Millions of Dutch workers to receive one-time pension boost as funds shift to new system

Millions of working people in the Netherlands will receive a one-time boost to their pension savings at the upcoming year-end as pension funds begin switching to the new pension system.

The increase is meant to compensate mainly people in their 40s and 50s, but workers who change jobs or reduce their hours risk missing out on large sums.

All pension funds must move to the new system by January 1, 2028. Under the old system, younger workers partly built pension rights for older colleagues. That redistribution disappears in the new system.

“As a result, there is a group that in the old system did build up extra pension for older participants, but because of the switch to the new system does not benefit later in life from extra contributions by the new generation,” Leontine Treur, senior economist and pension specialist at Rabobank, told NU.nl.

Several large funds, including healthcare fund PFZW and construction fund bpfBOUW, will switch at the coming year-end, along with many smaller funds. In total, about 9.5 million pensions will be transferred on January 1, 2026.

The compensation is added to individual pension pots when funds divide their assets under the new system. The money is not paid out in cash. Whether someone receives compensation depends mainly on age. Younger workers generally receive nothing, while older workers do. Age thresholds vary by fund: PFZW starts at 30, metal fund PME at 38, while civil servants’ fund ABP uses a different cutoff.

The amount depends on age, salary, expected future pension accrual and the fund’s financial position. PME estimates that a 52-year-old earning 60,000 euros gross per year could receive a one-time amount of 18,000 euros, though actual figures may differ. PFZW calculated that a 50-year-old receiving about 13,000 euros in compensation would later get 86 euros gross more per month in pension income.

Workers whose fund switches later will also receive compensation, but only after mandatory reserves are filled and current retirees are protected.

Workers planning to cut their hours or change jobs face risks. Compensation is partly based on salary in the final year before the switch, and moving from a fund that has not yet transitioned to one that already has could mean losing the compensation entirely.