How flexible is your pension?

 The age at which you receive AOW is fixed. But the pension you have accrued through your employer (employee pension) is often flexible. For example, you can receive your pension earlier or later, exchange retirement pension for survivor's pension or vice versa, have part of your pension commence, first receive a higher pension and later a lower pension (high-low pension) or a low-high pension. On this page you can read more about the choices regarding your pension. Always ask for advice before making a choice! 

Receive your pension earlier

If you stop working earlier, the pension you accrue through your employer is lower than if you continue working. You build up pension for a shorter period of time. Your monthly pension is also lower, because you have to get by on your accrued pension income for more years. And you often pay more tax on your retirement income. So stopping work earlier usually means a lower income. So ask for advice before making a choice.

Please note: the commencement date of your AOW will not change if you stop working earlier, nor will the amount of your AOW benefit. You can read more about this on the FNV website .

There are several options for receiving your employee pension earlier:

• In some collective labor agreements, agreements have been made about early retirement (RVU): for specific professions, in the period 2021-2025, it is possible to retire up to 3 years earlier. More about this arrangement can be found on the FNV website .
• You can also opt for a part-time pension. In that case, for example, you work 1 day less and you start part of your pension. 
• Will you receive AOW within 5 years? In many pension schemes you can also have your pension start earlier, while you stop working or continue working.
  If you continue to work, please note that you may pay more tax and that you are less entitled to benefits because your income increases.
• Do you want your pension to start more than 5 years before your state pension age? Then you may bring forward the date of your employee pension, but you must also really stop working.

Postpone your retirement 

Your AOW starts at a fixed time, but you can decide to continue working. If you do that, you can opt for AOW + employee pension + salary. Or you can have your employee pension start later (up to a maximum of 5 years after your state pension age). Then the monthly pension that you will receive later is higher. Please note that if you continue working, you are no longer insured for unemployment or incapacity for work. Your entitlement to benefits and your tax return will also change. You can read more about this on the  CNV website and in the FNV  brochure .

Another option is to stop working at the state pension age, but have your employee pension start at a later date (until 5 years after the state pension age). Or you can opt for a low-high pension: see further down this page.

Exchanging old-age pension for survivor's pension 

On Mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl you can see how much survivor's pension your partner and/or children will receive in the event of your death. Do you think this is not enough? Then you can exchange part of your retirement pension for a higher survivor's pension. You can exchange this at two moments: on your retirement date or when you stop working for your current employer. Exchanging retirement pension for survivor's pension is often useful if the survivor's pension is on a risk basis. Contact your pension provider for the conditions! 

Survivor's pension on a risk basis

In many pension schemes, the survivor's pension is insured on a risk basis. There is only a pension for your surviving dependents if you die while you are employed by an employer. This survivor's pension lapses when you leave your employer. Have you changed jobs more often? Then the pension for your surviving dependents may be lower than you expect. Therefore, look at Mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl and find out what your surviving dependents will receive.
Your Uniform Pension overview contains the following text if you have a risk-based survivor's pension:
Please note: Your surviving dependents will not receive a benefit if you die and no longer work for this employer and (possibly) also not if you die after you have retired .

Exchanging survivor's pension for old-age pension

You can exchange survivor's pension for a higher retirement pension. This is only possible if you have a survivor's pension on an accrual basis (and not a survivor's pension on a risk basis, see also above). You can often only arrange this when you retire. There are all kinds of rules for exchanging survivor's pension for old-age pension. For example, your partner must agree to the exchange. For these and other rules, please contact your pension provider or a financial advisor. 

Temporary higher pension

You can choose to first receive a higher employee pension for a number of years and then (until your death) a lower pension. This can be useful, for example, if your mortgage has not yet been paid off in full. The low pension must be at least 75% of the high pension. You must declare this no later than the retirement date.

Keep in mind that this has consequences for your tax return and allowances. Also, when the low pension component starts, you may have more difficulty making ends meet, while your healthcare costs may increase.

Temporary lower pension

You can also choose to receive a low pension first and a high pension later. The rules for this pension are the same as the rules for high-low pension. In practice, however, this is rarely offered by pension providers.