

"The national pension age has risen steadily in recent years, while at the same time Danes have increasingly postponed their withdrawal from the labour market,” commented Sampension market and customer advisory manager, Anne-Louise Lindkvist.

“But we also see that the majority of Danes, for whom retirement is further into the future, dream of being able to jumpstart their retirement. And it can, among other things, connected with the fact that if you, for example, have seen family members retire at the age of 65, then you might want to be able to do the same.

"But one thing is what you dream about. Something else is what can be afforded. Because there is a cost to one's savings to retire early, as there are both fewer years to save up for, and since you have to have payments for several years at the same time.

“And when the savings in this way have to last for a longer period of time, extra savings must therefore be made if you want to retire early without significantly lowering your standard of living. Many people are not aware of this, and, for example, we find that many customers in our conversations with them are surprised by what early withdrawal means for the savings.”

According to calculations from Sampension, a 45 year old with an annual salary of DKK 400,000, pension contributions of 15 per cent and pension savings of DKK 800,000 is expected to have a retirement income of around 80 per cent of their working life income if they retired at 69.

If the same person wanted to retire a year earlier, they must pay 1 per cent extra into their pension savings every year from the age of 45 to achieve the same level of income in retirement.

Furthermore, if the same person retired at 67, they would need to save an extra 2.5 per cent each year from the age of 45.

"If you want to have the option of retiring early, you must first get a handle on what the savings look like,” Lindkvist added.

“And if there is a need for you to save more, the earlier you start with extra savings, the better opportunities you have to be able to make the dream of early retirement a reality."

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