After 10 years of negotiations, a Pension Agreement has been reached between the government, employers' organisations and trade unions. Pension schemes in the Netherlands have to be adjusted by 2026 at the very latest. Under the new pension system, employees will be able to keep track of both their contributions and returns on a personal pension account. As one of the few Dutch pension funds, Shell Pension has had such a scheme with SNPS since 2017. What do people think? Bas Koch (38), Senior IT Advisor Integrated Gas and board member of SNPS explains.
"As a board member I try to make our pension scheme easy to understand. For example, many colleagues don't realise that they have an individual pension account and that they can manage a variety of things themselves. I advise everyone to take a look at his or her personal pension page. Log in to access my-Shell pension".
"You can see exactly what you have built up, which makes it very transparent. The amount of your future pension capital depends, of course, on the returns on investments. SNPS will give you this information as well. For me, being able to influence your own pension is a huge plus. There is no guaranteed result, it can be either a higher or lower amount at the end of the day".
"As my retirement is a long way off, I have chosen the highest risk profile: offensive. This way I can compensate for any 'downs' in some years with possible 'ups' in other years. When my retirement date approaches, I think it's smart to lower the risk. SNPS implements this automatically: in every profile the risk decreases as you get older".
"For me, being able to influence your own pension is a huge plus"
"Because of the pandemic and the economic climate, I realise that nothing is guaranteed to last forever. Personally, I've started to concentrate more on risk diversification, investing my private assets in different areas. As far as my pension is concerned, I'm not immediately concerned right now. Basically, I still have 30 years to go".
"I always like to keep busy, so I can easily imagine becoming more active in associations and boards. Interesting and positive for your mental state. Of course I also intend to enjoy what I have built up; making wonderful trips and spending time with family. ”