Frequently asked questions

In 2024, the maximum salary over which you can accrue gross pension has been legally increased from €128,810 to €137,800. It is therefore possible that you participated in the net DC scheme last year but can only contribute in the gross DC scheme in 2024. However, the total pension contribution you receive above an annual salary of €87,302 remains unchanged.

On 16 September 2024, ABN AMRO transferred the investments to Appel. On Appel’s portal, you can see the amount (your total capital) transferred by ABN AMRO.

ABN AMRO’s portal closes on 31 October 2024.

On the ABN AMRO portal, you can see the latest transactions carried out by ABN AMRO.

In addition, Robeco does another audit on all capitals of all participants that have been transferred, at individual level. For all transferred Robeco investment funds (Performance | Pension Fund Robeco), the same price date has been used at ABN AMRO and Appel.

For the PIMCO emerging local bonds, there is 1 day difference between the price shown by ABN AMRO and the one passed on to Appel. As a result, the capital at Appel is slightly higher.

At Appel, we use the same investment funds as at ABN AMRO and the same lifecycles. The difference is that at Appel, we have placed the investment funds in a matching and return mandate.

On Appel’s portal, you can see the value of your total pension capital. This amount is updated once a month.

At the beginning of this year, you received a letter from the pension fund that investing yourself was no longer possible and that you had to choose a life cycle. See news item: Changes to supplementary DC pension schemes. If you did not make a choice, your investments were transferred to the neutral life cycle.

The pre-pension scheme was transferred to the life ctycles of the gross supplementary scheme at ABN AMRO Pension Services via an internal collective value transfer in August 2024. See news item: Transfer of supplementary pension schemes imminent. At Appel Pensions, you can see the amounts back from your gross supplementary scheme including your former pre-pension capital.

Yes. The main change is that your pre-pension capital will soon no longer be used by default to purchase a temporary old-age pension.

As a result of the internal collective internal value transfer, the pre-pension capital has become part of your gross supplementary scheme with which a lifelong old-age pension is built up.

You can still use this capital to bring your pension forward and, for example, opt for a high benefit first and then a low benefit. Read more about it here: Choices

Your capital is still part of your scheme with Pension Fund Robeco, only the administrator has changed from ABN AMRO Pension Services to Appel Pensions.

As an additional check, Pensioenfonds Robeco will perform an audit of the old balances in the administration at ABN AMRO Pension Services and the new balances in the administration at Appel Pensions, per individual member. We report on the results of this audit on our website.

The structure of the life cycles remained the same in the transition to Appel Pensions. However, at ABN AMRO Pension Services your capital was invested directly in investment funds where at Appel Pensions these same investment funds are now split between a matching portfolio and return portfolio.

More information on the composition of these portfolios can be found here: Performance.

Want to know how these portfolios are invested based on risk profile and age? Then take a look here: Investment method

• Log in to the ABN AMRO Pension Services portal: ABN AMRO Pension Services.
• Click on ‘view your schemes’. Then click on your account (e.g. ‘Robeco UO Pension’)
• and then click on ‘view transactions’

This is an individually available premium scheme, with which you build up a capital to purchase a pension benefit on retirement date. Depending on the level of your salary, you can participate in this gross defined contribution scheme.

Use this handy decision tree to see which schemes apply to you.

Your pension contribution is paid by the employer into your personal pension account.

Once you are a participant, you can log in to a portal and determine your attitude to risk and choose a life cycle.

Based on your risk profile, a lifecycle is assigned that matches your age. The investment mix that matches your risk profile becomes less risky as you get older.

If you do not enter a risk profile, you will follow the neutral life cycle. Here you will find the life cycles that are available. With no investment mix it is possible to say in advance what the returns on investment will be.

However, the employer also offers the option not to transfer your premium to your personal pension scheme, but to have it paid out as salary. We call this opting out.

Every year in March, the employer gives you the choice of whether or not to opt out. If you do not opt out, your pension premium will automatically be transferred to your personal pension account each month for one year.

Here you can read about the pros and cons of opting out.

The choice moment for what you want to do with your available premium is when you join the employer or at the annual calibration moment on 1 April. However, the letter from the pension fund with the scenarios will come later. So possibly after you have already made the choice.

If you want to wait for the letter with scenarios, you can opt out now and reconsider your choice at the next calibration moment on 1 April. You can also choose to have your premium transferred automatically to your pension account and reconsider your choice at the next calibration moment on 1 April.

Once a year (in February), you will receive a query from the pension fund allowing you to change your risk profile and/or lifecycles.

The primary objective of the available premium provided by the employer is to build up a pension. So if you do not make the choice, then you know that at least pension is being built up for you.

If you opt out, then you know that you can make the choice again the next time in March. You can then decide to join.

Keep in mind that the premium once deposited in your personal pension account has a pension destination. So you can no longer dispose of it freely.

Conversely, if you do not contribute for a year, you will not be able to make up for that ‘lost’ year in the future. So if you still want to save extra for your pension, you have to arrange this outside Pensioenfonds Robeco.

Pension fund Robeco no longer offers the option of making additional contributions yourself.

If you want to know whether you have extra free tax space to save extra for retirement in private (e.g. via bank savings), get proper information from a financial expert.

You can also read more about this on the Tax Administration’s website: Bereken uw aftrekbare lijfrentepremie (vanaf 2016) (belastingdienst.nl)

The premium provided by the employer as a condition of employment may be higher than the maximum available premium that can be deposited into your top-up account according to the tax graduated scale. For example, because you have been employed for longer and receive compensation payments as part of your supplementary premium.

The change that the 13th month, which now falls under the pensionable base for the basic scheme, also has an effect. So you already build up pension on that in the basic scheme, leaving less tax space for the DC premium.

The ‘excess’ premium is automatically paid monthly as salary.

Whether contributing or not, your survivor’s pension remains insured.

In our pension scheme, you build up a survivor’s pension over your pensionable salary up to the end of scale 100. In addition, there is gross insurance of your survivor’s pension over future years of service up to the maximum taxable salary: € 137,800 (2024).

Even if you opt out of your DC contributions, your survivor’s pension will remain insured as long as you are an active member. The capital you build up in your supplementary account will be used to purchase an additional survivor’s pension in the event of your death. So if you opt out, your survivor’s pension will be reduced.

Although you can choose to opt out every year, we want to give you insight into the consequences of your choice at the start of participation in the supplementary scheme.

After you become a participant, you will automatically receive an information letter from the pension fund indicating the level of your expected retirement pension under three different scenarios if you were to continue participating in the supplementary scheme until your retirement date. This information is required by law.

In the scenarios, we take into account that you get older and that your pension contribution increases with your age.

You can continue investing with the capital in your top-up accounts even after retirement date. You cannot do this with your accrued pension in the basic scheme. If you continue to invest, your pension benefit will continue to depend on investment returns after your retirement age. We call this a variable benefit.

Advantages and disadvantages of variable benefits
Investing further after retirement has the advantage that you can earn extra returns on your ‘pension pot’. This can be an interesting option. Of course, your pension benefit may also become worth less by reinvesting.

Are you considering opting for a variable pension benefit?
Then it is wise to talk to a pension adviser about this. That way, you can properly list the pros and cons. Here, it is good to know that a combination of fixed and variable benefits is also possible.

At the moment, Pensioenfonds Robeco does not offer the option for reinvestment itself. If you want to take advantage of the option to continue investing after retirement, we would be happy to refer you to an insurer that does offer it.