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Rules and conditions for early retirement

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To be eligible for early retirement benefits, you must meet a number of conditions. The rules apply regardless of how long you have paid into the early retirement scheme. When you can retire and how long you can receive early retirement benefits depends on your age.

Read more about the age for early retirement.

You can take early retirement from both employment and unemployment if you meet the conditions.

  • If you are unemployed, your entitlement to benefits from the unemployment insurance fund must not have been exhausted.
    If you are coming from a senior job, you must start receiving early retirement benefits on the exact day you reach the early retirement age.
    If you are coming from employment, you must meet the income requirement on the day you switch to early retirement benefits.
  • You must be a member of a Danish unemployment insurance fund and reside in Denmark, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, or another EEA country. 
  • If you have worked abroad, you must have had at least six months of full-time employment in Denmark within the last three years.

If you run your own business and wish to continue as a self-employed person, special rules apply.

Read more about self-employment and early retirement.

Read more about the income requirement.

Read about early retirement abroad.

The conditions for obtaining a retirement certificate

When you reach retirement age, we will automatically send you a retirement certificate. However, this does not apply if you are retiring directly from unemployment or a senior job.

Read more about the conditions for obtaining a retirement certificate.

The transitional arrangement

The transitional arrangement makes it possible to receive early retirement benefits even if you do not meet the requirement of 30 years of membership and payment of early retirement contributions. The arrangement has been designed to ensure that you, who under the previous rules were able to meet the requirements, do not lose your right to early retirement benefits due to rule changes.

Your date of birth determines which rules apply to you.

You were born before January 1, 1959

You can no longer receive early retirement benefits.

You were born between January 1, 1959, and June 30, 1964.

You can meet the membership and payment requirements if you have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund and paid early retirement contributions continuously from July 1, 1999, until at least the early retirement age.
The period of membership and payment must be at least 20 years within the last 25 years.

You were born between July 1, 1964, and December 31, 1975.

You can meet the membership and payment requirements if you have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund and paid early retirement contributions continuously from January 1, 2008, until reaching early retirement age.
The period of membership and payment must be at least 25 years.

You were born between January 1, 1976, and December 31, 1977.

You can meet the membership and payment requirements no later than the day you turn 32 and start paying early retirement contributions to your unemployment insurance fund. You must pay for at least 30 years.

You were born on January 1, 1978 or later

You must be a member of an unemployment insurance fund and pay early retirement contributions from the day you turn 30 at the latest. However, you do not have to pay early retirement contributions for more than 30 years.

The cooling-off period

If you have previously chosen not to pay early retirement contributions, you have the option to reverse your decision. The reversal scheme only applies to people born on or after July 1, 1963.

Terms and conditions for the cancellation policy

  • If you were born between July 1, 1963, and January 1, 1973, you must have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund without interruption since January 1, 1997.
  • If you were born on January 1, 1973, or later, you must have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund continuously since the age of 24.
  • You cannot be entitled to early retirement benefits before reaching the normal retirement age under the general rules.
  • You must be able to pay early retirement contributions for at least 15 years before you reach early retirement age.
  • You must remain a continuous member of an unemployment insurance fund until you reach retirement age.

Important to know before you sign up

If you sign up for the cancellation scheme, your early retirement pension will be reduced. This is because you cannot meet the requirement for full seniority without the cancellation scheme.

Your early retirement pension will be reduced by 2% of the highest daily benefit rate for each year of missing contribution payments.

The tax-free bonus is reduced by 4%.

You can sign up for the cancellation scheme by contacting us.

Contact My Unemployment Insurance Fund.