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Pension at NWO-I: a new pension system

At NWO-I, you accrue pension via ABP, the General Pension Fund for Public Employees. On 1 January 2027, ABP will move to a new pension system - all pension funds have until 1 January 2028 to do this. In this new system, ABP will divide the collective pension pot into personal pots for all individual participants. The transition to the new system stems from the new Dutch Future Pensions Act (WTP). "A pension that has high purchasing power and that is as stable as possible is the goal," says ABP in a transition plan. What does this new system entail, and what does it mean for your pension and that of your surviving dependants? We will explain that to you this month in our last article in the series on pensions.

Why a new pension system?

The government developed this new Future Pensions Act to enable a more flexible pension system that better ties in with the changing labour market and rising life expectancy. In the new system, individual workers accrue personal pension assets that are maintained even if they change jobs. People are living longer and need pension benefits for a longer period of time. Under the new law, pension funds can maintain lower reserves, allowing them to invest more capital and grow pension assets more than they currently do.

From fixed to less fixed

The new system differs substantially from the old pension system: the 'old' system is a so-called 'defined benefit system' in which you have the security of a fixed pension benefit based on your average salary. Your pension currently increases in fixed tranches until you retire and your pension pot - depending on the number of years of accrual - is filled with an amount of up to 70 percent of your average salary. The new system does not have this degree of certainty.

Compensation for the age group 40 - 68

In the transition, your old pension entitlements are converted to a personal starting capital in the new system. How does your pot accrue after the transition? That takes place in the same way as is provided for at present: the employer puts in about 70 percent of the premium and you put in 30 percent. "The premium must be fixed and equal for all ages," the new law prescribes. Pension funds must demonstrate here that no one will be adversely affected by the transition.

In the old system, all participants accrue the same amount of pension with each euro put in. It doesn't matter how old you are. This is changing in the updated pension scheme. Participants between the ages of 40 and 68 who accrue pension with ABP can be adversely affected by the new rules. ABP promises to provide compensation (an allowance) to this group during the transition to the new system. This only applies to participants accruing pension with ABP on 31 December 2026. The exact amount of the compensation will only be known after 1 January 2027.

For the compensation, your average salary in the year before the new scheme takes effect, i.e. 2026, is taken into account. Suppose you just started working fewer hours that year, in that case the amount will be lower. Do you have plans to work fewer hours after 1 January 2026? It may be wise to postpone this until after 1 January 2027. If necessary, discuss this with your manager and/or an (independent) financial adviser.

Fluctuating pension

Under the new system, pension funds continue to invest the premiums put in, with the aim of paying out the returns on those investments as pension. From the transition onward, the amount of your pension will be determined based on the return of investments made using your personal pension capital,which can vary. During the accrual phase of your pension, the value of the accrual can fluctuate between minus 10 to plus 15 percent. When investing, the pension fund takes ages into account: investments for younger people are exposed to higher risk assets than those for older people. ABP has agreed with the social partners to take measures to prevent the pension from becoming very much lower or higher than intended. ABP opts for a so-called solidarity premium scheme, which means that participants collectively share in windfalls and setbacks and that large fluctuations are cushioned with a reserve pot, a solidarity reserve.

An annual statement

Your pension does not move with the stock market prices every day and interim fluctuations do not immediately affect your pension assets. At the end of the year, ABP takes stock and your pension amount is redetermined for the following calendar year. So you get an annual statement of your personal pension assets,as well as an estimate of your future monthly pension benefit, with three scenarios showing how your monthly benefit might evolve under the influence of investment returns. The amounts are determined therefore based on a) the pension you have accrued, b) how investments have performed over the whole year, and c) the development in interest rates.

What happens when you retire?

If you retire under the new scheme, you will receive your monthly pension benefit for life from then on. This amount is adjusted annually in line with the return on investments. These fluctuations in your pension benefit can range from minus 2 to plus 4 percent.

How will that affect the surviving dependant’s pension?

The rules for surviving dependant’s pension are changing somewhat. There is a distinction between surviving dependant’s pension in case of death before or after the retirement date.

Surviving dependant’s pension in case of death before the retirement date

First of all, all accrued partner pension entitlements remain intact until 2027. These assets will be transferred to the new system and the entitlement to a partner's pension remains intact for this part. For after the transition date to the new system, something different applies: if you die before your retirement date, your partner will receive a maximum of 41 percent of your last pensionable salary. In other words, the amount is no longer a guaranteed sum accrued like in the 'old' scheme, but a percentage of your salary. So, if you accrued pension before 2027, the partner's pension consists of a portion accrued before 2027 plus the return of up to 41 percent of the pensionable salary you earned from 2027 onwards. The entire capital pot will also fluctuate in line with the result of investments and the partner's pension will be adjusted annually. For children, the orphan's pension is maximum 20 percent and, in case of the death of two parents, maximum 40 percent, until the age of 25.

Surviving dependant’s pension in case of death after the retirement date

Less is changing for the event of death after the retirement date. In that case, surviving dependant’s pension is calculated based on the deceased's retirement pension and can amount to maximum 70 percent of that. That is already how it works now in many cases. Like the retirement pension, a partner's pension that has commenced payment is reviewed once a year. This benefit will also fluctuate based on investment returns.

Occupational disability pension

The same applies for occupational disability pension: the amount will depend on the returns on investments.

What will happen in 2026?

In 2026, an enormous operation will take place as ABP prepares for the transition to the new system. As an employee of NWO-I, you recently received an email from ABP. It states that you will receive information in the second half of 2026 on what the updated pension scheme means for your pension and that of your dependents. The ABP website also already provides detailed information about the main changes.

Note to this article

Please note that the pension information in these Inside NWO-I newsletters is general and informative in nature. No rights may be derived from these newsletters. For up-to-date information and advice, see www.abp.nl and MijnABP, where you can view your personal data after logging in. You will also find the total accrued pension entitlements at mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl.

More about pension

In 2025, a series of background articles on pensions appeared in the internal newsletter of NWO-I. The articles can be read here.

Text: Anita van Stel

Newsletter Inside NWO-I, December 2025
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.