On your pension statement and on wwwmijnpensioenoverzicht.nl you will see an estimate of your pension in a very optimistic and very pessimistic scenario. The amounts related to these scenarios are visualised in a picture with three arrows. The middle amount shows your pension in an ‘average’ scenario.

A key assumption for all three amounts is that you continue to work until age 67 and build up pension within the current scheme. If you stop working earlier, your pension will be lower.

An estimate of your pension in different scenarios

Many different ‘futures’ (scenarios) have been conceived. In one future, things are with us in terms of interest rates, investments and rising prices. In another future, things are against us. All pension funds and insurers calculate with the same ‘futures’. We have calculated what your pension will be in these futures. Chances are your final pension will come out somewhere between the lowest and highest amount.

The expected end result

This amount is at the top centre. This is the pension you currently look to end up with. There is currently a 50% chance that your pension will be lower and a 50% chance that your pension will be higher than this amount.

By the right arrow you can see the amount you seem to end up with if the economy is very lucky. There is currently a small chance (5% of ‘futures’) that you will end up with an amount higher than the amount on the right.

By the left arrow you can see the amount you seem to end up with if the economic situation is much worse than expected. At the moment, there is also a small chance (5% of ‘futures’) that you will end up with a lower amount than the left one.

What causes an optimistic or pessimistic scenario?

• The interest rate
  If interest rates rise, we need to hold fewer reserves for the future and are more likely to be able to increase pensions. On the contrary, if interest rates fall, we need to hold more reserves. The likelihood of us being able to raise then decreases.
• Investments may or may not yield high returns
  We invest the premium for your pension. We zorgen daarbij dat we de risico’s van het beleggen zo goed mogelijk spreiden. For example, we invest part in shares and we save part. We cannot choose to just save, because saving does not yield enough returns to pay all pensions now and in the future. By investing, we make more returns on average. However, we do not know in advance exactly what the investments will yield. We may experience a period of low returns or even losses on investments. In the latter case, we may end up having to reduce pensions. So far, we have never had to do this.
• Prices may go up hard or they may go down.
  If prices go up, your pension will be worth less. After all, you can buy less with the same amount of money. The impact of prices on what you can buy later with your pension is included in the estimate. So you will not see the amount you are expected to receive later, but an adjusted amount. If prices are expected to rise, the amount has been adjusted (slightly) downwards.