Denmark's pension system is considered the best in the world

Exit age

In Denmark, both women and men retire between the ages of 65 and 67, depending on their date of birth. The country is currently raising the retirement age; it is planned to increase it by six months every year. But residents say they are just starting to live in retirement.

Find out about retirement age in countries around the world from the article on our website.

The state supports old age and loves older people. It is possible that this is why the average life expectancy in the country is at one of the highest levels, about 80 years.

Anyone who has retired can expect that the payments will be enough for him to live a comfortable life. If a pensioner has earned well all his life and has left savings for his old age, then the state pension will be low.

And those who earned little or did not work at all, and, accordingly, did not save anything into the account, will receive large payments from the state. After 67 years, everyone has enough for food, accommodation and even some entertainment.

Denmark and Norway have long been “playing to raise” the retirement age

Denmark and Norway are aiming to increase the retirement age to 67.

Photo: Anatoly ZHDANOV

Russians do not like the idea of ​​raising the retirement age. What about the retirement age in other European countries?

Back in 2010, the European Commission made a recommendation to EU countries to consider raising the retirement age to 65 years. At the same time, the goal was to ensure that the number of pensioners did not exceed one third of the working population.

“75% of residents of the European Union aged 18 to 64 should have a job,” said the head of the European Commission, Barroso. And if we talk about the longer term, the EC had very radical plans: the EU countries were recommended to increase the retirement age to 70 years by 2060.

However, from the very beginning it was obvious that raising the age from which one can retire is left to the discretion of each individual European country.

The French government approved a pension reform bill in October 2010. The retirement age has been raised from 60 to 62 years (with at least 42 years of work experience), and the age at which French people can receive a full state pension has been raised from 65 to 67 years (work experience in this case does not affect on the amount of pension). There are, of course, exceptions - for example, people who become disabled as a result of work, or those who started working before reaching the age of eighteen, have the opportunity to retire early, from the age of 60.

The adoption of the law on raising the retirement age was preceded by fierce discussions that spilled into the streets. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of French people took part in protests, demonstrations and strikes. The strikers blocked a large oil refinery near Paris, which led to a fuel shortage, and there was even a threat of closing the capital's Charles de Gaulle airport. However, the protests did not convince politicians - and the green light was given to the reform.

In 2011, the Danish authorities announced an increase in the retirement age: in the next decade, citizens of the kingdom will retire not at 65, but at 67 years old. And in the future it is planned to raise the retirement age even further. By 2035 it could reach 72 years. At the same time, it was decided to increase the age for Danes to take early retirement – ​​from 60 to 66 years.

In Norway, where men retire at 67 years old, and women at 64 years old, it is planned to equalize the rights of both sexes by 2030 - and make a single retirement age from 67 years old.

The need to change the retirement age is also being discussed in Germany. Currently, the retirement age in Germany is 65 years and 7 months, and by 2029 it should increase to 67 years.

Back in 2007, the German parliament passed a law that envisages a gradual increase in the retirement age from 2012, for both women and men, from 65 to 67 years. In 2021, the CDU/CSU bloc came up with proposals to make the retirement age dependent on expected life expectancy.

Under this idea, the retirement age for old age should automatically rise by six months for each added year of life expectancy.

In Switzerland, a referendum on pension reform was held in September last year. And the majority of its participants rejected the authorities’ proposals suggesting an increase in the retirement age for women from 64 to 65 years (it was also planned to increase pension contributions from wages and VAT fees).

Today, the working age in Russia is 55 years for women and 60 for men. This figure is one of the lowest in Europe. Despite the increase in life expectancy, it has not been changed for many decades.

The retirement age in Russia will begin to be raised in 2021 in order to gradually reach retirement at 65 for men in 2028 and 63 for women in 2034, reports the information portal kareliyanews.ru.

From past to present

The foundations of the Danish pension system were laid at the end of the 19th century. Then the authorities decided to financially support residents who are over 60. And for assistance, the principle of citizenship and residence in the country was used, unlike, for example, Germany, where work activity is taken into account.

Decades later, the payment systems have not changed, but in the middle of the twentieth century, the minimum amount of state subsidies, or the people's pension, was established. Later it began to be composed of several amounts:

• basic payment;
• additional, which depends on marital status, whether the pensioner is single or not;
• additional, depending on salary and savings.

In fact, pensions in Denmark still have these components today. True, over the years of development of the pension system, the principles of accrual have changed slightly. And now everyone who retires receives the following payments:

1. People's pension. It is paid by the state.
2. Labor pension. It is paid by the pension fund.

Pension amount

Now the national pension is paid every month. Its size is directly proportional to the number of years lived in Denmark after the 15th birthday. Assigned to everyone who has lived in the country for more than five years before reaching retirement age.

For example, those who worked from the age of 18–20 can count on 100% of the main part of the national pension. Subsidies for housing, heating, electricity and health are also added here (they are paid extra monthly). Age benefits are paid once a year. The size again depends on the amount of savings, income and whether the pensioner is single.

A labor pension is provided to those who have earned work experience in Denmark. The payment directly depends on the number of years worked and the salary. After all, every able-bodied resident must contribute a percentage of their earnings to the pension fund.

The country also has a system of additional insurance pension savings. She is extremely popular. Most of the Danish population saves money from a young age in order to have additional income in retirement.

To understand how much pensioners in Denmark live on, we can consider an example: a lonely elderly person who has worked in the country all his life, but has not saved up for a car or cash deposits.

• In 2021, his national pension is 6,237 kroons.
• The additional amount is CZK 6,237 for loneliness.
• CZK 3,000 for no savings.
• 4000 CZK - from the pension fund.

So, the average pension of a single person is more than 18 thousand crowns. However, this does not mean that he will receive the entire amount in his hands. Tax will be deducted from it, and the pension will be about 13 thousand crowns.

The minimum pension in Denmark is about 13.5 thousand crowns. The amount of payments to pensioners is indexed every year.

Average expenses for a pensioner:

• 5000 CZK - housing.
• 1500 CZK - heat and electricity.
• 1000 CZK - water.
• 1000 CZK - TV and telephone.
• 3500 CZK - food.
• 500 CZK - transport costs.
• 500 kroner - health expenses (subject to free healthcare in Denmark).

These expenses are less than the average working Dane, as part of the expenses is covered by government subsidies.

But one way or another, almost the entire pension is spent only on the purchase of necessary goods and services, and there is practically no money left for luxuries.

Pensioners who are not single, who also have their own apartment or house and car, live in much the same way. They do not receive housing benefits, and additionally have to spend money on gasoline and car maintenance.

To ensure higher well-being, pension savings are common among residents. After retirement, they allow, if not lordship, then to live for pleasure, go to cafes and even travel.

The Danish Pension Fund has shown its effectiveness and over the years of its existence has proven that all money is spent wisely and transparently. Nevertheless, there are pensioners who complain about the catastrophic deficit of the family budget.

Sociological studies have shown that every fifth resident over 65 years of age cannot afford to travel abroad and saves on health and family.

However, according to experts, in Denmark there are basically no poor pensioners. Every crown counts, as a rule, for those who moved to the country at a fairly mature age, have not earned sufficient work experience and can only receive part of the state pension.

Pension in Denmark or why Denmark is not my country

Share:

We live in interesting but very turbulent times. Our parents, having 25 years of continuous working experience, can count on a full state pension. They can count. How about living? Without the help of children and relatives, it is very, very difficult for an elderly person to live with half of his pension, which is spent on buying medicines!

If you emigrated to Denmark at a young enough age, say under 30, then you have a chance to receive a full Danish pension. But what about those who emigrated at the age of 35-40?

Can they count on receiving a Danish pension? Unfortunately no.

According to Danish laws, a full pension is paid to those emigrants who have lived (not worked! namely, lived!) in the country for a full 40 years. If you have lived in Denmark for 20 years at the time of retirement, it means that you will receive social benefits on which you cannot live particularly comfortably.

What to do?

As you know, he who is informed is armed, which means we must act!

And here everyone creates their own strategy:

• someone, having a full-time job in Denmark, invests an additional 30% of their salary in private pension funds;
• someone, wanting to earn more for retirement, begins to build their investment portfolio: buy stocks, bonds, precious metals and even bitcoins;
• someone buys limited-edition branded bags at auction;
• someone saves for a down payment and invests in the purchase of real estate in their homeland or in countries such as Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria.

As a rule, they buy several apartments with a mortgage so that in the future they can live in one, the smallest in area (in the smallest one, because the more square meters, the more expensive it is to maintain the apartment: heating, electricity, utility bills, general use payments ), and the second apartment ( two, of course, is more profitable! ) is rented out for short-term rent. But there is an important nuance here: if you are engaged in renting out your apartments for short-term rent in retirement, then the person must be relatively healthy and mobile, otherwise: cleaning apartments, laundry, buying consumables, checking in guests falls on the shoulders of the manager, and therefore with him income will have to be shared. And this, by the way, is not so little, it can reach up to 50%, which, you see, is not particularly profitable for a pensioner.

Alas, renting out an apartment for a long-term lease is not always financially profitable, and tenants, as a rule, do not particularly care about the condition of someone else’s apartment. If you rent out an apartment for a short-term lease, then the apartment is always, ch.n. under supervision, although this also has its risks: a group of young people can rent an apartment for a party and Hollywoodize all night, not caring at all about the neighbors; you, of course, will have to sort things out with neighbors, the police and pay fines.

Moreover, no matter what strategy you choose, there are always risks! Always!

Therefore, your main task is to isolate these risks and work out possible “trampolines” for each risk. In some cases, real estate insurance can become a “trampoline”, in others, alas, not.

In Denmark, the retirement age in 2021 is 65 years old; those born, for example, in 1975 will retire at 70 years old!

So think for yourself, decide for yourself: rely on yourself or on the state.

The decision, in any case, is yours!

If you are interested in what those emigrants who are 45-50 years old today think, how they invest in creating their own personal “pension fund”, be sure to watch this video!

If you have any questions, subscribe right now to the “Denmark in Russian” channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/rusdenmark/videos All videos with reliable and timely information. They come out every week!

Join the Facebook group “Denmark in Russian” - https://www.facebook.com/groups/rusdenmark/ and our Instagram @rusdenmark

For reference

Mila Jensen is an entrepreneur, specialist in the field of marketing communications and digital marketing, Scandinavian geographer, current member of the Belarusian Union of Journalists, author of the information and social Project for Russian-speaking emigrants in Denmark - “Denmark in Russian”, which in November 2021 celebrated its first anniversary, 10th anniversary and is deservedly the most popular project that helps ensure the adaptation and integration of Russian-speaking emigrants in Denmark. @mila.jensen

Payments in different countries

Despite the critical attitude of some Danish elders towards their state's pension system, Denmark is considered the best country for retirees.

To understand that this is so, it is enough to compare the average payout amounts.

At the same time, the retirement age in the countries is almost the same and is 65–67 years.

You can find out more about the amount of pension in different countries on our website.

How the retirement age is being raised in Europe

In Germany, the retirement age has been gradually increasing over the past decade. By the year it will be 67 years - for both men and women. The bar has not yet been reached - in Europe the process of implementing such reforms is traditionally long - a.

Review on Technical Analysis on

The Danish pension system is called by Mercer the best in the world: payments upon reaching 65 years of age allow Danish pensioners to live comfortably even in cases where at a younger age the person had a low salary or for some reason did not work at all. A former resident of Ukraine, pensioners on the streets of Copenhagen and experts told Present Time who receives how much in retirement in Denmark, and what these payments depend on. The state pension is calculated in this way: if a person had a high income and has large savings, it will be lower. Conversely, if a person did not earn much or did not work at all, the state will pay him more, says Torben Andersen, professor of economics at Aarhus University.

Pension in Denmark

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“With this amount, no one will be poor.” How the pension system works in Denmark

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