Pension Agreement

The Pension Agreement and its implementation

At the beginning of July 2020, employers, labor unions, and the Dutch government reached an agreement on the details of the Pension Agreement (het Pensioenakkoord). The Pension Agreement mainly concerns pension that is accrued via your employer, such as your pension with SPF. The Pension Agreement provides for a fundamental reform of the Dutch pension system, and its effect was meant to be legally defined by January 1, 2022. All pension funds in the Netherlands were meant to have changed their schemes by January 1, 2026 to ensure they complied with the new rules. However, in May 2021, the Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment stated that the legislative process had been delayed and that the new pension system would enter into force no later than January 1, 2023. The end date has therefore been moved to January 1, 2027.

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Some steps need to be taken before all pension schemes are changed. First of all, many points of the Pension Agreement itself need to be worked out in more detail before the Agreement can be laid down in legislation. Secondly, social partners and pension fund boards have to make some important decisions. It is therefore not yet known when the pension schemes implemented by SPF will be transferred to the new rules.

What we communicated before can be found in the right menu.

Below you can read what is known so far about the new pension system and the new pension rules. What this means for your personal pension will become clearer in time. Of course, we will keep you updated.

General

What will remain the same?

The new pension system retains the strengths of the current system:

If you are retired on a pension, you will continue to receive a pension for as long as you live.
Pension remains one of the employment conditions in the contract of employment with your employer.
You automatically accrue a pension by paying contributions together with your employer. You pay your share automatically from your gross salary.
We share the costs and the risks, and we decide together. As a result, we are in a better position to absorb economic setbacks than if everyone acted alone.

What is changing?

The idea is that the new system will be fairer and that the contributions paid for you will end up in your own pension savings fund.
However, it is expected that the level of the new pension will be less certain than it is now because the investment performance of the pension fund will have to be directly factored into the pension benefits and the individual savings funds. As a result, the pension can be increased sooner, but it can also be lowered sooner if the situation is less favorable.
The new rules for pensions emphasize what pension accrual is all about: using the paid-in contributions to invest and thus earn money for a good pension. We work together to create reserves for a rainy day. This way, we prevent one generation from being worse off than the other, such as if the economy is in a slump when you retire on a pension. We share that risk together.

When will I notice the changes?

We will gradually take steps to apply the new system over the coming years. SPF must switch to the new pension scheme by January 1, 2027 at the latest.
First, the elaborated agreement will be passed into law. After that, social partners and then the Board of PDN must make choices within the framework of this legislation.

Do I need to take action myself?

You cannot take any action yet. The Pension Agreement is currently being drawn up by the Dutch government and the social partners. The employer and the labor unions are going to decide on the future of the SPF pension scheme. The SPF Board also still has to make decisions. It will therefore take some time before it is clear what the Pension Agreement means for you personally.

Draw a lump sum

From 2023, you will be able to withdraw an amount. This is how it works: When you retire on a pension, you can choose to have part of your accrued pension paid out as a lump sum. This is laid down in a new law. But this too is still under discussion, and it is not yet certain whether the law will be ready to enter into force by January 1, 2023.

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You cannot withdraw your entire accrued pension at once – you can withdraw up to 10% of your pension. If you withdraw a lump sum, your monthly lifelong pension will be reduced. You have to decide for yourself whether you can live the way you want to with that lower pension. At the moment, we cannot say what it means for everyone personally. We cannot yet make calculations or give sample amounts.

Lump sum and the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst)

Withdrawing a lump sum can have consequences for your tax return and for any benefits you receive, such as care benefit or rent benefit. The consequences depend on various factors, such as the amount of money you withdraw. Your personal situation also plays a role.

You can do what you want with the money

When you retire on a pension, you can opt for a lump sum. You can also decide what you spend your money on.

Choose between higher benefit or lump sum

If you stop working before your State Pension Age (AOW age), SPF offers you the option to choose a higher pension up to your AOW age. However, you cannot opt for a lump sum as well, as this combination is not permitted by law.