Pension Reform in the Netherlands

Abstract

During the last decade, the Dutch have debated intensively reforming their second-pillar pension scheme. Meanwhile, ten years turned out to be a too short period for pension funds to bring their funding ratios to sound levels, due to among others the worldwide decline of interest rates. Currently, the Dutch government and the social partners have come up with a quite concrete reform plan. The plan includes three main points: i) make the move towards actuarially fair pension accruals, ii) strengthen the link between benefit levels and capital market rates of return and iii) introduce the option to take up part of accrued pension wealth at retirement. This paper reviews and interprets the plan for pension reform.