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This is how pension savings work in the Netherlands if you have an asylum residence permit

Last updated: 4/22/2024, 5:47 AM
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If you work in the Netherlands, you can also save for your pension. This is money you can get from a certain age when you stop working. Read here how saving for retirement in the Netherlands works.

If you work in the Netherlands you can build up a pension in 2 ways

 If you work in the Netherlands, you can build up a pension in 2 ways:

  • You build up a basic pension from the Dutch State Pension Act (AOW). This is automatically arranged through your payroll taxes.

  • You often build up additional pension with your employer. 

Have you fled Ukraine and are over 67? Then you are of the age where you would normally get a pension in the Netherlands. However, because you did not work in the Netherlands, you will not get a pension. You will receive living allowance from the Dutch government.

Here is how you build up basic pension (AOW)

If you have fled Ukraine and are working in the Netherlands, you will automatically build up AOW for every year you have worked. The longer you work in the Netherlands, the more AOW you build up.

The final amount of the AOW depends on:

  • The number of years of built up AOW.

  • Your (living) situation at the time you are entitled to AOW. If you live alone, you will get more AOW. If you live together or are married, you will get less AOW.

Here is how to build up an additional pension

Usually you build up a supplementary pension when you are employed. Even if you work through an employment agency. Employers are not required to save for your pension. But most employers do.

You and your employer save your pension together through a pension fund or insurance company. They manage and pay out your pension money when you stop working. Often the employer pays ⅔ and you pay ⅓. Your portion is deducted from your salary. You do not have to do anything for it yourself.

Your employment contract or collective labour agreement will tell you how this is arranged for you. You can always ask about this when discussing your employment contract.

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