More than a third (35 per cent) of Swedish savers over the age of 55 do not know how to withdraw their occupational pension, according to a survey by Swedbank and Kantar Sifo.

Women were found to be less confident in how to take out their pension than men, with 44 per cent of women unsure compared to 26 per cent of men.

When approaching retirement, occupational pension savers in Sweden need to decide whether they want to withdraw over a number of limited years, for example five or 10 years, or for the rest of their life.

As a result, limited year withdrawals have higher monthly payments than life withdrawals.

“It is important to familiarise yourself in good time with how high a pension you will receive and what choices you need to make regarding the pension,” said Swedbank senior analyst, Madelén Falkenhäll.

“Regardless of which choice you make for your occupational pension, time-limited or lifelong withdrawal, you need to understand the effect of the choice you make. 

“If you have several different occupational pensions, you can choose different withdrawal periods for them, in this way you can have a slightly higher pension at the beginning of your retirement period but also a security in your finances for life.”

Savers were warned that if they take a fixed-term pension withdrawal for five years, their limited time pension would exceed their final salary during that time but drop “significantly” to 40-50 per cent of salary after that.

Falkenhäll concluded: “Everyone should make their own choices, but it is important to know what effect the choices will have. 

“Find out in good time which withdrawal period is the default for your occupational pension and change if you want to.”

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