Reader's submission: Hopeful messages about an additional increase in the state pension
January 4 2020
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Hopeful reading is the reports in the Dutch media about an additional increase in the state pension. These were those messages:
- NRC: AOW will increase sharply and will partly compensate for the expected pension reduction.
- AD: Highest increase in state pension in 20 years: 'Exceptional growth'. Since 1998, AOW benefits have not risen as fast as they do now. In 2019 and 2020, the state pension will increase by no less than 8,3 percent in total, according to ABN Amro's Pension Monitor. The bank speaks of an 'exceptional growth'.
- Trouw: In concrete terms, AOW pensioners will receive an additional 2,4 percent in AOW in the first half of next year, according to calculations that ABN Amro is presenting today. In July 2020, this will probably increase by more than 1 percent. Added up, the monthly amount then increased by 8,3 percent compared to January of this year.
However, what is the practice? I gain 1,1% in January…. Just contacted SVB. This agency has taken me out of the dream.
Submitted by Hank
My gross AOW increases this month compared to December by 2,2 percent. The influences of the tax rate and the health insurance premium should not be taken into account. You talk gross about tens of dollars per month.
If you have MijnSVB you can see the amounts yourself under 'payments' and you can see the specification.
Possibly, that that increase was gross and that it was immediately recovered through a tax increase?
As a government you have to do something with the elections approaching.
First it was a promise of 1.000 euros and now of more AOW.
I don't understand what you are responding to, everything is arranged for us. We have nothing to say about this, we can only accept it. Of course if they want you get 50 percent, then the tax is deducted and you still get less than before.
Dear Henk, you were lucky. Because I only get 1,01% net. But still, it's not all lies in the newspapers you mention. NRC reported in October 2019 that the AOW increase would amount to 1% as of January 2,4, and that another 1% will be added as of July 1.
If you check that 2,4% with the SVB, you will see that it is all correct. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/10/17/abn-amro-voorspelt-forse-stijging-aow-a3977090
See also: https://www.svb.nl/nl/aow/bedragen-aow/aow-bedragen
The AD says pretty much the same thing: https://www.ad.nl/economie/hoogste-stijging-aow-in-20-jaar-uitzonderlijke-groei~a4634d9d/ Indeed, between the lines you can read that compared to 2018 there will be an increase in the years 2019 and 2020. It is therefore possible that as of 1-1-21 that 8,3% is correct. Newspaper reports are best read with some lightness.
Another story is whether we pensioners get along with it? This turns out not to be the case, because the basic tax rate has been increased (and 2020 is also not exempt from a pension discount). The increase in, for example, the general and elderly discount does not really help.
Nevertheless, it is incomprehensible why pensioners are no longer saying that for years they have not been allowed to benefit from the general economic upswing. Organizations for the elderly such as ANBO, KBO-PCOP as well as the new merger Koepel Pensioners should take advantage this year to take hard action in the run-up to the 2021 elections and not just on the Malieveld. Let them ask the farmers and builders how to express years of dissatisfaction.
A political party like 50Plus should also stand up for our interests more strongly and more. It is all funny and funny (but also silly) when Henk Krol sings a song from the old box at RTL4 Eva Jinek in front of the camera and says he is looking forward to the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, but we have other worries than the signal that he issues: to act like an elderly pias upon request.
https://nos.nl/artikel/2317057-grootste-ouderenbond-ontstaat-uit-fusie.html
Action! Flatten the Randstad with scooters! Block the courtyard with walkers! Sitdown on the polder track!
Anything is better than always passively letting everything happen to us
and fool us.
Promising a lot and then getting it back through taxes is of course ridiculous.
Much ado about (almost) nothing.
That image with scooters and walkers is due for a major makeover. My neighbor on the left is 82 years old, as spry as twenty years ago, working out every day and volunteering every day in a nearby nursing home. My neighbor on the right is 64 years old and is very disappointed because his retirement age keeps moving forward and the amount of his benefits backwards. They would be happy to wash the ears of politicians here and there. I participate.
Well I also worked for 45 years, now I got into unemployment 64 last year.
Go apply again, it will make you frustrated
Must until my 66 and 7 months.
I didn't ask for this, but I can bridge the time without income myself. Then you have to cheer.
Everything that Rutte cs do is intended to make the rich and big capital even richer.
And that has to be paid for by the pensioners, among others, from the length or the breadth.
70% of companies in NL do not export, 30% of companies do export, according to Rutte cs, the Netherlands, not the Dutch, should rely entirely on those 30%.
Only, those 30% are Dutch companies or perhaps companies that immediately put the money they earn outside the Netherlands,
The latter, of course.
Indeed, it is time for the pensioners to get loud too.
Rutte must know what life is, a big jellyfish what there is. My pension was cut by 300 euros as a thank you after those years voted for VVD.
Your conclusion that Aow recipients are not making significant progress is correct. My net state pension will increase by 7 euros this month, the same amount by which my company pension will decrease. I also share your opinion that it is incomprehensible that retirees are losing their disposable income year after year. Now I do not immediately see the Malieveld in The Hague filling up with elderly people behind walkers or in mobility scooters, although the majority of today's over-66s do not need these aids and are still fully active, but elderly organizations and political parties would much more often make a stronger statement and simply no longer have to accept that the elderly are not allowed to benefit from the economic boom. During the recently held general considerations in the House of Representatives, Henk Krol was begging Mark Rutte to please not leave the pensioners out in the cold. Well, Rutte won't mind that at all. The support of 2Plus was indispensable for the government's plans regarding CO50 emissions, so Krol should have pounded his fist on the table and made demands for his promised support. Employees in hospitals and healthcare institutions, teachers, police officers, etc. will receive a reasonable pay increase this year, often accompanied by one-off payments of at least 1000 euros. They deserve that too and they deserve it. But why don't politicians grant pensioners at least the indexation of their pension? It costs the state nothing at all, on the contrary, it brings in more tax money. The only consequence is that the pension funds will see their colossal assets increase less quickly. The directors of the pension funds, including those of the largest fund, ABP, are in favor of it, but are bound hand and foot by the regulations imposed by politics.
I have sent the following to the government, among others.
I thank you for the effort you have taken to draw attention to your suggestion about the incomes of Messrs van Olphen and Velzel
With an income of 3x the Balkende norm and a bonus on top of that, the "gentlemen" "earn" with the money of the pensioners at the ABP.
For the pensioners, there has been no euro for almost 11 years!
However, the burdens with all the increases, even the low VAT rate had to be raised.
I have also sent a suggestion to the House of Representatives to give a one-off payment to pensioners of 1000 euros! It has their attention I received in reply.
Pension health and welfare same gross, net less due to tax increase...! I called health and welfare. The girl replied cheerfully; no, your gross pension has remained the same….
The ABP reported this week that pensions will not be cut in 2020.
I completely agree with you, it is about time that all people with only state pension and state pensioners with a small pension unite and take a stand against these kinds of cabinets before it is too late. Farmers, builders, teachers and care are slowly seeing the light and are doing something about it, enough is enough.
If we don't get up too, it will happen to us soon.
Just checked again. Tax withheld in December € 115, in January € 127. What Ruud writes is therefore partly true. It is what it is, promise a lot and give little!
For a single person, the AOW benefit (with 100% benefit and without holiday allowance) will increase gross from € 1.228,22 on 1-7-2019 to € 1.255,87 on 1-1-2020. Without entitlement to tax credits, the wage tax/income tax amounts to € 110,54 (9,0%) resp. € 121,82 (9,7%), so that you are left with a net amount of € 1.117,68 resp. € 1.134,05. That is an increase of € 16,37 or 1,46%.
For married couples or cohabiting couples, the AOW benefit (with 100% benefit and without holiday allowance) will increase gross from € 843,78 on 1-7-2019 to € 859,55 on 1-1-2020. Without entitlement to tax credits, the wage tax/income tax is € 75,94 (9,0%) resp. € 83,38 (9,7%) so that you are left with € 767,84 resp. €776,17. That is an increase of € 8,33 or 1,09%.
It is not yet time to put out the (Dutch) flag. These are also not rises to kick in a door. I'd stick with half a door!
Dear Lammert, a cat flap is getting closer. Incidentally, I have much less net of AOW than the amount you state for a cohabitant with a right to a 100% benefit.
In 2019, it was indeed € 843,78 gross, of which € 157,75 was deducted in payroll tax and the healthcare insurance contribution of € 48,09, so that I was paid € 637,94 net.
In 2020 gross € 859,55, from which € 167,17 payroll tax deducts and € 46,84 in Zvw, so that my net AOW becomes € 645,54 and therefore about 7 euros more, as I wrote in my earlier response.
Roedii is right in stating that most pensioners are still fully active and fully participate in society, but as far as politics are concerned, this does not count.
I really can't understand that the various governments of the last 10 years find it seemingly normal that pensioners have less to spend every year and that the people's representatives allow all that to happen. I wrote to several group leaders about it, but that was a waste of energy. Their bland reply was that the financial position of retirees was definitely their focus and priority. To date, however, unfortunately without any positive result and I don't see that happening in the future either.
Hi Leo Th,
Half a door is perhaps a bit exaggerated and it would indeed be better to have a cat flap.
Your € 157,75 in payroll tax and the healthcare insurance contribution of € 48,09 indicate that you live in the Netherlands. Subsequently, in your case you are entitled to the general tax credit and the elderly person's credit, which means that you do not in fact owe any payroll tax on your state pension. If you also have a pension or annuity payment in addition to your state pension, you are of course only entitled to the tax credits once.
My setup is based on living in (among others) Thailand as this question has been asked in Thailand Blog. In that case you owe 9% for 2019 and 9,75% for 2020 in wage tax or income tax (1st bracket). You therefore do not pay national insurance contributions, such as for the Long-Term Care Act, and no income-related contribution under the Healthcare Insurance Act. This means that you are no longer insured for this. The right to (the tax component of) the tax credits will unfortunately also lapse, so that you actually owe tax in the Netherlands (and possibly in Thailand) on your state pension. Compared to living in the Netherlands, this results in more than 1 month of lower AOW benefit (ie 12 x 9% to 9,75%).
As for your criticism of government policy, I fully support that. The Government's adage has been for many years: “Work should be more rewarding.” Or rather: “Already earning a lot, just need to get more.” If you “hold up your hand”, as is the case with an AOW benefit as unemployed income, then you will soon have to be satisfied with crumbs. But this generation has brought the Netherlands to where it is today!
On the other hand, we should also not lose sight of the fact that, if old age pensioners would now also fully benefit from the prosperity (which they have therefore ensured), withdrawal symptoms may arise in this group. After all, they are not used to this prosperity and apparently the Government thinks it is wise to leave it as it is, in order to prevent the occurrence of these withdrawal symptoms, which in turn can lead to higher healthcare costs. But maybe Rutte can promise them (and which I fall under) another € 1.000 (and then also fail to keep his promise this time!).
Dear Lammert, your contributions to Thailandblog on tax matters and related matters are unsurpassed and very understandable in terms of content. My earlier response was therefore not meant to be critical in any way, but only to communicate the amount of my AOW benefit, indeed as a resident of the Netherlands. I apply the one-off right to a tax credit to my company pension. I find your comment about withdrawal symptoms comical, but there is certainly a grain of truth in it. A one-off payment of a thousand euros to pensioners will therefore remain an illusion.
And then there is also the Belgian tax authorities, which is still of the opinion that AOW is income from work! So almost half of my state pension from the age of 65 goes to the tax! I have lived in Belgium since 1969 and therefore as a Dutch tax resident there. European regulations on this are flawed!
If you've been living in Belgium for 50 years, Leeny Peeters, then you haven't accrued any state pension at all at the age of 65, have you? Or am I missing something?
The abp briefly does not say that. We remain the same, but due to a change in the tax, I believe from 3 to 2 brackets, we are still going backwards.
Indeed, ABP is not short. The largest pension fund in the Netherlands with an amateur management! ING pension fund 138%, ABP barely 100%. A great shame. The leadership all friends of politicians? It looks like it. No indexation for 10 years. Dumb, dumber, dumbest.
That's not right in abbreviation!
That's what the government does with all its increases!
one hand gives and the other hand takes. rent increase/resp. property tax increase, energy tax increased, petrol increased by 1,5 cents per litre, healthcare premium increased, you name it what do you think the environment will cost now, no more gas from Groningen (thankfully) Europe that demands more and much more next year after Brexit ? Rutte can tell me more who improved in previous years when that was predicted?
Bundled in the reeds, luckily I have my own pension and never spent everything.
Here are the correct amounts: https://www.svb.nl/nl/aow/nieuws/bedragen_aow_januari_2020
Hi Ernst,
I do make the note here that these are amounts that apply when living in the Netherlands.
I assume that many Dutch people living in Thailand with an AOW benefit also read Thailand Blog. For them today at 14:53 I have listed the amounts that apply to them and most applicable.
I occasionally come across in a response that the increase in the rate in the 1st bracket of income tax from 9,0% to 9,7% is partly compensated by an increase in the general tax credit, the elderly person's tax credit and (possibly) the single elderly discount. That is only correct if you live in the Netherlands. If you live in Thailand, you will no longer be entitled to tax credits from 1-1-2015, resulting in the surrender of more than 1 month of AOW benefit per year!
By now I'm wondering who the criminal is here. Stealing legally is also a crime. If these leaders of this country continue for another 4 years, we as aowers can forget it. Worked for over 50 years, 68 years and €765, that's what you have to do with. How much would we really have worked together. Most people die too soon, can you imagine how big the pot is. They have to pay the saved amount in one go. How much would that be. Our AOW pot is very important for Rutte and cs, because this club borrows from this pot.
I think they would go crazy if this should. Without hard action they will have to deal with this. And now let's talk again. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better from that either.
Good luck again.
I haven't been fooled for a long time. About 30 euros more, everything becomes more expensive. What are we going to do then? NOTHING. I'll be very happy if I get out again this year with my state pension. But I fear the worst.
The AOW does not come from an existing pot at all, but is paid for by today's taxpayer. In addition: this whole discussion starts with a number of (sensation?) reports from newspapers. I think it is better to just start from the reporting of the SVB itself, than to count yourself rich from the newspaper.
The annoying thing about the whole pension discussion is that our far-sighted governments, in the past, have enshrined in pension legislation the following of the actuarial interest rate for indexation of pensions. No other EU country has done that. So if pensions are to be indexed, the law must be amended. But Brussels won't like that! And therefore the index problem is not changed.
Dear.
Straight from my heart.
I wish everyone a better salary in 2020,
Take care of yourself.
I hope for all of you that this is listened to.
It is scandalous that the government wants to fob us off with a net amount of €7.50. Rutte has certainly not heard that healthcare costs alone will increase by €16. Then there will be a rent increase and an increase in living expenses. And then he dares to say that seniors are actually improving. Where did he go to school?
VVD get rid of it.
I haven't been fooled for a long time. About 30 euros more, everything becomes more expensive. What are we going to do then? NOTHING. I'll be very happy if I get out again this year with my state pension. But I fear the worst.
Retirees are becoming a problem or have been for a long time. The target group that is only getting bigger, costs more and yields nothing, according to the many cabinets of Rutte and associates. If they had wanted to do something, they could have done so long ago, so their actions, or rather their omissions, speak volumes.
I recently became a member of the Pension Preservation Foundation.
I would like to advise everyone to take a look at their site and follow my example. It is possible that they can achieve something and for a minimum of 10 euros investment (membership) it is worth it.
The information can be found at: https://www.stichtingpensioenbehoud.nl/
I find the entire discussion, as stated in the various responses, quite one-sided. As Jan noted in an earlier response, the AOW is paid by those who are currently working. In addition to the fact (!) that the current older age group is among the richest in society (on average). Any increase in the state pension must be paid for by workers, otherwise where will the money come from? So explain the above story to your working neighbor and also tell them that the state pension recipients would like to have more money and therefore that the working people (i.e. the neighbor) therefore receive less money. left over. Gratefully, the vast majority will agree with you, or not? Be realistic: what one person benefits from is at the expense of another, at least as far as income and benefits are concerned.
I myself am of the enough is enough type and am content with what I have as I know times where I only had a few Euros to spend a day. And also know the situation in Thailand where I live where the vast majority have to make do with a few hundred baht a day and a government pension of 600 to 1000 baht a month. Look this teaches me to put things into perspective.
Dear Ger, it is true that my state pension is financed by those in the Netherlands who have not yet reached state pension age. Just like my income from my 17th to my 66th year premium was deducted from my salary for the old age pensioners at the time. And as long as the population of the Netherlands increases, currently more than 17 million, there will also be more premium payments. Relativity is an art. But to put everything into perspective now goes too far for me. I am also not going to tell a Thai who has to make do with a minimum wage of 350 baht per day that he has to count himself rich compared to many people in Africa, who have an income of 1 dollar (30 baht) a day . I will not discuss the fact that you mentioned that the elderly in the Netherlands belong to the richest population group, mainly due to the increased house prices. Henk's submission is about the headlines, which suggest that Aow pensioners are improving by many percentages, while the reality is that the net amount is a maximum of about ten euros per month, which means that the increased costs cannot be paid.
I also want to rule on this. Wealth in the elderly
My husband and I were married in 1969, we had absolutely nothing. We were not allowed to study, but we were allowed to work when we were 14 and to hand over the money at home until the wedding day. There was such a housing shortage that we were forced to live with my parents.
Save Ho But we had to pay so much board money (We were able to run a household on it 2 years later)
When I now see, fortunately, what our youth are starting with, which studies, which opportunities and which income the majority have, I look down on the hard-working generation of the past.
I would also like to indicate what you owe in the Netherlands in terms of financial obligations (the fixed costs) that are costing more and more of your income.
The elderly should give up voluntary work, then they might find out what the elderly still mean to our society
Hi Ger-Korat,
As is often the case, you are completely wrong again. You hit before there is a board (let alone a nail) in the vicinity. Who told you that AOW benefits are financed by those who work now and that any increase in AOW must be paid for by those in work? Was that Jan, as you write? However, you should not believe everything that is written here, but do your own research.
I am also retired and, in addition to a pension benefit, receive an AOW benefit as a married person. I then fully fund this AOW benefit myself by paying income tax. For this I bring twice as many euros to the tax authorities than what I get back from the SVB in the form of AOW. There is no working involved!
What you apparently do not know is that the AOW benefit is financed for more than 40% from general resources, i.e. taxes. Due to the expected increase in the number of AOW beneficiaries and the freezing of the AOW premium, this percentage will only increase in the coming years. With this we are already moving well in the direction of the Dijkhuizen Commission's advice from a few years ago to fully tax AOW benefits (i.e., with the abolition of the AOW premium to be paid entirely from tax revenues). What do you mean: “AOW benefits are financed by those who are currently working and that any increase in the AOW must be paid by those in work”? Will retirees suddenly no longer pay income tax? I do though! I can therefore confidently argue loudly with my neighbors (who are all still working) for an increase in the AOW benefit, which they will also reap the benefits of after reaching the state pension age.
In addition, Leo Th also hits the nail on the head with his comment about paying premiums during his working life. In fact, he still contributes to the financing of his state pension by paying income tax on his pension. That also applies to me and to many Dutch people!
You live in Thailand. This means that the taxation of the AOW benefit of already more than 40% (unless you enjoy a government pension there or a social security benefit that is taxable in the Netherlands) will also practically pass you by, without this at the expense of depends on the amount of your AOW benefit!
As I wrote yesterday: government policy is aimed at preventing the elderly from benefiting from increased prosperity. They are not used to this prosperity from the past and to prevent withdrawal symptoms and possibly higher healthcare costs, it is perhaps better to leave it that way. However, that was purely cynical!
In recent years, the tax burden in the Netherlands has been reduced by approximately € 15 billion. Social minimums and state pensioners, however, have hardly benefited from this, if at all. “The big money” went to the dual earners with 2 times the average + ½ times the average with children. And then you are talking about a family income of around € 90.000. In 2017, for example, they gained an average of € 1.470, while a couple with only a state pension lost € 10. A couple with an AOW + € 10.000 pension gained a paltry € 220. After all, the Government's adage has been for years: “Working must become more rewarding” and it is striking that it is not about “working more must be more rewarding” but “earning more now must yield even more”. But if you have worked for 50 years and now enjoy a jobless income (and therefore “hold out your hand”), you no longer enjoy this protected status.
Unfortunately and using the slogan of the tax authorities:
“I CAN'T MAKE IT MORE BEAUTIFUL”
Not just the tax on the AOW, Lammert! Inactive persons with WW and WIA/WAO and other benefits also pay income tax. Old people with only state pension but with assets also pay box 3 tax and that goes into the pot from which the state pension is also paid. The story that 'the working people' cough up the AOW for the people who lie on their bun in the sun just doesn't hold! Unfortunately, not everyone realizes this.
The increase of my AOW married is 8.11 euros. I had 768.22 euros. So that is 1,05%
We all know the saying "If nothing becomes something, something no longer knows itself".
Consider, for example, the only political party that claims to stand up for the elderly. Those leaders now also earn enough and no longer stand up for the elderly, no, on the contrary, they prefer the antisocial policy of the lying and forgetful (among the elderly this is called DEMENTIA) gang who only favor the rich to which they themselves belong, so that they do not being sidelined and losing their income afterward.
With the construction pension it is the same, they were going to increase something, but I get a good 2eu less what a gang of thieves
Yes Henk, why are the newspapers doing so badly, well about this kind of empty txt. Making people happy with a dead sparrow. Older people don't count in this country. They throw millions over the beam to make the non-working computer programs for the government. Their household book doesn't add up and that money was intended for other things, such as giving old age pensioners something extra. Sad country with a lot of poverty.
I have also drawn the same conclusion, and with the phasing out of collective health insurance plus rising costs, I am declining again, as I have in the past few years. Two more years like this and then I can also go to the food bank thanks to this cabinet.
Why don't all retired volunteers stop their voluntary work for a week, then half of the Netherlands will be on its ass and then the government will wake up
Let's see what the old folks have to say
Groet
I wish I had a big tractor.
Let all volunteers who have already reached retirement age give up for 1 week (don't think about it) then they might be shaken up in The Hague to see what these elderly people still mean for our society.