Stopping at sixty-five requires roughly €338,000 of your own wealth at €40,000 of annual spending.
That's less than most people expect, for two reasons. The bridge to your state pension is only two years, and you can start your occupational pension during it. Qualify for the early-exit scheme as well and almost nothing of that bridge remains.
Sixty-five stopped being retirement age long ago
For many people sixty-five still feels like the natural age to stop. That's understandable: for decades it was the state pension age.
Since 2013 it has been rising. In 2026 and 2027 state pension age is sixty-seven, and from 2028 it becomes sixty-seven years and three months.
Stopping at sixty-five is therefore no longer a default but a form of early retirement. Two years, which is a manageable problem compared with the ten years the FIRE movement discusses.
What your pension becomes if you start at 65
Two effects stack, and together they're larger than people expect.
You accrue three years less. The reference pension age is sixty-eight. Stop at sixty-five and you miss three accrual years. At forty accrual years producing €12,000, that costs €900 a year, leaving €11,100.
Your payment is actuarially reduced. That same amount now has to last twenty-two years rather than nineteen, which lowers the payment by roughly 11%.
| Amount per year | |
|---|---|
| Full pension at 68 | €12,000 |
| After three years less accrual | €11,100 |
| After actuarial reduction | €9,856 |
Eighteen percent below the figure on your pension statement. Only two thirds of that difference comes from drawing early; the rest is missed accrual.
The two-year bridge
From sixty-five to sixty-seven you have no state pension. You do have your early pension.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Annual spending | €40,000 |
| Pension from 65 | −€9,856 |
| To fund yourself per year | €30,144 |
Two years of €30,144 costs you €56,855 today. That's the present value: you don't need twice the full amount, because what remains keeps earning.
What you need in total
After your state pension date, €18,000 joins your €9,856 pension, making €27,856. Your spending is €40,000, leaving a gap of €12,144 a year.
To cover that permanently you need €280,704 at sixty-five.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Two-year bridge | €56,855 |
| Top-up after your state pension date | €280,704 |
| Wealth required at 65 | €337,559 |
Draw early or wait? It barely matters
Now the question this article turns on. You could also stop working at sixty-five and start your pension only at sixty-eight. You'd then bridge three years entirely yourself but keep a higher payment.
What does that cost?
| Variant | Wealth required at 65 |
|---|---|
| Pension from 65 too | €337,559 |
| Pension only from 68 | €337,253 |
| Difference | €306 |
Three hundred euros, on a target of over three hundred thousand.
That isn't coincidence. The actuarial reduction is calculated so both routes are worth roughly the same across an average lifetime. What you gain at the front you give back at the back.
The choice therefore isn't financial. It's about something else.
Why waiting still comes out slightly better net
There's one difference not captured above, and it works against drawing early.
Until state pension age you pay state pension contributions on your income. From that age you don't. That's roughly eighteen percentage points in the first bracket.
Pension drawn before your state pension date is therefore worth less net than the same pension afterwards. On €9,856 gross across two years, that's several thousand euros.
Gross, the two routes are equivalent. Net, waiting wins by a small margin.
Against that sits one practical advantage of drawing early: you need to take less from your own investments during those two years. If that period coincides with a market fall, that's worth more than the tax difference. That's precisely the sequence risk every withdrawal strategy faces.
With the early-exit scheme
Sixty-five falls within the scheme's window, which reaches three years before state pension age.
If you fall under your sector's heavy-work definition, your employer can pay you until your state pension date at roughly €2,357 gross a month, net roughly equal to a net state pension.
Across two years that's worth roughly €46,945 in capital terms.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Two-year bridge | €56,855 |
| Value of the early-exit payment | −€46,945 |
| Remaining | €9,910 |
Almost nothing. The scheme covers most of the bridge here, because two years is precisely where it's strongest: it was built for the final years before state pension age.
Since 1 January 2026 the scheme applies exclusively to employees doing heavy work who demonstrably cannot continue healthily. If you don't qualify, this route is closed. More on that in the article on retiring early.
Partial pension as a middle way
There's a third variant that works particularly well across two bridge years: retiring partially and continuing to work partially.
Draw half your pension, say, and work two days. Your payment is only reduced on that half, accrual continues on the days you work, and your earnings bridge the rest.
At a two-year bridge that's often the best outcome of all the variants, because you halve every drawback rather than accepting one in full.
How Gylder fits in
The calculation above rests on two figures most people don't have to hand: what you genuinely spend, and what you genuinely have.
Gylder categorises your spending automatically and totals your wealth daily across bank, broker, crypto, precious metals and your property with the mortgage underneath. The bridge calculator uses those to work out what you need at your intended stop date and saves it as a wealth target with that date attached.
Enter your pension as an annual figure from your state pension date. If you draw it early, use the reduced amount, because that's what actually arrives.
What this doesn't tell you
The reduction differs by scheme. The 11% here assumes a 2% discount rate and life expectancy to roughly 87. Your provider uses its own tables.
Accrual is simplified. The calculation spreads your pension evenly across forty years. Schemes rarely accrue precisely linearly.
The tax figures are approximations. They show that a difference exists between before and after your state pension date, not what you pay.
This isn't advice. Drawing early is irreversible. Ask your provider for calculations of all three variants before committing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I stop working at 65? Yes, if you can fund it. At €40,000 of spending and a state pension age of 67, that requires roughly €338,000 of your own wealth.
How much pension will I get if I start at 65? In the example above, €9,856 rather than €12,000, or 18% less. Part comes from the actuarial reduction and part from three years of missed accrual.
Is it better to start my pension at 65 or 68? Gross, it barely differs: €306 on over three hundred thousand in this example. Net, waiting wins by a small margin, because before your state pension date you pay contributions on your pension.
Why isn't 65 retirement age any more? State pension age has risen in steps since 2013 and is tied to life expectancy. In 2026 it's 67.
Can I use the early-exit scheme to stop at 65? Only if you fall under your collective agreement's heavy-work definition. Since 2026 the scheme is limited to that group. If you qualify, at a state pension age of 67 it covers most of the two bridge years.