The future of our pension system

The government, the companies and the unions have further worked on the pension agreement in the past period. As a result, it is becoming clearer what the future pension system will look like - and therefore also what it means for you and for the pension fund. These are the facts, but there are still considerable uncertainties. Therefore, it is unfortunately still difficult to state exactly the consequences for your pension.

• Central to the pension agreement is that pension payments will move more along with economic developments and will therefore become less certain. With sufficient returns, pensions can go up sooner. But if things are not going well economically, they also go down faster.
• Since 1 July 2018, the Staples Pension Fund has been a closed pension fund in which contributions are no longer paid for further pension accrual. Closed funds are faced with the choice of converting the pensions built up in the past to the new pension scheme.
• Converting to a new pension contract means that your pension will move more along with economic development. Not converting means that the current situation persists, in which there is also uncertainty about indexation and the risk of reductions remains.
• The conditions for this conversion are still being worked on, so it is not clear now which option works best. When making the choice, central for the board of the pension fund is what is most favorable for the members of the pension fund.
• It is already known that the state pension age has risen less rapidly since 2019 than previously agreed. For many members of our pension fund, this means that they receive their AOW earlier than expected.

When does the new agreement start?

It is not yet clear when the new legislation will take effect. The aim is 1 January 2022. After that, the companies and the unions, the pension funds and the administration offices (including Blue Sky Group) will still have time to translate the new agreements into their own pension scheme and to prepare for implementation.

Again, there is still no clarity on many points. We therefore closely follow the developments.