Target retirement age (riktålder)
Your riktålder is the reference retirement age the whole pension system points at. It is not fixed: it moves upward over time as people live longer, so younger generations have a later riktålder than today’s retirees.
What it controls
Several things hang off your riktålder. The earliest age you can draw allmän pension is tied to it, garantipension and some other parts start at it, and the year after you pass it a larger grundavdrag (the förhöjt grundavdrag) makes pension income noticeably less taxed than before.
Why waiting often pays
Drawing early means a smaller monthly pension spread over more years. Waiting until, or past, your riktålder raises the monthly amount and unlocks the lower tax. Timing is one of the biggest levers you actually control over your pension, often worth more than small differences in fund fees.
Where it shows up
- Pension
- FIRE
- Withdrawal strategy
Riktålder is 67 for people reaching it around now, and it is legislated to keep rising with life expectancy. Don’t assume 65: look up the figure for your own birth cohort, because it sets your whole timeline.