Pensions

You can start to draw out a pension when you retire at the age of 67. You may opt for an early retirement from the age of 62 and start to draw out a pension, provided you have accumulated enough in your pension fund to do so.

In order to qualify for full pension rights in Norway, you must be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance scheme for 40 years. You would normally become a member of the scheme if you have been living and working in Norway legally for at least 12 months.

You will receive a pension from both the National Insurance Retirement Pension (state pension from the government) and from your previous employer(s). You may also opt to supplement your pension with private pension savings.

The pension that you receive from your employer can be either a defined benefit pension or a defined contribution pension.

If you are working in the public sector or in a large company, it is likely that your employer has a defined benefit pension in place. The defined benefit pension gives you approximately 66 percent of your salary when you retire. This percentage is the total sum of what you’d receive from both your employer and the National Insurance pension.

A defined contribution scheme means that your employer saves a percentage of your salary each month. Employers must put aside a minimum of 2 percent under this scheme. How much you receive upon retirement is then dependent on the total amount that was put aside over the years, the returns on the amount, and the number of years it will be paid out over.

Source – DNB