Moving to premium schemes and a flat premium

What does the new law say?

  • In the new pension system, pensions are built up using an age-independent flat contribution rate;
  • This is therefore the same premium rate for all your employees or groups of employees (the premium depends on the pension base) regardless of their age;
  • The contribution rate will be a maximum of 30% of pension base. This is the salary minus a deduction that takes into account what the state pension (AOW) already provides. The intention is to allow 75% of the average salary to be accrued as pension over 40 years; 
  • As circumstances can change, it will be determined every five years whether this percentage (currently 30%) is still appropriate. If not, it will be adjusted. If circumstances change significantly during the five-year period, there will be an interim review by the government; 
  • All pension schemes will become premium schemes in the coming years; 
  • This will end redistribution of contributions between pension fund participants and make pensions more transparent and personal; 
  • This will make the premium burden more stable, predictable and manageable as the same rate will soon apply to every employee.

‘The premium burden will be more predictable'

What do these measures mean for your pension scheme?


You currently have a defined contribution scheme
If you currently have a defined contribution scheme (such as Bewust Pensioen of Persoonlijk Pensioen Plan) with Nationale-Nederlanden, you have the following choices:


•    Honouring: as few adjustments as possible
Switching to a pension scheme with a flat contribution rate has the effect of compensating current participants (in your scheme). This is because by 'flattening out' the premium, they miss out on future pension accrual. That compensation, however, has to be financed. In pension funds, part of the existing collective provision can be used for this purpose. In the process, collectivity is redistributed. This does not apply to premium schemes with insurers and Premium Pension Institutions (PPIs). In defined contribution schemes, each participant has accrued their own provision with the pension contribution. In the process, nothing is redistributed. The law therefore allows pension schemes at insurers and PPIs to use so-called 'honouring'.

What does honouring mean and what are important points to consider?

  • Honouring is designed to avoid a great many changes to your pension scheme, yet there are some relevant adjustments for you.
  • This is because the scheme entails that the premium scheme existing on 30 June 2023 with accrual according to an age-related premium scale may be continued after 2028* for all employees entering service until 2028* employees joining after that date may only be promised a flat premium rate. So for the latter group, things do change.
    • In the regulations of Nationale-Nederlanden we apply to honouring: If an employer adapts his scheme to the new rules, he can continue to apply the scale for the participants who are employed until the moment of transfer. From that moment on, a flat premium applies to new participants;

•    From 2028* or from the close of the Wtp scheme, there will be two accrual systems side by side in your pension scheme if you opt for the honouring option:
•    As the tax treatment of pensions is adjusted, the existing contribution tier may still be adjusted. 
•    When employees change jobs, they may find themselves in a different accrual system (from a scheme with honouring to a scheme with a flat premium tier or a scheme in the current regime to a Wtp scheme with a flat premium). This requires careful attention, to prevent them from having wrong expectations about their pension accrual. 


Switch to flat premium

  • In certain cases, for an existing pension scheme, it is worth considering an earlier switch to a flat contribution rate when renewing the contract in the period up to 2028*; 
  • This is an alternative solution to honouring, as described above; 
  • How your workforce is structured and whether there is high or low turnover in the workforce, for example, often plays a role in this. When things are sorted out, you may come to the conclusion that switching to a flat rate, even for your current employees, is best; 
  • In that case, however, compensation must be promised for the difference in pension expectations. After all, there will be a switch from an increasing premium to a flat premium for all employees, existing and new; 
  • As an employer, you should have a discussion with employee representation about this. It is important to make clear agreements based on straightforward calculations about the pension outcome to be achieved. Your adviser will help you with this;
  • This compensation can be in the form of additional pension or salary. The new pension framework provides additional tax space for this;
  • Compensation is needed because employment conditions are being adjusted. Compensation does not necessarily have to be in the form that maintains pension accrual levels. Compensation can be done through salary, but it can also be done another way, for example in days off. The employer makes agreements with employee representatives on this. 
    • At Nationale-Nederlanden, we only offer existing participants the compensation in salary option, where the extra salary is used as an additional deposit into the pension scheme by default. A participant may agree to this or not. New participants immediately switch to a flat premium.


Consult your adviser to find out if switching is the best solution for your company.


You currently have a defined benefit (DB) scheme
Do you currently have a benefit agreement such as the Comfort Pensioen? Then you have the following choices: 

  • From 2028* , it will no longer be possible to accrue a pension in a defined benefit agreement. Only premium schemes will be possible from 2028*;
  • When extending your pension scheme in the period up to 2028*, you may want to consider switching to a defined contribution scheme with a contribution tier. You can do so in our defined contribution scheme: Persoonlijk Pensioen Plan;
  • Switch to a Wtp-proof pension scheme before 2028, where the graduated scale applies to existing participants and the flat contribution rate applies to new participants after the pension scheme closes. 


Get advice
Whether you have a defined contribution scheme and/or a defined benefit agreement or you are considering honouring or switching to a flat contribution, it is always important to discuss with your adviser what the best options are for your pension scheme. We provide the right information and necessary input for calculations that let you and your adviser arrive at a choice you and your employees are comfortable with.



*The minister intends to extend the transition period by 1 year. This has yet to be laid down in regulations. The exact content of the change is not yet clear.