When to claim Korea's National Pension

0.5% for each month brought forward — 6% a year — up to five years, so up to 30% less. The reduction is permanent. Claiming early also requires income to stay under a threshold.

0.6% for each month deferred — 7.2% a year — up to five years, so up to 36% more. You can start at any point within those five years, and you receive nothing for the period you defer.

Claiming early means receiving sooner but less each month; deferring is the reverse. The crossover is the age at which the totals received so far are equal. Live beyond it and deferring is ahead in total; die before it and claiming early is. Deferral typically crosses over in the mid-80s, early claiming in the mid-to-late 70s.

The pension rises with inflation each year, and that rise applies at the same rate whether you claimed early, on time or late. So the crossover age — which is what decides the better choice — is the same regardless of inflation. The totals shown are before inflation and therefore lower than what you would actually receive.

Under "my pension" on the National Pension Service website or app. This calculator does not compute the base pension itself: the proportional constants and revaluation rates vary by when you joined, making it hard to reproduce exactly, and deciding on a wrong figure would do more harm than good.

Set each person's choice separately and the crossover is worked out on the household total. Combinations such as one deferring while the other claims on time compare directly. Different ages and life expectancies mean different receiving periods, so each is entered separately and every point in time is converted to your age for a single table.

It can be. Deferring pays off the longer you live, so a common arrangement is for whoever is likely to live longer to defer while the other claims on time. During the deferral that person receives nothing, so the household has to cover those years from elsewhere — check in the drawdown simulator that it holds.