Accruing extra pension

There is a possibility that your state retirement pension plus the pension you accrue through your employer will not be enough to enable you to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Depending on your personal situation, you can take steps to make extra pension savings. There are several ways of accruing extra pension.

Whether it makes sense for you to accrue extra pension depends on how much pension you have accrued so far. Go to your personal online portal to find out what your pension situation is if you are actively accruing pension with a.s.r. You can check your pension situation on the Pensioenschijf-van-vijf (Dutch only) if you are not accruing pension with a.s.r. Alternatively, you can visit mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl.

If you know already that you will have a pension gap, we urge you to educate yourself about the different ways of accruing extra pension.

Are you accruing pension through the a.s.r. Employee Pension scheme? Find out below if making additional contributions is a good choice for you. If you are accruing pension through a.s.r. in another pension scheme, check out the possibilities at My a.s.r.

Many employer’s will allow you to make additional contributions to build up a higher pension. Please consult My Pension Plaza to find out whether this applies to you.

Making additional contributions to your Employee Pension comes with a number of advantages

Advantage	Why
Higher pension	Your additional contribution will always count towards a higher retirement pension and surviving dependants’ pension after your retirement date.
Convenience	A portion of your gross salary will automatically be transferred to your pension pot every month.
Flexibility	You can change your contribution or discontinue it every month at your convenience.
No extra cost	You do not take out new cover, so no extra fees will be due.
Your contribution is not liable to tax	You make the best possible use of the tax facilities offered by your pension scheme. You will not owe any tax on your contributions and the associated return until your retirement date. After that, you will effectively owe tax on the pension you receive, which will probably be subject to a lower tax rate.
Sustainable investments	Your additional contributions will be put towards sustainable investments. Rather than investing in the arms trade or the tobacco industry, we invest in green energy and new pharmaceuticals.
Attractive return	The return we have generated over recent years was much higher than you would have achieved had you put the money in a savings account.

Good to know about additional contributions

There are many ways in which to put money aside for later; making additional contributions is just one way of going about this. You should weigh your options depending on your personal situation. We recommend that you seek advice.
If you start making additional contributions, you will be subject to tax legislation governing pension accrual. That means, for instance, that you will not be able to withdraw your contributions early. Your annual contributions have also been capped.
If you should die before your retirement date, your accrued retirement pension will lapse. As long as you make additional contributions, your surviving dependants will effectively receive a partner’s pension or orphan’s pension, which is covered under the pension scheme. Please consult your annual a.s.r. Uniform Benefit Statement to find out more.

Go to additional contributions (Dutch only)

Do you have a pension shortfall? If so, any money that you deposit into an annuity savings account can be set off against your income in box 1 of the income tax return, subject to certain conditions. Check out these conditions at the Belastingdienst website (Dutch only). You can then accrue extra pension capital with a tax break. The capital is used to purchase extra pension. This is known as an annuity. The payments you later receive from your annuity will be subject to tax. If at that time your income is lower, because you are already receiving the state pension and some other pension, you will probably also pay less tax.
How much capital you can save each year with a tax break to provide you with a supplementary pension depends on your tax allowance. First calculate your tax allowance at the Belastingdienst website (Dutch only). If you know what your tax allowance is, you can make additional savings towards a supplementary pension with an annuity savings account.
Are your pension savings on track? Or do you have a pension shortfall, but no tax allowance (calculate your allowance at the Belastingdienst website (Dutch only))? In that case, you can still make additional pension savings. You can save a capital in an internet savings account, which you can then use to accrue extra pension.
There is also the option to arrange something extra for your surviving dependants with a term life insurance and a funeral insurance.

Pension amounts generally are reducing due to several reasons. To name just a few:

The government is making changes to keep the state pension affordable.
The government is lowering the tax allowance thresholds for pension accrual.
You might not have accrued pension for all of the years you have worked, for example because your employer did not have a pension scheme, or you are working as a freelancer. You could then find yourself with a pension shortfall.

If you want to do something about accruing a bigger pension for your retirement, you can seek advice from a pension adviser. Such an adviser can provide you with customized advice. Please be sure to discuss in advance what your adviser will charge for this advice and what any additional services entail if these are required.

Find an adviser (Dutch only)

Please feel free to contact us at any time. We are available by telephone on business days from 8.30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on +31 (0)30 257 42 66. Alternatively, you can complete the contact form. We are here to help.