When can I retire in Denmark?
Two ages matter: the state pension age, set by your birth year, and the earliest payout age for your own pensions. But when you can actually stop is decided by a third number: whether your wealth can carry your after-tax spending.
The state pension age by birth year
The Danish state pension age follows an adopted ladder that rises with your birth year:
| Born | State pension age |
|---|---|
| Before 1963 | 67 |
| 1963–1966 | 68 |
| 1967–1970 | 69 |
| 1971 and later | 70 |
This is the ladder as adopted in 2026 — for the youngest cohorts it can still be changed by parliament before it takes effect.
The earliest payout age for private pensions
The ratepension, livrente and aldersopsparing can be paid out from the pensionsudbetalingsalder at the earliest. For plans created after 2018 the main rule is three years before your state pension age; older plans can have better terms — plans from before May 2007 as early as age 60. The age is stated in your pension agreement and in PensionsInfo.
Can you stop earlier?
Yes — if there are free funds to bridge the gap. The years from when you stop until your pensions and the state pension start must be covered by savings outside the pension system: share portfolios, the aktiesparekonto, bonds and cash. The length and cost of that bridge is exactly what a drawdown plan calculates: spending must be covered after tax, and the tax depends on which funds you use when.
The maths: after-tax spending vs. wealth
The honest calculation runs month by month: What does your life cost after tax? Which payouts arrive from the ratepension, livrente, ATP and the state pension — and what are they worth after PAL tax, income tax and the state pension taper? And how long do the free funds last to cover the rest? The order you spend in moves the answer noticeably — see the guide on the payout order.
How NestEgg calculates it
NestEgg imports the household’s PensionsInfo reports and lays every pension, the state pension and the free funds into one month-by-month plan with the 2026 Danish tax rules all the way: PAL, ASK, the share and capital income brackets, municipal and church tax and the state pension taper. The answer is a date — “you can stop” — and a monthly after-tax amount the plan can sustain the whole way.
See the answer for your own household
Import your PensionsInfo reports and NestEgg calculates when you can stop and what you can spend per month — Danish tax included, all the way.