Pensioners who have no, or only a small, supplementary pension, are entitled to a special supplement from the National Insurance Scheme. The period required for entitlement to a full pension is 40 years.

The retirement age in the current National Insurance Scheme is 67. Note that the pension reform, which will enter into force in 2010, will introduce flexible retirement from the age of 62.

In addition to the current National Insurance Scheme, there are various early-retirement schemes, i.e. pension schemes from which one can draw pensions from an earlier age than in the National Insurance pension. One of the most important schemes is the AFP early-retirement scheme. This scheme gives employees of enterprises that are covered by the scheme the possibility of retiring at any time from the age of 62 until the retirement age in the National Insurance Scheme.