Nearly nine in 10 (89 per cent) Dutch pension savers believe that pension benefits will be less certain in the new system, according to a poll by Pensioenfonds ING.

The poll of the pension fund's participants also found that 90 per cent expected that pension benefits in the new system would vary.

Pensioenfonds ING actuary, Henk Bruins, said that he did not find it strange that many participants were unsure about their pension benefits in the new system, especially pensioners.

“We cannot say exactly how things will work out in the new system until we introduce the adjusted pension rules and we can make a new calculation per person,” Bruins noted.

Despite the concerns, Bruins highlighted that preliminary calculations by the pension fund had shown that participants could expect a higher pension than in the current system.

“This is because in the new system we need to maintain lower buffers than is currently the case,” he explained.

“The money that we do not have to reserve as a buffer then benefits our participants. As a result, pension benefits will rise.”

At the same time, pensions will move more in line with the returns pension funds can achieve in the financial markets, Bruins stated, and while pensions can increase more quickly if returns are positive, they can also decrease more quickly.

“We expect that the chance that your pension benefit will decrease is much smaller than the chance that your pension benefit will increase,” he continued.

“That is because Pensioenfonds ING is wealthy. If we switch to the new pension system, we will therefore still have a buffer to protect against long-term poor returns.”

However, Bruins added that this protection was not unlimited, and if the conditions were bad for an extended period of time then the risks do increase.

The effects can vary by age, and while all cohorts could receive a higher pension, younger participants could expect a large increase than older people.

On the other hand, younger members will shoulder more risk than older participants, as they are exposed to investment risks for longer.

How much a monthly pension benefit may vary is “not entirely clear at the moment”, Bruins noted.

“Within certain limits, depending on the return achieved, the payment may vary,” he said. “But that won't be the case every month.

“Overall, we expect your pension benefit to be higher in the new system compared to the current system. And thanks to the fund's good financial situation, we also think we can protect distributions against adverse conditions quite well.”

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