Pension at NWO-I: your pension pot for later

As an NWO-I employee, you accrue a pension pot for later: your pension. Each month, both NWO-I and you put money aside, the pension premium. That money is managed by Algemeen Burgerlijk Pensioenfonds (ABP: a pension fund for the government and education sectors). When you reach pensionable age, ABP disburses that pension pot.

This and subsequent issues of Inside NWO-I will take a look at pensions in the broadest sense of the word. How is that savings pot for later realised, and what is possible en route to your pension date? We will explain how changes in your private or work situation can influence the size of your pension. And, we will consider what the Dutch pension means for temporary foreign employees (such as PhDs and postdocs).

What is a pension?

Pension is your income for later. You accrue this income as you work. Perhaps your pension sounds a long way off? However, your pension can also be income if you become incapacitated for work. Or income for your partner, survivor’s pension, in the event that you come to pass (only in Dutch).

Your total pension often has three parts:

1. State pension

You receive a pension from the Dutch state, your so-called AOW. This is the basic pension from the Dutch government. If you live in the Netherlands, you automatically accrue 2% for each year, up to a maximum of 70% of the Dutch minimum wage.

The Social Insurance Bank (SVB) automatically pays your state pension when you reach pensionable age. The size of the state pension depends upon how many years you have lived in the Netherlands. Check your state pension age on the ABP website. Make sure you inform the SVB of any personal changes, such as moving or a different bank account. You can read more about the AOW on the SVB website.

2. Pension from ABP

Most employers in the Netherlands, including NWO-I, arrange a pension facility for their employees. As an NWO-I employee, you automatically participate in this pension facility with ABP. This is how you accrue your pension via NWO-I. Each month, you contribute an amount for this that is related to the size of your income. You do not build that up across your entire gross salary. First, the gross salary is reduced by a so-called franchise payment to allow for the fact that you will later receive AOW from the Dutch government.

Your pension premium contribution (8.1%) is stated on your salary slip. NWO-I also pays a pension premium (only in Dutch) for each employee (of 18.9%). With both investments, you jointly accrue your final pension. The aim of the pension schemes is that the AOW and the pension you accrue after 40 years of working jointly constitute about 70% of your monthly income before you retire. Which rate of accumulation and franchise apply to you? You can see that on your personal Uniform Pension Overview (UPO) via http://www.mijnabp.nl.

From your pension date onwards, you will receive a pension for as long as you live. When you reach pensionable age, the pension fund ABP can start monthly payments. You must request this pension yourself because you can also decide to retire sooner or later (more about that in the next issue of Inside NWO-I). Make sure that you keep ABP updated about your personal details. At mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl you can find your total pension overview.

3. Your own savings

In addition to your AOW and ABP pension, you can save for your pension yourself. For example, if you find the size of your future pension too low or intend to work less later. ABP offers several possibilities to supplement your pension(only in Dutch).

What other choices do you have?

• Did you accrue pension elsewhere before you came to work for NWO-I? In that case, you can sometimes transfer the previously accrued pension to ABP. This is called transfer of accrued benefits. (only in Dutch).
• You can accrue pension over your salary to a maximum salary of about € 100,000. If you earn more and would also like more income than the maximum pension income upon retiring, then you can make an additional arrangement. You can find a lot of useful information on the ABP website (only in Dutch).

Further in our series on pensions:

In the coming months, Inside NWO-I will consider various aspects of pensions, such as the generation pact, children, workplace disability, changing jobs, and the changes to the pension system.

Text: Anita van Stel

Newsletter Inside NWO-I, December 2024
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.