High/low You might prefer to have a higher income during your first years of retirement than thereafter, for instance if you have children who are still studying, or if your mortgage has not yet been redeemed. In such cases you can opt for the high/low variation. You will then receive a temporarily higher pension than your ‘default’ pension as from your retirement date. After elapse of the agreed period, your pension will then, of course, be lower than your ‘default’ pension. The modification to high/low does not affect the level of partner’s pension. Low/high The opposite is also possible: first a temporarily lower pension and subsequently a higher one. Again, this modification does not affect the level of partner’s pension. Ratio between high and low The ratio between the higher and lower pension you can opt for is tied to certain limits. These are stated in the tables appended to the Regulations. |
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Example
The table below contains an example of one of the possibilities that you can select in the case of ‘high/low’. The top row indicates the default situation, again at 65 years of age. The second row presents the effect of a high/low variation, where the ratio between the high and low components is 125:100 over a five-year period. In that case, the retirement pension is 114.4 per cent of the default situation (= high) during the first 5 years. After these 5 years, the retirement pension is 91.5 per cent of the default situation (= low). The table is based on a retirement pension of EUR 30,000 and a partner’s pension of EUR 21,000 in the default situation. The retirement pension then amounts to EUR 34,320 (= high) during the first 5 years. The retirement pension will then be EUR 27,450 (= low) after these 5 years. If this retiree were to die his partner would receive 70 per cent of the retirement pension in the default situation, i.e. EUR 21,000. The partner's pension is not affected. |
