Partner’s pension

No. When you retire, that's the time to decide if you want to set up a partner's pension. This ensures that after your death, your partner receives a portion of your pension income for as long as they live. That's why it's crucial to make this decision together with your partner.

A partner often qualifies for a partner's pension if you are married or in a registered civil partnership, or if you have been cohabiting for more than 6 months at the pension date. Or if you cohabit and have a notarial deed or cohabitation agreement. What this means for you can be found in your pension scheme rules.

If you retire and opt for a partner's pension, part of your pension is reserved for your partner. This means you'll receive less pension income yourself. Therefore, it's wise to discuss with your partner what you need now and how much pension your partner will receive on their own.

The partner's pension your partner receives after your death is up to 70% of your pension income. You can choose any percentage between 0 and 70%. The amount of partner's pension you arrange for your partner depends on both of your financial situations after retirement. First, check on mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl how much pension income you can expect. And also see what your partner will get. Then you'll know if it's enough for your partner to live independently or if a partner's pension is necessary. If you don't indicate anything, the default is 70% partner's pension.

If you don't have a partner, there are several options:

• You've built up a pension capital in a defined contribution scheme.

In this case, you decide just before your retirement date if you want to arrange a partner's pension. If you don't have a partner, you indicate that you want no, so 0% partner's pension.

• You've built up a guaranteed pension in an average pay scheme.

Whether you've built up a partner's pension in this depends on the agreements with your employer. So, there are two possible situations:

1. You've only built up pension for yourself in the scheme.

You don't need to make a choice for a partner's pension. You'll receive your pension income from the accrued pension.

2. You've built up a partner's pension in the scheme as well as pension for yourself.

In most cases, you can then exchange this partner's pension for more pension for yourself. You'll then receive a higher pension income. Pension accrued before 2002 may not be fully exchangeable.

Whether you have built up a partner's pension at Zwitserleven can be seen in MijnZwitserleven. Under My pension, you'll find a summary of the options within your pension. You can also view the pension scheme rules there.

This depends on the choices you made with your ex-partner. It's possible that part of your accrued partner's pension goes to your ex-partner after your retirement date. You can find this in the annual Uniform Benefit Statement.