Change in SWT (Brugpensioen) system for Belgians: staying abroad is no longer allowed
Much unrest has arisen among our Belgian readers in connection with changes in the system of SWT, the bridging pension. The change means that Belgians with early retirement will no longer be allowed to live abroad, so they will no longer be allowed to live in Thailand. The same applies to existing cases.
Our Belgian reader Willy, wrote the following about it:
Information on the change of the SWT system in Belgium (former bridging pension):
– the exemption to stay in Belgium from the age of 60 expires! This also applies to pending cases! Those who enjoyed maxi-exemption on 31.12.2014 cannot be excluded until 01.07.2015 because of a stay abroad.
Availability for the labor market:
SWT people
– be subject to voluntary unemployment provisions;
– must be registered as a job seeker;
– must be available and actively looking for work;
– must register in the employment cell (in case of collective redundancies): only applies to redundancies after 31.12.2014.
These provisions apply to both new applications and pending cases. However, raising the maximum DISPO age from 55 to 65 will only apply from 2016 and only for new applications.
This is a breach of contract for the SWTers who are already on SWT! They become available overnight and also lose the exemption to settle abroad! These are the draft texts that will be submitted to the next RVA management committee.
Info may be of interest to compatriots in Thailand.
Best regards,
Willy
PS If members ask, I can provide the draft texts.
Roy wrote us the following:
Bad news for all Belgians abroad. The government has decided to hold early retirees hostage up to the age of 65 in Belgium.
A second category makes it even more colorful: early retirees sometimes also spend more time in Spain or elsewhere than in Belgium, while according to the National Employment Office rules they must remain domiciled in Belgium as unemployed (with a company supplement). And those who have their domicile here must also stay here “most of the year”, according to the RVA.
Times are going to change drastically for these early retirees: from 2016 they will have to remain available for the labor market until they are 65 years old. That is the government's plan. Overwintering under the Spanish sun is no longer an option and they will actually have to apply here (Source: Gazet van Antwerpen).
For thousands of Belgians abroad, this will put an end to their blissful enjoyment of the well-deserved rest. And many others like me will have to dream longer, unfortunately.
Best regards,
Roy
I'm not really familiar with these regulations, but isn't it the case that someone with SWT has always had to live in Belgium to keep their benefits, but that they can stay abroad for more than 60 days a year from the age of 30? .
It is stated on the website of the Social Security as follows.
https://www.socialsecurity.be/CMS/nl/citizen/displayThema/professional_life/PROTH_11/PROTH_11_6.xml#N100D7
You must reside in Belgium
To receive unemployment benefits, you must have your habitual residence in Belgium and actually reside there. You are exempt from this obligation for a maximum of 30 calendar days per calendar year.
You are at least 60 years old
In that case, you may stay abroad for more than 30 calendar days per year. However, to keep your entitlement to unemployment benefits, you must keep your main residence in Belgium. This means that you must stay in your municipality in Belgium for most of the year. If that is not the case, your municipality can delete you from the population register and your unemployment benefits must be reclaimed.
If I read it like this, it seems to me that they mainly want to tighten up the latter, ie that people aged 60 and older are only allowed to stay abroad for a maximum of 30 days.
As long as you keep your main place of residence in Belgium, you may still be temporarily absent from Belgium for a maximum of 1 year, provided that you report this without being written off.
NOW, it is important to play with the "rules" within the different limits ACCORDING TO YOUR SOCIAL SITUATION........, currently this rule is still under consideration and mainly for early retirement, as they are usually younger and also receive benefits, I see here more of an action to get all that foreign digested Belgian money into circulation / digest in Belgium…..
It is of course difficult to take the plane from Thailand when you are called for a job offer, from Spain you can even do that with the Europabus in one night ….
Oh, the Belgians will find the loophole, our “selfless leaders”(!?) give the examples
I have the impression that you do not know the Belgian legislation. The period in which you do not reside in Belgium does not play any role in this case and what you say that you only have a notification obligation for one year is also incorrect. What plays a role here is your “availability” for the labor market. As a bridge pensioner you are in fact an unemployed person (with a supplement from your employer) and an unemployed person is automatically a job seeker. The discussion is not about whether or not to look for excuses or loopholes, but about compliance with existing legislation. I see that many people are always looking for the edge of the legal. Is it so difficult to comply with the regulations? These “edge cases and freeloaders” only screw things up for the right-minded.
lung addie
Dear,
This new government has already taken several lucrative measures. Calling back early retirees to be available for the labor market. Which company is eager to hire a 60 year old? All this while a huge number of young people are longing for work, but are unemployed!
Nonsense!
@,
This is absolutely crazy for words.
The government even wants to go ahead with retroactive effect.
In my opinion, these are criminal acts and go back on previous agreements.
But yes, governments are increasingly using the “legal crime”.
People who have everything they want here.
I think that the Belgians should oppose this en masse, because otherwise I think many will end up in misery.
Facebook and all those other social sites are the perfect place for this.
I wish the Belgians a lot of success in fighting this rude treatment.
LOUISE
Louise,
You're right! Tomorrow there will be general protest in Belgium. Clearly a bullying measure.
Regards,
Jan
Dear,
According to certain sources within the National Employment Agency (RVA) ALL BELGIANS WITHOUT EXCEPTION will have to go back to the old system and start stamping. In other words, report to the unemployment office every day at a certain time to EFFECTIVELY determine that you are NOT abroad. They get free money from the state, so it is normal that there is something in return!!!!!!!
What are they going to invent? These people have to return to Belgium for work that is not even there. Can you imagine what that will cost those people? That is criminal and pure theft. We currently have the worst government we have had in ages.
The people have voted! This people is the first victim.
Regards,
Jan
I read in the paper that all those who are now in this position will not be recalled. This measure would only apply to the new early retirees. Could it be that other newspapers, due to incorrect reporting, want to make political gains? It won't go that fast. N-VA, the largest party, has already corrected Peeters' statement….
it is indeed the case that a person in early retirement is an “unemployed person” who receives a supplement from his employer on top of his unemployment compensation until he reaches retirement age. An unemployed person is also a job seeker and must therefore in principle be available for the labor market. The fact that there is no work available for this category of people has nothing to do with the principle. In fact, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that changes the current legislation. Only it would be applied more strictly. Exceptions to this legislation have been made in the past by certain political parties for the sole purpose of satisfying their “choice cattle”. For example, people over the age of 58 were no longer considered available for the labor market and were no longer called up. Many took advantage of this system for years and went abroad to live a quiet and cheap life while, meanwhile, people who continued to work until retirement age paid the price. If one wants to benefit from benefits, one must also reside in the country, has always been the case. But, again, to attract some "choosie stock", this was not checked as many of these did not even live in or originate from Belgium. Now they want to put things in order and put an end to these abuses. I just think it's a pity that people will be affected who (at the time this was still possible) have worked continuously since they were 14 and now have a career of 45 years (which is a full career) but barely 59 have not been able to retire legally, leaving them free to live wherever they choose. Now these people have to take early retirement and can therefore not stay where they want. The last word on this has not yet been said. Now what was sown before is reaped and the sowers will make the most protest.
I can go into this matter much more deeply, but I do not want to do so through this blog, because the blog is not a political forum and because of my permanent residence here in Thailand I no longer have and do not want to deal with these (dis)situations. to have.
regards,
lung addie
The Belgian government is slowly going crazy. Ting Tong Ba Ba Bo Bo!
Soon you will fart on the toilet and an Eco-Tax receipt will come out of your toilet…
There is no work for the elderly, look how many young people are without a job.
I think it's actually like this:
All the government actually wants is that they generate VAT and thus contribute to the Belgian treasury and then distribute it to the 'new Belgians'.
Sad story... instead of demanding a tax if you don't want to stay in Belgium for example
PS: I am 38 years old but have many friends who are on pre-pension or close to it.
This is just the beginning, what awaits us all
Clery the duke
Den Somsak
I completely agree with Lung Addie
Nothing changes, only a perhaps stricter policy, if you have your main residence in Belgium and you are not yet sixty years old, you can only go on holiday abroad one month a year and if you are older than sixty, you can stay abroad for 6 months. condition is to be on early retirement or to be stamped
Those who are already retired have nothing to fear!
And that stricter policy , how are they going to check that ? The soup is not eaten as hot as it is served! And this is definitely not a kamikaze government! I think they think more of the young people in their fifties who are going or have gone on early retirement!
https://www.antwerpen.be/nl/info/52d5051c39d8a6ec798b4642/melding-tijdelijke-afwezigheid
I did make it clear in a previous post that this is different depending on your SOCIAL STATUS……. , but the 6 month you are referring to only applies as a term of official depreciation if you are not found if necessary (Wijkagent BVB), this rule expires with the report, I myself have spent 3 years in Thailand on a fully legal basis before retiring now!!
With a return ticket around 1 year expiration dates to Belgium, and after 3 weeks a repeat to Thailand with a Thai address…. without any problem, done within the rules, nothing illegal, maybe a hole that can be selectively closed now….
The only thing they achieve with this is that even more people kick it off here. I don't see anything else in my circle of acquaintances these days – someone kicks it off here every month. And no pension scheme or whatever is going to change that trend. I'd rather live in Thailand than in this little country where the countless governments can do nothing better than put people in their pockets.
Belgium , that looks like the Netherlands .
Here, too, things change every time.
And certainly always to the detriment of the common citizen.
When I left for Thailand 10 years ago , state pension age was 65 years .
Now 66 years old , so another year longer to eat equity .
Company pension , several times a year a letter in my mailbox .
With that as starting text , to our regret and you already know it .
Because of blah blah blah, the pensions will be adjusted lower, so that we can all still receive a pension later.
And the Managers and politicians and bankers, health insurers go home with big bonuses.
Fortunately , I have enough fat on my financial bones to last here until my death .
What I still don't understand is that both the population from Belgium and the Netherlands, let everything go over them.
People used to take to the streets to demonstrate , but now I often read about it in the newspapers .
Just complaining on the internet or rather staying behind the computer.
People that doesn't help, make your voice heard but do something.
Jan Beute.
same story with the passport, from this year, a Belgian national who has his domicile in Belgium can no longer apply for a passport at the embassy. 3 months ago I had to travel to Belgium specifically to apply for a new passport, very good for the environment that those politicians always complain about, just childish bullying behavior
I am also in this case. Am now in Belgium and will apply for a new passport next month with the necessary walking market for the pension papers. Hope to be back in Thailand mid-January.
I will repeat it again, nothing will change at all, as an early retiree you could always have a domicile in Belgium, and actually live there.
The people who flouted this rule and went to live abroad should not now play the murdered innocence. They gambled and lost, simple as that.
lung addie, I COMPLETELY agree with you, to draw a good pension you must have worked and not 30 years like some wishes and enjoy yourself on a white beach. soon empty. For people like me who have worked for 46 years THIS is real theft. Finally a government that wants to put an end to this. It used to be normal everyone went to 65, nobody complained, nobody sawed and yes the story of the cricket and the ant is hopefully over now.
Some of the comments seriously hurt me!
I worked until I was 65, as is normally asked of Belgian citizens. I felt that as a work ethic and a civic duty. I am surrounded by people who feel the same way.
A joke for many. I am an idiot to many.
As a result, I also paid the highest taxes on my income until the last gasp. With this I will undoubtedly have given money to all those early retirees, who have stayed at home since they were 53, and have been dozing in the sun in Thailand with a nice Thai, while I worked for their allowance.
I know plenty who always make the excuse that 'there's no more work'!
Yeah, right!
They all want to profit from the state alone!
In Thailand, do you see people aged 53 who are spoiled by the state on their spoiled ass?
No, I see many Thai people who work hard to the last gasp to give themselves and their children a dignified existence.
In Europe we live with a decadent coddling by the state, reminiscent of the last years of the Roman Empire.
Anyone who has been given money in one way or another by the Belgian state (for years) should just say 'Thank you' and don't worry.
The world upside down!
Who has the right to speak?
The Netherlands will soon follow because they are number 1 in pensioners bullying
Dear Simon,
apparently, after all the comments that have appeared, you still have not understood that this is only the application of an already existing legislation and has nothing to do with pensioner bullying. Making this problem topical is only a political move by the opposition, an opposition that itself created these distorted situations in the past. Go deeper into these matters before you react in such a way and you will realize that the profiteering must eventually come to an end. The working man cannot continue to pay for a gang of profiteers. Also read carefully the comment of Mee Farang, that man expresses what a righteous person, who has completed his entire professional career, thinks about this matter in a correct way.
Lung addie, 41 years actively worked.