Parliament is set to handle a draft ordinance to raise the AOV pensionable age from 62 to 65 this afternoon. It is one of the requirements set by the Netherlands for a third tranche of COVID-19 liquidity support with today, July 15, as deadline.
The same goes for increasing the civil servant pension age to 65, which was already approved by the legislature but – up to Monday – still to be proclaimed into law. The resulting changes per July 1 will be explained in detail by the General Pension Fund St. Maarten APS during virtual information sessions later this week.
That is a good thing, because this concerns sensitive and intricate matters, while two pension adjustments – partly out of necessity – taking place at the same time can be confusing as well. They are separate processes but based on the same global trend of an ageing population due to healthcare advances and thus more recipients relative to contributors.
Added to the mix was Monday’s news that among reform measures pushed by the Dutch government in exchange for continued financial assistance was a pension age hike to 67, on top of the one to 65 yet to come into force. This sparked quite some debate especially on social media, with some commenting they would likely be working until death.
It is important to realise that the proposal from The Hague is to gradually go up to 66 in 2023 and 67 in 2025. This at least means persons nearing the pensionable age may be less affected.
For the long-term viability of both funds and to prevent retirees not having any pension at all in the future, these steps will ultimately be needed. The fact that they are now also conditions to get soft loans the country currently cannot do without only makes it more urgent to do what must be done for the wellbeing of the community and particularly tomorrow’s elderly.
