How much income can you expect after retiring?
Planning to retire soon? If so, you've probably got a lot of questions. In this article, I discuss some important aspects affecting your pension and give some useful tips.
If you’d like to talk to someone about your personal situation in more detail, make an appointment.
The first thing you’re probably wondering is how much income you’ll need. You may also want to know who is paying your pension and how much it’s going to be. Go to mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl to see how much pension you’ve accrued and what you can expect when you retire, including your state pension (AOW). It’s possible that some of the pensions you’ve accrued are not shown in this overview, maybe because you arranged them privately (such as annuities or endowment insurance).
Who will you get a pension from?
Do you know exactly who your pension providers are? You can’t be entirely sure that your pension overview is complete, as you might have worked somewhere very briefly and built up a very small pension there. Try to find out through your former employers or a pension statement you received at the time.
You can sometimes opt to commute a small pension. If this pension is less than € 632.63 (2026), you’ll be liable to pay income tax on it, but not a penalty. Commuting a pension means having a lump sum paid out, which is derived from the value of the small annual pension in question. It’s a good idea to get advice on this beforehand. Taking a lump sum payout may push you into a higher tax bracket and reduce your tax credits. And of course, your annual pension will then be lower too.
How to find a missing pension or annuity policy
If you can't find information about your policy:
- Ask the insurer
If you know the name of the insurer but can’t find the policy, get in touch with them. Things become more difficult if the insurer no longer exists. In that case, contact the Dutch central bank (De Nederlandsche Bank) through their website to find the legal successor. - Insurer search advice
If you’ve been looking for your policy but can’t find it, you can ask for help from the Dutch Association of Insurers search service. The Association will ask participating insurers to check their records for any policies registered in your name. You’ll be notified if your insurer finds a policy.
Private pension and state pension: what's the difference?
How old do you need to be to start drawing your pensions? The state pension age is unlikely to be the same date as your private pension start date. This means that you may have an income shortfall if your pension starts later. And if you accrued a pension through different pension plans and several providers, your pensions may start on different dates. Your pension plan will tell you when you can start to draw your pension.
When will you receive the state pension?
| Year | State pension age | For persons born |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 67 years | After 31 December 1957 and before 1 January 1959 |
| 2026 | 67 years | After 31 December 1958 and before 1 January 1960 |
| 2027 | 67 years | After 31 December 1959 and before 1 January 1961 |
In 2028, the state pension age will increase by 3 months (website Central Government, in Dutch).
What are your options when it comes to your pension?
Some pension plans have flexible conditions, which means that your pension may start earlier, the amount paid may vary, or that people can ‘swap’ pensions (e.g. convert a surviving dependents’ pension into a higher old-age pension).
Following the introduction of the new Pensions Act, you may choose to take out up to 10% of your annuity as a lump sum. As mentioned previously, it’s a good idea to get advice on this beforehand.
Pension and income tax
From the day that you reach state pension age, you pay 17.85% on the first € 41,123 (€ 38,883 if you were born before 1 January 1946), instead of 37,56%. The table looks like this:
| Band | Taxable income | Tax rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | up to € 41.123 | 17,85% |
| 2 | from € 41.123 to € 78.426 | 37,56% |
| 3 | from € 78.426 | 49,50% |
In addition to the tax rates above, you will pay an income-dependent healthcare insurance contribution of 4.85% on your taxable income up to a maximum of € 79,409.
If you reach the state pension age over the course of 2026, you will only be entitled to the lower tax rate of 17.85% for part of the year. So it might be better to delay drawing your pension until the following year.
Please note: when submitting a tax assessment for a given year, all your income earned in that year will be added together (minus any deductions). The applicable tax rates increase with this taxable income. If you receive your pension payments from different providers, this may mean that together they have not deducted enough tax and you will have to pay an additional amount of tax.
Lump sum withdrawal option for pensions postponed
The lump sum withdrawal option was originally intended to be introduced for pension plans with effect from 1 January 2022. This date soon proved unfeasible, as did the postponed deadlines that were set later. The deadline of 1 July 2026 has now also been scrapped.
Like the previous times, a key consideration now is that parliamentary debates on the bill (which is still with the Senate) won’t leave pension parties enough time to inform members properly about the new plan. Implementation problems are also expected.
The pension sector is therefore advocating that the lump sum withdrawal option should only be introduced after the transition to the new pension system. This would mean that retirees will only be able to use this option in 2028 at the earliest. It’s up to the new government to set the new intended effective date.
Conclusion
Check where your pension is held and remember that not all your pensions may appear on mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl. Also check whether your pension is enough to cover what you need for disposable income. You can usually balance this by using the flexible conditions in your pension plan. Be sure to also put money aside for an additional tax bill if your pension is taxed at a higher rate.
